Embird Studio - Digitizing Software for Embroidery

Digitizing Tools (optional part)
Sfumato Stitch (optional part)

Optional Parts

Embird Studio is an additional plug-in for Embird, available in a separate installation file. It allows user to digitize her/his own, custom designs. Studio contains two parts: Sfumato Stitch and Digitizing Tools. Both Sfumato and Digitizing Tools parts are optional, which means that it is not necessary to purchase them both.

Digitizing Tools serve to fancy designs, lettering and company logos digitizing. Design is digitized so that user creates outline (vector) objects either on a blank background or on an image used as a template. Vector objects are then filled with stitches. Vector objects are created manually node-by-node, with free-hand or trace tool and from vector graphic files (SVG, EMF, WMF, CMX). All these approaches can be combined one with another.

Embird Studio - portrait created with Sfumato Stitch

Sfumato Stitch allows user to create photo-realistic designs from digital images. It can be combined with Digitizing Tools to add lettering, borders, etc. Sfumato uses similar vector objects like the Digitizing Tools, but they are filled with different type of stitches. Sfumato stitches form meanders of variable density to approximate the underlying picture while leaving the fabric show through.

Basic Embroidery Digitizing Concept - Vector Objects

While basic Embird program works mostly with stitch files, Studio uses vector objects for easier digitizing of embroidery design. Therefore, Studio uses other tools than the basic Embird program. Stitch files are the end product of embroidery software, because stitch files are used by embroidery machines as a list of commands to produce embroidery. Stitch files contain coordinates of each stitch and some color and trim commands. However, embroidery digitizing with stitch-by-stitch method would be very tedious and time consuming process.

Embird Studio - digitized vector objects (left), vector object filled with stitches (right)

Vector object (left) filled with stitches (right).
Vector objects can be easily resized,
because stitches can be re-generated.

Fortunately, most objects in design can be filled with more or less uniform type of stitches. Therefore, it is sufficient to draw vector outlines of the object and fill it with stitches in a similar way as you fill object with color in a graphic program. Tools available in Studio are very similar to those used in vector graphic programs. There is a big difference between embroidery design and vector graphic, however, and this difference is that order of objects and their overlapping is much more important in embroidery digitizing than in graphics. Moreover, objects in embroidery design should be connected one to another so that there is as low number of trims as possible.

Vector files generated by Studio are kind of "source files". When compiled and send to basic Embird, they produc e stitch files ready for saving in appropriate file format compatible with your embroidery machine.

Please read "Get Started" chapter. There are also special tutorials for Sfumato available in main menu/ Help.

Embird Studio - Digitizing Software for Embroidery

Digitizing Tools (optional part)

Sfumato Stitch (optional part)

Optional Parts

Basic Embroidery Digitizing Concept - Vector Objects