Starting a business - You have a general idea of what your business will do but you're uncertain about your final direction. You want embroidered shirts but you don’t want a logo that won’t work as your business evolves. What should you do? Have shirts embroidered with just your business name. Make sure your name is easy to read and contrasts well with the shirt color.
Two years later - Your growing business has direction. Its time to create your brand. Spend time considering the style, fonts, image, colors and organization in your logo. Is it understandable, unique, memorable? Does it represent your business? Get honest feedback and revise, revise, revise...
Two years pass - You want to introduce a new product. You develop a small logo to be embroidered on shirt sleeves.
Another year passes - Your embroidered logo could use an update. You change the business font, adjust the spacing so your business name can be enlarged, brighten the thread colors and choose a different shirt color.
Next summer - You want a subtle look. You choose a tone-on-tone thread color for your embroidered logo.
That fall - You want hats embroidered with a small design on the left front panel for a change.
Next year - Should you add employees names to shirts? Get hats for a give-away? Try a new shirt style? The possibilities are endless with custom embroidery!
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Monday, July 1, 2019
Your Embroidered Logo: DST Files?
What is a dst file? It’s a file format that many commercial embroidery machines read. It tells an embroidery machine what stitches to embroider. It's also known as a “stitch” or a “Tajima format" file after the Tajima embroidery machines it was developed for.
Can anyone open and look at a dst file? No. You need embroidery software that can open that type of file and an understanding of how to interpret the file. Most brands of embroidery software can open dst files because that format is considered to be the universal format for embroidery machines.
Are all dst files created equally? No. The quality level of the file is only as good as the digitizer who created it.
Do “auto digitized” dst files work? They should embroider but the quality level of the embroidery won’t be as good, the embroiderer may have trouble running the file or the file may run inefficiently.
What are some of the problems found in auto digitized dst files? Auto digitized files often use fill stitches rather than traditional satin stitches to fill in areas which can make the design look flat. Auto digitized designs often don’t have any sense of how the design should progress from the beginning to the end so these designs can take longer to run.
How long does it take to learn how to create a good dst file? It can take two years of concentrated study to begin to create good embroidery files and many years to perfect this artistic skill. For more information read What Is Embroidery Digitizing?
Can anyone open and look at a dst file? No. You need embroidery software that can open that type of file and an understanding of how to interpret the file. Most brands of embroidery software can open dst files because that format is considered to be the universal format for embroidery machines.
Are all dst files created equally? No. The quality level of the file is only as good as the digitizer who created it.
Do “auto digitized” dst files work? They should embroider but the quality level of the embroidery won’t be as good, the embroiderer may have trouble running the file or the file may run inefficiently.
What are some of the problems found in auto digitized dst files? Auto digitized files often use fill stitches rather than traditional satin stitches to fill in areas which can make the design look flat. Auto digitized designs often don’t have any sense of how the design should progress from the beginning to the end so these designs can take longer to run.
How long does it take to learn how to create a good dst file? It can take two years of concentrated study to begin to create good embroidery files and many years to perfect this artistic skill. For more information read What Is Embroidery Digitizing?
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Your Embroidered Logo: Quality Counts!
Want to have your business logo embroidered? Received a quote from a reputable embroiderer but the price seems high? Thirty-five dollars for the embroidery set-up?
You check the internet and decide to have your embroidery set-up done by a budget digitizer. The cost is $12.00 for your first design. Can you beat that price? You go ahead and have your design digitized. You receive your design and an image of the final product. Looks good! But wait...
You send the digitized file to the embroiderer so you can avoid paying their digitizing fee. But, the embroiderer says they can’t use the file because of quality issues. The file won’t run properly or look good when its finished. They don’t even want to attempt it. Should you try another embroiderer? You can. You might find an embroiderer that doesn’t care about quality but is that what you want?
If you want an embroidered design that represents the quality of your business then use an embroiderer who cares about quality!
You check the internet and decide to have your embroidery set-up done by a budget digitizer. The cost is $12.00 for your first design. Can you beat that price? You go ahead and have your design digitized. You receive your design and an image of the final product. Looks good! But wait...
You send the digitized file to the embroiderer so you can avoid paying their digitizing fee. But, the embroiderer says they can’t use the file because of quality issues. The file won’t run properly or look good when its finished. They don’t even want to attempt it. Should you try another embroiderer? You can. You might find an embroiderer that doesn’t care about quality but is that what you want?
