Digitizing Methods

you build designs from basic shapes or 'embroidery objects'. These are like ordinary vector objects in that they have certain defining characteristics or 'properties' such as color, size, position, and so on. They also have properties unique to embroidery such as stitch type and density.

The most important property for an embroidery object is in fact its stitch type. Different stitch types are suited to different shapes. See also Fill and Outline Stitches.

The process of creating embroidery objects on-screen is called 'digitizing'. Like the creation of designs in graphics applications, this involves the use of input or 'digitizing' tools. These are similar to drawing tools except that the end result is an embroidery rather than vector object. Different tools are suited to creating different shapes or design elements. There are specific tools for digitizing larger complex shapes, asymmetrical columns of turning stitches, columns of varying width, columns of fixed width, lines, and even individual stitches.

Vector objects themselves can be converted directly to embroidery objects using the Point & Stitch tools. See Digitizing shapes with Point & Stitch for details.

This section describes how to digitize shapes manually with the available digitizing tools. It also explains how to adjust input settings to obtain the best results.