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 Custom
Embroidered Logos & Designs
begin with High-Quality Digitizing
Digitizing is the most important part for creating high
quality Custom Embroidery. Embroidery digitizing or coding, originally referred
to as "punching", is the art of creating embroidery
"stitches" from text or printed graphic art. Digitizing creates
instructions allowing a logo to be stitched on a commercial embroidery
machine.
We utilize state-of-the-art digitizing software using
advanced vector art graphics allowing for fast, affordable and precision
conversion of high end business logos, artwork and text into superior custom
embroidery. If you already have a Digitized file, we accept Tajima DST file
formats.
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We do our own Digitizing IN-HOUSE! High-Quality, Affordable and
FAST!
Digitizing is a one time expense. Once your Logo, Artwork or Design is
digitized
you can re-order as many times as you wish with no additional costs.
There are no digitizing costs for setting up simple text,
monograms or names using standard fonts. |
  LOGO AND THREAD COLORS:
Embroidery thread colors may vary from the actual
colors in your logo. Pantone PMS and RGB color matching are NOT used for
embroidery colors. Our Digitizing software analyzes the colors in your logo and
recommends a thread color which appears to be a close match.
click here to select THREAD COLORS
Please provide us with the proper thread color number. Also
keep in mind that colors on your personal computer monitor may vary slightly
from the actual thread color based on your computer monitor settings.
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LOGO SIZES: Logos placed on
shirts or jackets in a left chest position should not exceed 3.75" x
3.75" in size. Most Logos are usually sized to fit within 3 to 3 1/2"
wide. Logos are placed above pockets not on them. Embroidery on the back of
jackets or hoodies typically is sized to fit within 12" x 12", but
larger areas are possible.
LOGO EMBROIDERY ON HATS & VISORS: Hats have a limited surface area to embroider on depending on the
style of the hat, basically 1.75" up to 3" high. Low profile or unstructured hats should be limited to
embroidery 2" high, while structured higher profile hats can
accomodate embroidery up to 3" high. The majority of embroidery on hats is
4" to 5" wide, but we have the ability to embroider up to 270 degrees
around a hat for side facing logos.
Visors have minimal area to work with. The maximum vertical
area for embroidery on a Visor is usually 3/4" to 1" high. Basically,
Visors should be used for text or very small simple logo images only.
 LOGO
NO-NO'S: Embroidery is NOT printing, if your logo or
artwork includes drop shadows, color gradients or shading, we will have to
discuss how to make the color scheme conform to embroidery. Color gradients or
shading are not practical in embroidery. We have some tricks, but there are
limits on what can be achieved with needle and thread.
We cannot duplicate color gradients within small individual
letters, numbers or other small objects, gradient effects can be reproducted
only within larger objects or shapes. Certain color gradients can be dealt
with. This is done using thread layering and over stitching.. Although this
achieves a gradient type effect, it also adds considerable stitching to any
logo. Our fish example shown below demonstrates this technique. Notice that
there are several areas where colors are layered over colors at the tail and
gills.
 The use of
gradients may increase the overall embroidery cost by as much as 30% to 60% or
more depending on the number of layered colors and overall size of the logo or
design. Because layering adds substantially more stitches, the added quantity
of stitches does not work on all types of fabrics such as lightweight, thin or
stretchy knits.
Typically, we can do a 2 or even 3 color gradient effect.
But, when gradients have many more colors, then trying to reproduce that with
embroidery is not considered the best approach unless the embroidered image is
very large, i.e. a full size jacket back.
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LOGO TEXT AND LETTERING: Letters which are too small or certain font styles do not embroider
well. Consider the difference in height between Capital Letters and Lower Case
Letters. Fonts with serifs, i.e. little points or thin lines at the ends of the
letters, look great on letterhead, business cards and anything that is printed,
BUT those fonts do not embroider well especially when they are small. It is
very difficult for needle and thread to recreate those. Avoid small lettering
using fonts with serifs such as: TIMES ROMAN, BODONI, BOOK ANTIQUA or
COOPERPLATE.
