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Archive of ‘Software Techniques’ category

More Denim Inspiration

by / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Techniques, Uncategorized, Vintage Embroidery Software / 1 Comment

Last week, we started with this flower in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro (with Vintage Embroidery Software installed on the computer):

and ended up with this flower:

You can follow those steps by clicking here. Now, let’s take it a step further. Remove the complex fill (blue) and the center embellishment (red).

Resize the flower to 2.13” x 2.07” and move it to the top right corner.

Now that the flower is smaller, you might want to narrow the oval shapes a bit. Just click on each side center point and move the node in towards the center.  Copy and paste all elements.  Move the second flower below the first. 

Remove the two bottom petals and ovals (they are all separate elements).

Select the Shape tool, zoom in and click on the left petal extending below the square.

Move the stop point to a node just above the square outline.

Delete all nodes below the outline. Repeat for the right petal.

Change the colors of the second flower.

Copy, paste and rotate the third flower. Move it to the open space on the left.

Recolor and resequence all elements so that the 15 wt. elements stitch as one color and the 40 wt. ovals stitch as one.

Of course, you can add color stops to stitch three uniquely-colored flowers.

What a fun trio of flower patches!  

In a few months you’ll see what I decided to do with the patches in a future issue of Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine.  I know there is bleach, bling and a bit more of embellishment in their future. But I’d love to hear what you would do them. Please share!

70 Free Training Lessons!

by / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized, Webinar / 4 Comments

Really? 70 free training lessons on software?  Yep – it’s all on the Inspired by DIME YouTube channel.  You can learn about Inspirations software programs in the comfort of your home, in your pajamas, in the middle of the day or in the middle of the night.  And they’re free. Each video is about 60 minutes so that’s 4,200 minutes of education!   

Every month, our resident software wizard Katherine Artines uploads a new video that’s chockful of information and often includes a project (or two or three) for you to create in your software.  For instance, in this month’s video, PEP Text Trails Project, she explores text on a path, spiral text and circle text.  

 

You’ll learn how to go from this:

To this:

She includes references to other videos that delve deeper into specific subjects.  In this month’s video,  she included this call out:

That’s so helpful when you’re trying to understand the difference between backdrops and artwork.  She also includes keyboard shortcuts (my preference when digitizing) such as this:

If you’re serious about machine embroidery – and you must be or you wouldn’t be reading Software Saturday! – then you are probably contemplating purchasing software or you already have.  I want to encourage you to use it and not to be afraid of your software – it’s such a fantastic tool and help is just a click away!  Use it to learn it. Watch instructional videos to master it.  You’ll be so glad you did.  Click here to view the Inspired by DIME YouTube channel.  Subscribe today to receive notification when a new video is posted. You’re going to love learning with Katherine Artines.

 

 

 

 

Text Editing Tips

by / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Tips, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Often, new users in Inspirations Perfect Embroidery Pro struggle with making simple changes in text files.  It’s really quite easy so follow along in your software to get a better understanding of text editing.

Open a new page in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro. Click on the Text icon. The cursor changes to an A and the Properties Box opens. Select your font. I’ve chose Arial Small. Type a fictional recipe into the Properties Box, then click Apply. 

With the Text tool still selected, change the justification to Left Alignment.  Click Apply. Notice all of the editing features available on the text itself. You can move individual letters, whole words and lines. 

When the Select Tool is used, your options diminish. You can size the design (the software sees it as a design and not text when the Select Tool is used), rotate, mirror image, duplicate, etc. But you do not have the freedom to edit the individual letters. 

Click on the Text tool again, and all of your text editing options appear. I’ve readjusted the kerning on the word chips.

When I click on the Select tool again, my changes are there.

Save the design now in C2S – the native format of Perfect Embroidery.  Change the color of the thread to green and save it as Chips.pes. Close both designs.

Open Chips.pes. The design is no longer recognized by the software as text – it’s just an ordinary design. When you click on a letter, the sequence field now shows all of the individual elements of the design – runs and satins. Ugh – that’s very challenging to edit.  

Not to worry, you have the original file. Open it and you’ll find the software recognizes it as text and all of your editing abilities are right at your finger tips! 

For instance, you can increase the 5 cups to 6 cups if you’d like. 

This is a great example of why it’s so important to save the original file in C2S and a working copy in your machine format.  Make your changes to the original and you’ll always have the ability to edit.

 

 

Tropical Summer Stitching

by / Alignment and Placement, Clothing, Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized, Vintage Embroidery Software / 8 Comments

The May/June issue of Designs in machine Embroidery featured one of my favorite new projects: Hints of Havana. This project could have easily been called Hints of Hawaii summer Splash, Tropical Flavors or well, you get the idea. You’ll find this look in the women’s department of any retail store this summer. If you missed the issue, here’s how to do it in Inspirations’ Vintage Embroidery Software.

Open a new file in Vintage Embroidery.  Click on the Designs Library icon and retrieve the following designs: ABS_0090_D, ABS_0093_D, FLO_0028_Flower, FLO_98_LilyD and FLO_0097_Flower.

Place Abs_0090 in the center.  Place ABS_0093 below it.  Flip 0093 vertically.  Ungroup 0093 and remove the leaf at the top right. 

And the top left. 

Add FLO_0028 at the top right. Copy, Paste and flip it horizontally. Move the second repeat to the left of the center designs. Use the alignment tools to position the designs symmetrically. 

Merge FLO_0097 into the screen. 

Delete the running stitch outline around the flowers.  Carefully group each individual flower.  One by one, select each flower and position it around the four larger motifs.   The fastest way to do this is to position all the flowers on the right side then copy, paste and mirror image.  Move the second set to the left of the larger motifs.  The Group and Ungroup tool is helpful here. Use it when moving all sections and you won’t leave any stray stitches behind.

