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sugarstitch β Embird Digitizing Tutorial Part One
Published: 2014-02-03 02:51:31 +0000 UTC; Views: 12532; Favourites: 190; Downloads: 130
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Massive file ahoy!
PART ONE: You are here!PART TWO: fav.me/d74wb06 PART THREE: fav.me/d750zuj PART FOUR: fav.me/d751bt8 PART FIVE: fav.me/d754mo7 So, I use Embird Studio for my digitizing. As far as I can tell, Embird is one of the best programs you can get in it's price range, and though I've never used Stitch Era I've heard it's very similar. With Embird you download the program as a trial, and if you like it you can then purchase the registration key which will allow you full access. I'm pretty sure the only thing you can't do with the trial version is save designs. I'm not sure about international dealers, but I'll put a link at the bottom for the site I got the registration key for Australian users. One thing with Embird though is that the basic program does not allow you to create designs. You need to purchase the basic program, and then the Studio plugin. Just the basic program by itself only lets you edit designs you already have, and even then you can only do basic things, or edit each individual stitch (which is ridiculously time consuming).
When I first got Embird, I was disappointed to find that there aren't really any tutorials for it. There are some on their website, but most of them are very basic and I don't know if I'm just a derp but a lot of the ones I needed made no sense to me, and I had to figure out a lot by myself which was very frustrating at times. So, I've decided to make a walkthrough type tutorial to help anyone in the position I was in.
This is part one of my Embird digitizing tutorial. Sorry it's so huge, but if I made it any smaller you wouldn't be able to read much of the screenshots. I should have the rest of the parts up in the next few days - I might even have the next part up later today. Also, sorry in advance if I sound at all condescending. I've done this in a way that even absolute beginners should be able to follow it.
Rarity Eye vector is by and can be found here:
Embird website: www.embird.net/
Registration Key for Australians: www.ggcreations.com.au/althea/β¦
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Comments: 54
Hello there, I'm not sure I understand your question sorry?
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Thank you for this. I plan on getting an embroidery machine soon.Β
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No problem, hope it's helpful for you~
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First of all: thanks so much for this tutorial! It's been really helpful in learning to understand Embird and I'm super grateful that you took the time to put this together.Β
I do have one question with regards to machine embroidery though, that I was hoping you would maybe be willing to help me with ;o; I got my embroidery machine a couple days ago and I made a little design in Embird (Luvdisc eye+cheek) using your tutorial but when I did a few test runs on minky I found the minky puckers pretty badly around the edges of the design, even when I changed the density in my design from 2 to 4. I understand ~some~ puckering is normal but it's a lot worse than I know it could be (for example your pouches are so nice and smoothh~). I'm thinking I'm probably not using the right kind/amount of stabilizer (single layer of cutaway) but maybe I'm not hooping correctly or my machine's upper thread tension is too high or I should be using fabric spray or.. Well the list goes on xD Anywaysss, if at all possible, I'd like to avoid having to buy tons of different types of stabilizer and wasting a lot of minky by testing out all sorts of combinations, so I was wondering if maybe you'd be willing to share your stabilizer/hooping secrets that allow you to embroidery on minky with minimal puckering? I would be fovever in your debt. ;o; Holy cow that got long, sorry for the entire story. If you don't have time to elaborate, I totally understand orz
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Hi there, so sorry for the delayed response~! I'm so glad you've found this tutorial helpful 
Hmm, that sounds frustrating. Your right that a little bit of puckering is fairly normal though. Anyhow, I use two layers of cutaway stabiliser, it's a soft heavy weight one from Marathon Australia. I 'float' my embroidery these days, which basically means I hoop the stabiliser, then just place the minky on top. It saves a bit of time and creases in your fabric. You can use a spray adhesive if you like, but use it sparingly. I don't bother with it because my machine doesn't like it much (it seems to cause a lot of thread breaking for me) and I find that minky doesn't shift too much. I usually just gently hold it down while the machine is doing the underlay stitches.
I can't help much with machine tension, since my machine is finicky with that too, so I tend to just leave it alone.
Sorry if I haven't been much help (though I hope I have aha) and good luck~! If you need help with anything else feel free to ask
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Yess, there's a few tutorials on Youtube as well but I found yours absolutely the most wholesome in explaining what steps to take when digitizing a design!
Anyways, I just tried again using two layers of cutaway stabiliser and it really made a world of difference, I'm so happy! Thanks so much for your tips! ;o; I was starting to get a little discouraged and I'm glad the solution was this easy. xD I'll definitely try floating the fabric as well, I had considered the idea but I was worried about the minky getting all bunching up, but I'm glad to hear that shouldn't be a concern.Β
Your advise has been super helpful, I'm very grateful. 
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Ah I'm so glad that worked for you~! I've always found that more stabiliser is better, and I've always found tearaway to be kinda rubbish for me aha. Probably because I do my embroidery fairly dense.
