{"id":31,"date":"2016-12-06T16:42:56","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T16:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/?p=31"},"modified":"2017-12-06T00:34:06","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T00:34:06","slug":"converting-jpg-and-other-graphics-to-pes-and-other-embroidery-design-formats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/converting-jpg-and-other-graphics-to-pes-and-other-embroidery-design-formats\/","title":{"rendered":"Converting JPG (and other graphics) to PES (and other embroidery design formats)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a digitizer, some\u00a0of the questions I’m frequently\u00a0asked are, “How do I convert a JPG to a PES file? \u00a0What software do you recommend for creating my own designs?” \u00a0I usually answer by letting the person know that there’s not really a way to simply “convert” a graphics format to an embroidery format and end up with a usable design. \u00a0They are two totally different types of files. \u00a0Graphics files are made up of shapes and objects (vector) or pixels (raster\/bitmap) and embroidery files are made up of stitch commands that tell the machine when to start, stop, change colors, what length of stitch, what direction, and many other variables. \u00a0Graphics files need to be digitized for embroidery, preferably by a skilled and experienced digitizer. \u00a0<\/strong>IMPORTANT: \u00a0Before digitizing an image or having it digitized or tracing it for any other use, please, please, please be sure you have the proper license\/permission from the artist. \u00a0Not only is it respectful, it will prevent expensive and time-consuming legal troubles down the road.<\/p>\n

Ahhh, but there *is* a way to convert and it’s called auto-digitizing and there are quite a few programs out there (and even machines!) promising to easily convert your graphics to embroidery files with a few clicks. \u00a0Prices range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know from interacting with customers that many crafters who are familiar with vinyl and digital cutting are entering the embroidery world. These crafters\u00a0are looking for a\u00a0quick trace function similar to what exists in vinyl\/graphics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, let’s look at some embroidery files that I created from high-quality vector .eps clipart. \u00a0I used Wilcom’s Embroidery Studio software\u00a0which is a top-notch professional program. \u00a0If this was a raster\u00a0file instead of a vector, some additional steps would need to be taken to reduce the number of colors in the design. \u00a0Some common raster\u00a0graphic formats are jpg, png, bmp, and gif. \u00a0Some common vector\u00a0graphic formats are eps, svg, dxf, ai, and cdr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This design was auto-digitized. \u00a0This is what you can expect if you want to simply “convert” graphics to stitches. \u00a0I imported the graphic file\u00a0into my Wilcom software and clicked around a few times to convert the image\u00a0to stitches. \u00a0The software decided what type of stitch to use, what angles to use, what underlay to use, and so on. This is as simple as it gets. \u00a0What I ended up with had 6 colors but\u00a0nearly 100 color changes so I sorted the colors into 9 steps and 6 colors since I planned to stitch this design. \u00a0This design took about 10 minutes to produce from start to finish. \u00a0The software pretty much did all the work. \u00a0To be fair, I also ran the same image through Brother’s PE-Design Software “Image to Stitches” function. \u00a0You can see the results HERE<\/a>. \u00a0\"Birthday_Girl_Auto\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next, I took the same image and imported it into a new file in my software. \u00a0I didn’t convert or change anything. \u00a0I used the graphic as a guide to create my embroidery design. \u00a0I manually drew each element of the design and applied my own settings for start and stop, stitching order, stitch direction, stitch type, underlay, etc… \u00a0If you’d like to see that process we have a video you can watch HERE<\/a>. \u00a0This took over an hour from start to finish (and I have nearly 10 years of digitizing experience and around 20\u00a0years of graphics experience).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Birthday_Girl_Manual\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at how these designs stitch. \u00a0I am going to use the same stabilizer, thread, materials, and technique for both designs so the only difference is the digitized file. \u00a0The stabilizer is a 2.5 oz cutaway, the material is knit t-shirt hooped with the stabilizer, the thread is 40wt polyester embroidery thread, and I used my usual Organ 75\/11 EEBR needles on my Brother 6 needle embroidery machine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s the auto-converted design first. \u00a0There are jump stitches as a result of the software applying the lock stitch, trim, and jump settings instead of the digitizer (me). \u00a0The circles ended up being stitched over. \u00a0Very strange.\u00a0\"IMG_0863\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stitching is gappy as a result of the software applying the\u00a0settings for stitch direction, pull compensation, underlay, and density.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0864\"\u00a0\"IMG_0865\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

It really just doesn’t look very nice and since I didn’t apply\u00a0the design settings myself, I don’t know if the software added the necessary tie offs that would keep this design from coming unstitched in the wash.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Auto1\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s the design that I manually digitized using my knowledge and experience. \u00a0My software is simply\u00a0the tool that allows me to apply what I know about embroidery while creating the\u00a0design. \u00a0The software didn’t do the work this time. \u00a0I did. \u00a0No crazy web of jump stitches to trim because I digitized the design to minimize jumps and also set the appropriate tie and trim settings. \u00a0Overall looks much nicer (in my opinion).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"manual1\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, if you are interested in creating your own designs you should know\u00a0that there’s no easy button, no tracing or converting is going to give you something usable unless it’s a very simple one or two color vector image (and in that case manual digitizing is still going to give you nicer results in about the same amount of time). \u00a0You have to ask yourself if you would rather use\u00a0a professional digitizer to provide you with ready-to-stitch quality files or if you’re truly\u00a0ready to invest financially in a digitizing program and then commit your time to learning digitizing concepts\u00a0and applying them in your software. \u00a0Watch our video<\/a> and if you decide that digitizing is something that interests\u00a0you, look for a full, manual digitizing program that allows you to create the design yourself with your own settings instead of just auto-digitizing for you. \u00a0Look for a program with online support or dealer support. \u00a0Understand that your software is only a tool and that your knowledge of digitizing is what’s going to allow you to produce an awesome design. \u00a0I hear from SO many customers who invest time in digitizing software only to find themselves disappointed\u00a0that the software doesn’t do\u00a0the work for them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope you enjoyed and learned from this post. \u00a0Happy Stitching!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As a digitizer, some\u00a0of the questions I’m frequently\u00a0asked are, “How do I convert a JPG to a PES file? \u00a0What software do you recommend for creating my own designs?” \u00a0I usually answer by letting the person know that there’s not really a way to simply “convert” a graphics format to an embroidery format and end … Continue reading “Converting JPG (and other graphics) to PES (and other embroidery design formats)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69,"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lynniepinnie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}