Auto-digitizing

Automatic digitizing often gets a bad rep, partly because most people that have been digitizing for years know that it can't be all things to all people, and this is true. It can however allow the novice to start digitizing perfectly acceptable designs, while they are learning the more advanced nuances of manually digitizing.
The key to digitizing automatically is to start out with good artwork. If you need to make changes to that artwork you can do this within the auto-digitizing process, before you translate the design into embroidery, or after the design has been converted to embroidery using the shape editor. You can also make adjustments to the automatic density, pull compensation and underlay settings.
Automatic digitizing is a very powerfull tool and one that I encourage you to use, but I also suggest that you preview the resulting design and makev sure there are no adjustments to be made before you sew out your final embroidery.

Before you start digitizing a design, whether it is automatically, semi-automatically or manually, you can go to the general options menu item in, KPD Compositions, which is located under the tools heading and choose the fabric type that you will be digitizing for. This will set up the proper density, pull comensation and underlay type or types that are most appropriate for this particular design. While this is a time saving device for experienced digitizers, it is a godsend for novices as it pretty much elliminattes the need to understand the relationship between the digitized design and the quality of the finished embroidery. The more you digitize the more you will learn about what settings work for a particular fabric and which don't and you can become more and more involved with the digitizing settings and eventually defining your own unique digitizing style.

I created the design above by combining 4 different flowers from my "Fabulous Florals" collection with the lettering "WILD" at the top using Fairbanks block and "Flowers" on the bottom using Bellagio script, using Compositions project based embroidery design software. To see how easy this software is to use go to the demo at www.kenparsonsdesigns.com, while you are there you can also view all of the designs in my many collections.

To view a quick demo go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fisoYgZkypY
Ken Parsons Designs Announces KPD Compositions Advanced and Pro Two new products have been added the the KPD line; KPD Compositions Advanced and KPD Compositions Pro, both are fully functioned digitizing, editing and lettering software programs. Among their shared features are: A totally customizable user interface, which will automaticall choose the proper density, pull compensation, and underlay based upon the users fabric choice. The Autodigitizing Wizard, which totally automates the digitizing process while still allowing the user to edit the artwork and finished embroidery design. Templates, both systems come with both a neckline and circle template, which allow the user to place any design on a neckline, collar, cuff or equidistantly placed on a circle. Lettering which allows the user to create lettering on a line, arc, or morph into any shape using the Envelope feature. Create designs directly on the garment, The garment icon allows the user to bring in an actual garment pattern and choose the location or multiple locations for the finished embroidery and actually create the embroidery within that environment. STO, the built-in stitch processor works in the background so that all changes the user makes to a stitch file will not affect its sewing quality. Simple, clean and self-explanatory user interface, which keeps training and the learning curve to a minimum. KPD Compositions Pro adds: A Repeat Template for sewing patches and name tags. 100 Standard Fonts. True type lettering The ability to convert Vector art to embroidery. Advanced stitch editing and more outline editing tools. Automatic applique, Automatic fills with voids, Steil stitch, and Cross stitch fill. Motifs Artwork Tools And much much more. Right Product, Right Price Both KPD Compositions Advanced and Pro are designed to allow both the novice and professional experienced digitizer to create even the most intricate designs with ease and speed. The programs are completely customizable so that you can choose to digitize using Bezier, simple draw and freehand drawing tools. You can also choose if you wish the program to decide where each segment starts and ends and the direction of the stitching, or you can make those choices manually. For beginners KPD Compositions can be used to totally automate the digitizing process, essentially eliminating the learning curve. For the advanced the built in styles, customization of tools and hotkeys, and a built-in Stitch Processor speed up the process and provide a very comfortable and familiar user interface. About Ken Parsons Designs Ken Parsons Designs was established in 2006, and has always been a software and embroidery stock design provider. Our dealers include; Ann the Gran, Embroidery Central, Embroiderydesigns.com, and Metro embroidery threads. Pricing KPD Compositions Advanced List Price: $499. KPD Compositions Pro List Price: $1,199.

We all have our favorite settings for creating lettering for differnet situations. For small lettering I like to decrease the density to 45 SPI and to add a single perpendicular running stitch as the underlay. For large lettering on a towel I like to use density of 65 SPI and a crosshatch underlay. You get the idea, and I am sure that you all have your own list of perfect combinations of settings that work just right for you. When you are creating your lettering using KPD Compositions you can save an unlimited amount of lettering styles, so that you can quickly and automatically call up the most perfect and personalized settings for the particular type of lettering you need.