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The term conversion is often used in computerized machine embroidery to describe several different processes.
All above processes end with a stitch file, which is a simple list of commands for particular type of embroidery machine. However, the way of how to get this stitch file is much different because the source media are different.
Source media for conversion: left - stitches, center - vector object, right - raster image.
Digital stitch file is the end product of process called embroidery digitizing . It is relativelly simple list of stitches, colors and control commands for the computerized embroidery machine. The way of how these data are arranged into a file is called a file format .
There is a number of embroidery machine brands and types available and so is the number of stitch file formats that those machine understand. Designs either bought or downloaded as freebies use to be in many different stitch formats too. If design is in a stitch format that your embroidery machine does not understand, you would need to convert it.
During the digitizing , several source or helper files like template picture, vector drawing, etc., are created. However, these source files are usually not distributed with the final product - a stitch file.
From raster image through vectorized outlines to stitches.
The content of the plain stitch files is not the same for all file formats and their versions. It is important to be aware of this fact, because in many cases it causes conversion between the stitch formats to be not 100% accurate. For example, one stitch format stores color palette and the other does not. Of course, all stitch formats store coordinates of stitches. Without them the machine would not be able to produce embroidery. New stitch formats tend to bear more information like the older ones. They may contain commands for automatical trims, preview picture, hoop information, etc.
Stiches from one file format converted to stitches in another format. Stitches are same, but color is lost if the source file supports palette and the target file does not.
Most embroidery machines use the same grid (coordinate system) for stitches. This allows a seamless conversion of stitches without distortion of coordinates.
The place where the file conversion is done in Embird is module called Manager . It is an embroidery file explorer and it supports most of the embroidery stitch file formats on the market.
Please read this step-by-step guide on how to convert files in Embird Manager.
After conversion, the newly created file or files are located in the same folder as the source file, but they have different file extension.
Please note: files can be converted in bulk, not just one-by-one. To achieve it, select multiple source files at once before doing the actual conversion.
There is no universal stitch file format usable for all kinds of embroidery machines. Fortunatelly, most modern machines can read mupltiple formats. The most common stitch file format that most embroidery machines do understand is probably Tajima .DST . However, this is a very old file format and it does not contain colors.
Vector file contains graphics drawn with line and curve contours, which are scalable elements. Appropriate program is capable to render these outlines smoothly at (almost) any given size and also fill their inner areas, if needed.
Objects drawn with vectors can be moved, rotated, re-sized or otherwise manipulated without any distortion. They may also overlap each other.
Same approach can be used when digitizing embroidery design, just color fill of objects is replaced with stitches. It is much faster than creating design manually stitch-by-stitch. Also, vector files are very flexible when it comes to resizing and/or change of design parameters like density, etc..
Embird uses its own vector file format (.EOF ) to store source files from which the stitch files are generated. EOF files are created in Embird's digitizing module called Studio Next . Process of conversion of EOF vector file into stitches is called compilation.
Conversion (compilation) of vector object (left) into stitches (right).
Logos and other graphics in vector form can be easilly found on the internet. Professionals working in both graphics and embroidery preffer to use the same file for both fields. SVG format (Scalable Vector Graphics) is widely used for storage of vector graphics across all current computer platforms and operating systems.
Embroidery files are different from graphic SVG files in that they must contain objects in a specific order and with appropriate overlays. Furthermore, embroidery files must compensate for fabric push and pull effect and they must be made with other considerations of embroidery physics taken into account. So a simple conversion is not always possible. However, with Embird's module Studio Next , and a bit of practice, you can easily transform your SVG files into embroidery designs. To embroider an SVG file, you will need to import vector contours from SVG file into Studio Next and adjust their order, overlays and fill type. Compilation of such design from Studio Next produces stitch data that the embroidery machine can understand.
Please noe: besides the vector objects, the SVG file may contain links to raster images, textual data (not converted to vectors), animations and other objects that Studio Next cannot convert to embroidery.
Digital raster picture is a regular grid of small colored squares called pixels (picture elements). They cover whole area of the picture. Although some of them may have transparent color, they are still present in the picture and addressable. Typical example of the raster picture is a photo from digital camera.
JPG or JPEG files are raster pictures. There are many approaches of how to interprete their content in stitches. The choice of proper method depends on what given raster picture represents - a logo, portrait, landscape, etc.. Logo is best embroidered with standard stitch objects like satin (column), tatami (plain fill) and outlines. A photo-like content can be imitated with various photo-stitch techniques.
Studio Next is capable to generate embroidery from raster picture but it is not a direct conversion. Rather than that, it is a process of manual vectorization or auto-vectorization (auto-tracing) of individual objects in the picture and compilation of these objects into stitches.
In case of the auto-vectorization, the user clicks on places in the picture where the objects of interest are located and program finds their contours, vectorizes them into curves and lines, and fills them with stitches. As there is a user's intervention required, the whole process is semi-automatic.
Example: object in the raster image is vectorized and then this vector object is filled with satin stitches.
Portraits and other photo-like raster images can be converted to embroidery designs with Embird Sfumato Stitch module . Again, contours of objects in the picture are vectorized and they are automatically filled with stitcheds. In this case, the stitch density varies according to intensity of color in the picture.
Example: photo converted to embroidery. Left: vectorized color objects. Right: stitches creating a photo-like effect with their layout and density.