Digitizing for others

Well ... Lets see here ... there are SO many things to consider.

1. Generally if you digitize correctly you don't need to make ANY adjustments it should sew fine from machine to machine. Babylock / brother uses PES file format. Industry standard is .DST make sure you are familiar with dst e.g. dst does not store any color information like PES does. So you will need to deliver a color change chart to all your customers. I have found that you need to work in .dst format. if you work in .pes then convert to .dst sometimes your jumps get messed up. beware of that first and foremost.

2. Scammers: they're all out there, generally you offer an edit with your design, so it gives them a chance to tell you what is wrong, and you correct it. Most embroiderers, or at least good ones will not scam you, and are decently honest. Still that one is a risk.

3. Advertise, word of mouth, offer deals discounts with embroiderers, bulk pricing. Put out a few posts here, embroidery yellow pages, craigslist even.

4. MOST big shops have some sort of in-house digitizing, try to go after their "overflow" if they get busy or what not.

5. I haven't met a digitizer yet that hasn't e-mailed the design. It lets you deliver your product instantly and effectively. I have never heard of e-mail programs messing up design code, but just incase, ZIP the file before you send it, that should protect the original file.

6. Generally, you are going to want to know, what size the design needs to be, and the garment e.g. T-shirt, cap, fleece, twill, denim, etc. so you know how to set your underlay, pull comps, and all that stuff.

7. I suppose you can recommend stabilizer, but I have never seen anyone do it, thats up to your customer how they want to sew the job. Believe it or not, I have had a lot of clients requesting tear away on shirts, most people don't like that piece of stabilizer on the garment, just because. Occasionally I've seen a recommended hoop size, but thats about it. The less you say the better.

Now ... a few of MY questions. What software do you use? Do you have some GOOD software that you can actually crank things out and make some money? Designs are only as good as the person who digitized them, I realize that, you can make works of art with any software, however if you are using a beefed up home program like generations versus a commercial program like Wilcom, or Wings, even Design Maxx. It make take you 3 hours in generations versus 20 minutes in Wilcom. Its all about speed. When a client sends you a file, they expect it back in 24 -48 hours, maybe less. I know if I send out some designs, I expect it in 24 hours or less. Time IS money.

Hope I have answered some of your questions.

-- Eric

I would say unless you have a proven track record of digitizing you should not offer the service to the public. You are asking for more trouble than it's worth. When shops send their designs out, they expect a near perfect file in return. Otherwise you will be learning on the fly and that is never good if you are charging for your work.

I do 95% of my own. However for the really complex designs I send it out. I consider myself to be pretty good, but not good enough to sell my work.

The service I use for digitizing has over 50K tied up in software and machine. As well as years of experience. Not all digitizing services are equal. Most shops are just like mine. They only send out the really hard stuff. Are you ready for that? If so...Go for it! If not, have another beer and forget about it.

i do lettering actually. any design i send out. my digitizer is 4 hour turn around time for me. we have a good bond been using him for along time, a little pricey but the work is sensational.. thats important in the biz. Giving more than the competition, the only reason why i wont switch is because of the turn around time. if you could offer amazing turn around time your business would be booming in no time. You have to be careful of the embroiderers too. not just the digitizers. some digitizers take payment after the design and never get payed after they've sent the design out. ... but people like papers. like material forms and stuff it makes you look professional. but just know when someone says i need this in this size and you cant produce it in that size nicely. not saying your a bad puncher i dont know. but thats what made me leave my previous digitizer. i needed a logo he said it was impossible. and i lucked on to the guy im with now who said thats easy. so be careful before you say its not possible. only say it if you know for a fact its not!. other than that i know squat about digitizing haha i use wilcom lettering and know pretty much basics. i cant give you the great advice that people who actually digitize give you. i can only give you my thoughts on when i deal witha digitizer what i like.

hope this helps

Eric. u need a machine huh. i know someone selling a barudan 4 head for a pretty good price.. ill give u her # i bought one of my tajimas off her,

Hello to all.

Come take a look at my website and you'll have a basic idea
of how you can run your online digitizing business--->
http://www.webstar88.com

I agree with what Eric said: you have to have a good program and good skill.
Because you are no longer doing things for yourself. You will be selling
your skill as a merchandise. And you have to do it fast or you will
lose a lot of customers.

I agree with what has been said. I believe a lot of one's digitizing skill is based on their ability to correctly interpret artwork. Once you digitize for other people you'll receive a variety of artwork ranging from total junk to vector art including art that is fine for four color process but isn't possible to translate into embroidery. It will be your job to decide what you can do and how you will do it. Sometimes you'll have to ask your customer how a design element is to be interpreted.

One way to market your business is to see if you can be put on a list of digitizers for the software you use. Also, some digitizers market their business by answering digitizing questions on different embroidery lists and offering to fix problem designs for free.