Good luck with it all, if you ever need more help just let me know
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can i save my image if i still on the 30 day trial. because everytime i try to save it it wont let me need help
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Unfortunately you can't save designs with the trial version :\
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Thank you so much for this tutorial! I've been trying to figure this out and could not find anyone that would give a good enough tutorial on how to do this! No one explained that you needed the plug-in if you wanted to import designs and it was so frustrating! Thank you sooooooo much I was started to get so discouraged and frustrated because I couldn't figure it out! This is a really nice affordable program, better than having to spend a few thousand $ for the other ones, this one seems to get the job done very well but i'm so glad you made this tutorial because if you didn't I don't know if I would have ever figured it out and realized it required the plugin as well. ^^
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No problem, I'm really glad you've found it helpful
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Hello, I am new to this group, can you download the lessons or print them?
Fran
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Hi there, there should be a download button to the right hand side of the page.
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Hi, the button does not work????
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Hmm, I'm not sure why it isn't. I don't have it disabled, so it must be something going wrong with deviantart
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Thanks again, wish I could download it, the tutorial seems really good.
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how can you make original digital embroidery on the program?
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I'm not sure I understand what you mean sorry
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Do you have a tutorial on making a plush-friendly vector/image for commissions? So the commissioner doesn't have problems with resizing, and whatnot?
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I don't sorry, but there's quite a few vector tutorials here on dA
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Do you have any examples?
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You have no idea how much I love you right now! Thank you so much for this tutorial.
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Haha, no problem at all
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Have you used sofie sew? How does that compare to embird?
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I have to admit, I only played around with it a tiny bit. I know it's prone to crashing, but with me it literally did it every few nodes, and I got really frustrated and gave up haha. I haven't used it enough to really compare it, but has a tutorial for it here: fav.me/d5dc5ef
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I am really looking forward to trying this! I have an embroiderer but I haven't been able to properly digitize something. Which Studio plug-in do you recommend?
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I'm glad this is helpful
Oh whoops, I'd forgotten that studio has the two plugins 
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I am so glad you posted this tutorial-- my method of creating designs has been drawing them out stitch by stitch on Inkscape and then running them through several converters, and then my designs always look like crap.
I am confused about the Embird downloads, however.
Do I have to buy the main program and then the plug-in? Or just the plug-in? I know I should try to find the answers on the site, but honestly it's a tangled mess of advertising and techno-jargon that I can't wrap my feeble marshmallow mind around.
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I'm so glad you find it helpful
It's not overly clear is it haha. You need to get the basic program and the Studio plug-in. The basic program by itself can only edit pre-existing designs whereas the Studio plug-in is what you use to make designs from scratch. I really wish you could get the plug-in by itself, since for me at least Embird basic is completely useless haha. Unfortunately you do need it to run the plug-in, but for it's price I would definitely say Embird is worth it. There are other programs that cost $3000!
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OK, thank you so much! It's so difficult to find an artist who actually responds to questions.
I am definitely going to get Embird, then.
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Not a problem
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Wonderful! This looks so much easier then what other tutorials make it out to be. Now i can't wait to try it once you've completed all the tutorials!! Thanks so much for sharing this
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Awww, I'm glad you like it! Yeah, the tutorials on the Embird website are pretty useless haha. I'm so happy this is helpful for you
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Haha, thanks
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Kind of relieving to see I'm not the only one that doesΒ manual design.
Also cool to see some screenshots of Embird even though I'll probably never use it. Thank you!Β
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I had an autodigitizing program to begin with and I hated it. It is tedious doing it manually, but the result is much better.
Not a problem
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I certainly believe that.
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Sorry if this has been asked before, but what brand of embroidering machine is Embird's designs compatible with? (or just what kind do you use?)
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Haha, you're a few steps ahead of me
Once you've finished your design and save it in Editor it'll let you select what format you want it saved in. I'm not sure it has every format, but it's got a lot. The screenshot will be in the last part of the tutorial, and I have a Brother machine so I save my files as .PES
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Whoops! Sorry, should have been patient! But that's great to know. Thanks so much for making this tutorial!
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Haha, it's all good
And no problem - I just wish I had a tutorial when I first got Embird
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This is amazing! I can attest as a beginner that you definitely do *not* sound condescending! This is more helpful than words can say! I love the way that you word things - making everything very easy to grasp. Though I am still attempting to perfect a pattern, I have been saving for the necessary bits for embroidering and this definitely helps me understand the steps clearly. Embird is sounding more and more appealing - especially at that price and with your advice!
There are so few tutorials on such things, which is incredibly understandable since, as you said, many plushie makers have had to learn on their own. So I cannot express enough appreciation for you sharing such a valuable tool! I really like how you addressed every issue - and you can tell that you did! - and are just so generally helpful and sweet. I cannot wait to see the next part and learn more! Thank you so much for creating this and sharing your knowledge. I will certainly be using this! Β
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Awww, thank you so much
And it's not a problem, I'm happy to help. If you ever need help with anything, feel free to ask.
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hmm~ i havent gotten an embroidery machine yet, but i'll keep this in mind for when i do! Thanks for the tutorial!
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Not problem, I'm happy to help
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Tip: I always stitch a really big and tight underlay under all colors before doing any cover stitches. That way your fabric won't stretch away.Β
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