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Writing a digitizing book has been one of my dreams for a long time and I know many of you have anxiously awaited it for just as long. First of all, Thank You! -- and you know who you are, for all of the encouragement and support to bring this book finally to publication.

I love the art of digitizing! -- very much of me goes into the most artistic of designs I punch. Like other things I love in life, I like to share my enthusiasm with others so they can love it too. Hence.... Digitizing 101 !!

Much of my adult life has been as an educator; either on a professional/college level, with my children, or teaching at embroidery seminars. There are many techniques to teaching, and people learn in different ways. Some by reading, some by hearing, some by doing, or any combination of those. Much has been discussed of late and much is occurring regarding improving the educational opportunities in our industry. Seminars are offered at industry shows on specific topics, but feedback from those is often mixed with regard to the "take-home" value the classes provide - this is for many reasons and one shouldn't always discredit the instructor for lack of skill. The broad range of expertise in the audience, and the time allotted for the subject matter make it impossible to tailor a class to be exactly what each individual wants/needs. Plus, seminars can seem costly at $75 - $200 each and taking the time away from business to attend is also costly and not possible for many. In addition, that does not consider the travel expenses associated with attending.

In considering all of this I have written Digitizing 101 - The Basics of Digitizing for Embroidery. The book is entitled "101" because it is the first in a planned series of digitizing books. Digitizing 101 is for those of you thinking of getting into digitizing, new digitizers, business owners trying to decide whether to bring digitizing in house, those who edit, or for anyone interested in improving their digitizing skills by learning new techniques. The book is a reference manual with the all techniques described and illustrated in detail for continuous referral. All aspects of the book teach the theory of digitizing and steer clear of software specific instruction, to be useful to a wide audience.

We know you will enjoy owning this book as much as we have enjoyed bringing it to you! Read further to see some of the areas this book covers.

Profile of a Digitizer

Are you suited for digitizing? Does your key machine operator have the skills or the interest? What makes someone a good digitizer? Digitizing is not for everyone and it's the most important business decision to address before what software or machine to purchase. This chapter will provide food for thought to aid in the self evaluation or to help employers identify who you should hire as your digitizer.

Cost

What does it really cost to digitize? If you're thinking about becoming a digitizer or you're tossing around the idea of bring digitizing in-house, you'll get the truth about the cost of digitizing. Not from a salesperson's point of view, but from a digitizing veteran's experience. Various cost factors will be discussed along with a worksheet to be applied to your own companies situation. The worksheet is included in spreadsheet format to be customized to your companies financial picture.

Pricing

Always a tough subject, but if you don't price your digitizing correctly, what is the point of providing the service? Building off the previous chapter, we'll discuss different pricing strategies. At times our customers forget we are "trying" to make a profit. Too often we are asked, and cave into price reductions which negate all profits from a particular project. Learn how to identify these jobs and what to do about it, at the time they are happening.

Artwork

The old saying "Garbage in garbage out" truly applies to digitizing. The different types of artwork are discussed and the preferred formats identified. We'll teach you how to scan printed artwork and how to prep it for on-screen digitizing. Various pieces of art that have embroidery complications are discussed indepth and ways to simplify the art for embroidery purposes are discussed with each example.

Fabrics

You may have heard you should know what fabric a design will be sewn on, but not understood why, or how it will effect your work. We'll discuss eight commonly seen fabrics in the decorated apparel industry and fabrics swatches are included so you can see and feel what is said.

Underlay

Underlay is the foundation to embroidered designs. This may be the single most misunderstood portion of digitizing. Underlay is used for many things, from securing the top fabric to the backing, to preventing the "pull" effect on fills, to lifting the top stitch up for a raised look. Is underlay required on every design? Just about, but what sort of underlay is the mystery. This chapter breaks underlay down in a ways you've never seen before.

Lettering

Underlay may be the foundation to embroidery design, but Lettering is the foundation when learning to digitize for embroidery. Proper letter construction teaches how elements are joined, how to properly path a design and when to run from element to element and when to trim. Letters may be constructed from a fill stitch, a satin, a run, or a combination of two or three of these. This section will not only show you how to digitize small letters, but it will also show you how to make your stock lettering sew better.

Basics

This may be the section you are most attracted to, but the book is full of so much more information, it finds itself in the middle of the book. The theory of digitizing will be explained in this chapter. Different types of needles and when to use them, when should you change stitch lengths, how and why to adjust densities, the different types of corners and how to form them. This chapter will provide many of the techniques you have been looking for.

Objects

How does a fill object flow into a satin, or what is the best way to outline a fill section. When should there be a machine trim inserted and when should it be left to a manual trim. This section will discuss the issues surrounding objects and how to make them play well with one another.

Business

On top of everything else you need to know about digitizing, many of you will also have to run your business. We'll discuss ways to streamline your operation and communicating with customers. I share with you what I see customers wanting from their embroidery designers and how to give it to them.

Glossary

What do all those new words mean? We've compiled them all, with an indepth and thoroughly explained glossary.