Avoid excessive outlining of letters, especially on small
letters. Thin lettering including narrow fonts like Times Roman, brush scripts,
handwriting styles just to name a few, should not have outlines, unless the
letters are at least 1/2" high.
TEXT letter sizes must be at least
1/4" high or
a FONT SIZE of 24 as a MINIMUM at the final embroidered size.
DO YOU HAVE MICROSOFT WORD? Select any font style
you like from Microsoft Word, we've got them all and more! When you select
text, please let us know the font style, the color, the size and format of
capitalization. Not all font styles can be embroidered, please select solid
letter style fonts and avoid fonts with graphic embellishments, built-in
outlines, intense internal details or objects.
Make your logo really cool with FREE fonts from: www.dafont.com
There are corporate logos and designs which use
one-of-a-kind custom or unique fonts which we may not have.
When sending a Vector Art File (Ai, EPS, PS, PDF, CDR
or CMX), convert the TEXT TO CURVES or OUTLINES to reduce the possibility of
font conflicts. or send us your custom TTF font file IF you want us
to EDIT your text or if you want us to ADD matching text, without your unique
font file, we cannot recreate the text properly.
Fonts are found in the folder WINDOWS; subfolder FONTS,
simply attach the font to your e-mail for download. If you have trouble
attaching a font directly from the font folder, you can create a copy of the
font by opening your font file folder in a small window and then drag that font
to your desktop where you can then attach it to an email. We can only use font
files with a file extension of TTF or OTF. If your font is MAC based, find your
FontBook and send us the DFONT file.
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What format is YOUR LOGO? VECTOR ART or
BITMAP (RASTER):
  Bitmaps are images made up of little squares.
Imagine creating your logo using graph paper. There
are no lines, no arcs, no shapes, just lots and lots of little squares. So all
outlines and edges are ragged and jagged, not smooth. Bitmap files include BMP,
GIF, JPEG, TIFF and many more. All paintshop programs and digital cameras use
bitmaps only.
Bitmaps cannot be scaled very well. Its very difficult to
take a bitmap image which looks great when its the size of a postage stamp and
make it the size of a wall poster. If you send us a bitmap file, PLEASE, make
sure it is sent as large as possible. We need a resolution of least 300 dpi or
higher. Copying images from the internet will always result in low resolution
72 DPI images.
  Vector Art is an image made up of points and
lines. It is a mathematical formula which defines
the shape. Each line has a start, a finish, a length and a direction. No matter
what, math controls the shape, so circles are really circles, and lines are
perfectly straight. Re-sizing an image or logo is a snap with vector art
because the mathematical formula is built-in and is always working to control
proportions, so no matter how small or how large you want your logo to be, it
will always be exactly the same.
Vector art works best for embroidery. Almost all corporate
logos developed by professional graphic design firms are in Vector Art formats.
Vectors are the standard in graphic design, printing and publishing. Vector
file formats include: Ai, EPS, CDR and some PDF, there are many others, but
those are the most popular formats.
FABRIC GUIDELINES FOR EMBROIDERY:
Embroidery is NOT a one to one replacement for printing,
patches or heat transfer vinyl lettering. Although embroidery is done with
needle and thread, there is a limit to the amount of stitching any fabric can
hold. Logos, Text or Artwork in excess of 10,000 stitches may cause slight
pulling on the surrounding fabric, especially on very lightweight, stretchy,
loose or open weave fabrics such as most T-Shirts, Lycra, Spandex, polyester
knits/blends, polyester mesh, terry cloth or rayon fabrics.
Embroidery thread is heavier, stronger and a tighter
density than the surrounding fabric. If your project requires large, dense
embroidery over 10,000 stitches, please select heavyweight fabrics with an
ounce weight higher than 7 ounces OR fabrics with tight weaves including denim,
double pique, oxford cloth, cotton canvas, poplin, twill, wool, flannel, fleece
or microfiber.
Embroidery will always look best on strong, closely knit
fabrics. Open knits or loose knits such as piques, waffle knits, rib knits or
similar fabrics which are uneven may cause very thin or very small lines or
letters to sink down into the fabric or get lost in the weave because there is
not as much fabric to hold the close stitching together.
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