28.10.2016 Views

Embroidery Basics Articles

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Common Problems with Digital <strong>Embroidery</strong> Stitch Files – Help Center<br />

https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/221986647-Common-Problems-...<br />

2 of 4 10/28/2016 12:06 AM<br />

shrink it down for a left chest, then the entire 100,000 stitches would<br />

compress to that size. Their stitch lengths would also shorten. In the end,<br />

the garment would sustain too many stitches and disintegrate (tear or rip,<br />

especially at the edges of the design). The opposite effect happens when a<br />

small image is expanded to accommodate a larger area. In this case, there<br />

would not be enough stitches or density to cover the area, so the design<br />

would be gapped.<br />

3. Pull Compensation Errors - Digitizing is not the same as graphic design.<br />

An image may look fine on screen and not sew properly. Take the case of a<br />

simple fill with an outline (a square or circle). The fill would sew first, and<br />

then the outline would sew around it. However, as the fill sews in the<br />

garment, the sewn threads will tighten, and this will cause the garment to<br />

draw up, or condense. In embroidery, this is called "pull". Pull occurs most<br />

in the direction of sew, so in the case of a circle sewn with a horizontal stitch,<br />

the distance from left to right would be less than the distance from top to<br />

bottom when a final product is completed. To achieve a perfect circle,<br />

therefore, the designer would need to design an ellipse. To achieve a<br />

square, the designer would need to create a rectangle with the longest<br />

distance in the direction of the sew. After sewing the fill, the outline would<br />

then be sewn, but since the garment has changed during the fill, the outline<br />

would need to be designed in such a way to account for this change. Most<br />

professional digitizers will create files that appear to be misaligned on<br />

screen, but in fact these files sew correctly when run on commercial<br />

embroidery machines. This misalignment and distortion to achieve a perfect<br />

end result is called "pull compensation". When a final product is sewn and<br />

gaps and misalignments occur, then the design failed to account for the<br />

fabric distortion.<br />

4. Wrong Stitch Type - Not all stitches can be used to achieve the results we<br />

would want in our logo. There are basically three types: complex fills,<br />

column (satin) stitches, and manual stitches. Of these, the most common<br />

error by digitizers is using a column stitch on logo items that are too small.<br />

Column stitches are created using a loop stitch from one side of the column

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!