If you want an embroidered design that represents the quality of your business then use an embroiderer who cares about quality!
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Your Embroidered Logo: Snapback Advertises Where HE Goes!
It's me! Your favorite cap. A black flatbill snapback! Want a cool custom look? Have me embroidered with your logo. Give me a simple, distinct design in contrasting thread colors and I’ll make a BIG impression wherever we go!
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Your Embroidered Logo: Update!
Hey! I’m an embroidered pocket polo. My guy, Frank, started wearing me so he could spread the word around about his new business. But, I’m wondering... My embroidered logo doesn’t look so good. The business name is small, the tag line text is hard to read and the stitching is falling out...
I’ve been replaced! Frank realized the poor quality of my embroidered logo wasn’t helping his business so he decided to have his logo redone by an experienced embroiderer. Now Frank proudly wears his new shirts every day. He looks sharp wearing his new custom embroidered pocket polo shirts!
I’ve been replaced! Frank realized the poor quality of my embroidered logo wasn’t helping his business so he decided to have his logo redone by an experienced embroiderer. Now Frank proudly wears his new shirts every day. He looks sharp wearing his new custom embroidered pocket polo shirts!
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Your Embroidered Logo: Design Tips
Its spring! Time to have shirts printed for your new business. You grab clip art from the net, pencil in some text and you’re good to go - right?
If you want a good design that isn’t too expensive to print then consider these ideas:
1. If the design is to be your logo that represents your business then you’ll need permission to use it. Not every image on the internet is free to use. Make sure you have permission to use your chosen image.
2. Use a decorator who has the ability and understanding to add your text to your image. Adding text to a design without any thought about the right placement, sizing, font or amount of text can lead to a poor design. Instead, use someone who has the right experience and skill to create a well-designed logo.
3. Consider simplifying your image to a one color design to save money if you plan to have your shirts screen printed. If you must have a multi-color design then mostly likely it will be more cost effective to have your shirts direct to garment printed.
Side Note: Many thanks to FEEDSPOT for including us in their list of the Top 25 Embroidery Blogs. We appreciate it!
If you want a good design that isn’t too expensive to print then consider these ideas:
1. If the design is to be your logo that represents your business then you’ll need permission to use it. Not every image on the internet is free to use. Make sure you have permission to use your chosen image.
2. Use a decorator who has the ability and understanding to add your text to your image. Adding text to a design without any thought about the right placement, sizing, font or amount of text can lead to a poor design. Instead, use someone who has the right experience and skill to create a well-designed logo.
3. Consider simplifying your image to a one color design to save money if you plan to have your shirts screen printed. If you must have a multi-color design then mostly likely it will be more cost effective to have your shirts direct to garment printed.
Side Note: Many thanks to FEEDSPOT for including us in their list of the Top 25 Embroidery Blogs. We appreciate it!
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Your Embroidered Logo: Use a Drawing???
Can a drawing be used to create an embroidery set-up? Possibly.
When a digitizer (person who creates an embroidery set-up) digitizes a design, he uses an artwork file as a template to show him where to place stitches. If the artwork file was created by a professional graphic artist, then it should be a clean, balanced, well-proportioned design.
A drawing can be scanned to create a computer file but that doesn’t make it equal in quality to professionally designed art work. Drawings usually need to be “cleaned up” to create a usable template for an embroidery set-up.
While a good digitizer can improve the look of a poor design the end result may not be as professional-looking as a logo designed by a graphic designer.
Instead, use drawings to develop your initial ideas and employ a graphic designer (preferably one who understand the needs of embroidery) to create your artwork and your logo will look and work better for your business!
When a digitizer (person who creates an embroidery set-up) digitizes a design, he uses an artwork file as a template to show him where to place stitches. If the artwork file was created by a professional graphic artist, then it should be a clean, balanced, well-proportioned design.
A drawing can be scanned to create a computer file but that doesn’t make it equal in quality to professionally designed art work. Drawings usually need to be “cleaned up” to create a usable template for an embroidery set-up.
While a good digitizer can improve the look of a poor design the end result may not be as professional-looking as a logo designed by a graphic designer.
Instead, use drawings to develop your initial ideas and employ a graphic designer (preferably one who understand the needs of embroidery) to create your artwork and your logo will look and work better for your business!
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