Merge  FLO_0098_Lily_d into the design. 

Move the lily design to a clean area and delete the first two colors.  Select the remaining portion and mirror image it vertically. 

Center it under the newly-created design.

Save the designs as PB. The PB design measures 230mm x 240mm.  Since I don’t have a hoop that wide, I’ll split the design in Perfect Embroidery Pro.

Open PB in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro. Select the design and click on the Split Design icon. 

The Split window appears.  Select your hoop from the drop down Hoop menu. 

Place the cursor in the 1:1 and 2:1 segments to toggle back and forth until you have a split that you are comfortable with.  

Click Save and the software will split and save the design into two files.  Both files include a long basting line.  Use this line to align the two hoopings.  

I’ll use my PAL 2 (Perfect Alignment Laser) to align the second hooping with the first. Love that tool – it’s makes aligning designs a breeze!

June 2017 Update – Video!

by / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Software Updates, Uncategorized / 14 Comments

Take a video tour of June 2017’s Update, Version 9.55 with Katherine Artines.  Katherine – our resident digitizing whiz – posted a 48-minute tutorial focused on the June update for Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro (PEP) digitizing software.  She’ll walk you through each of the new features so you can see them in action.  Click here to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2867m5j4ZM

In Katherine’s newest video, you’ll explore PEP’s newest features: Nap Blocker, Projection, Filter and Change Style. 

The best part of watching Katherine work her magic is you can learn at your own pace.  You are free to stop the video, rewind and watch important segments again. Before I watch Katherine’s videos, I open Perfect Embroidery Pro so I can duplicate her lesson as she teaches. I watch a few minutes, pause the video and minimize the YouTube screen. Then I repeat the steps she taught in my own software.

If I struggle with the technique, I maximize the YouTube screen and watch again. Once I feel like I know what I’m doing, I move onto her next technique.  I found this is the easiest way for me to master a new technique – by watching and doing right in the comfort of my home.

Katherine is an excellent teacher, she explains every keystroke she takes so that you’re not trying to guess how to get the results she gets.  She uses built-in designs so you can duplicate her work. Plus, she encourages you to use in the built-in art tools as many of us are not artists. She shows you how to powerful results in just a few keystrokes.

Subscribe to the Inspired By Dime YouTube channel and you’ll be notified as soon as a new video is posted.  Then take the time to watch – you’ll learn how to get more out of your embroidery software investment!

Free Updates – June 2017!

by / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Software Updates, Specialty Fabrics / 4 Comments

If you own Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro, you enjoy free updates forever. Really.  Forever.  Many updates work in the background to keep your software compliant with the latest Windows updates. In addition, some PEP updates include new features.  This month, you’ll find three very handy new features.  When you log on to PEP on Monday, June 5, you’ll be prompted to update your software. It’s not mandatory but it is advisable.

Three of my favorite new features are Projection, Filter and Nap Blocker. Let’s take a look at each one.

Projection morphs a single running outline into unique rows of flowing stitches.  Digitize a curvy line, overlapping here and there to mimic half of a butterfly. 

Select the line.  In the Properties Box, click the arrow next to Standard in the Type field and select Projection.   

Wow – look at what Projection produces!  Beautiful! 

I copied, pasted and mirror imaged the wing.  Then I added antennae and a body. 

It’s easy to change the distance between the rows of stitching. In the Properties Box on the Run, change the Density to produce different results.  The image above was 4.0. A bit more open is 6.0.An exaggerated spacing of 12.0 results is wide open spaces between the rows.

Filter allows you to make quick changes to specific stitch types.  Open a design that includes a variety of stitch types (satin, steil, run, complex fill, etc).  The Owl is from Inspirations’ Elegant Wisdom Collection, design #98627301.  Select the design, right click and select View, Filter. 

A new window pops up with all stitch types.  Place a check mark in the Run box and click OK. 

Now only the run stitches are visible. 

You can make any change you want to these stitches. For now, let’s just change the color to black. 

Select all, right click, View, Show All. 

That was so easy!

What if you want to stitch this owl on terrycloth?  Those run stitches will seep into the texture and disappear.  The Nap Blocker feature adds a layer of stitches behind all other stitches to hold down the nap of textured fabrics.  Select the design, right click, Utility, Create Nap Blocker.

Now the design will sit on a field of stitches whose only job is to smooth the texture of the fabric. The software automatically puts the Nap Blocker segment as the first stitches of the design. Assign a new color to the Nap Blocker, then select a thread to match the fabric. the Nap Blocker stitches will be practically invisible. 

Next Saturday, we’ll delve into to the newly-updated Style feature and explore the Vintage settings in the new Filter feature.  In the meantime, enjoy Projection, Nap Blocker and Filter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volume 104 Subtle Tees – Leaf Lesson Part 1 of 2 – Software

by / Alignment and Placement, Blue Hair Girl, Current Posts, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Stitching on Knits, Subtle Tees, Uncategorized, Wearables / 3 Comments

By Denise Holguin

This is expanded coverage of the Subtle Tees project featured in Volume 104 May/June 2017.

Lesson Highlights:
Copy, paste and rotate designs in embroidery software to suit your needs.

Design:  Leaves & Branches Garland Frame
Company:  Stitchtopia / http://www.stitchtopia.com

I like to let the creative process unfold.  Initially, when I purchased this design I planned on placing a word in between the frame.  But the more I thought about it, I decided to transform the design to a 4-sided frame to showcase a spray painted leaf.

I think the process of creating and transforming is the most enjoyable part of stitching a t-shirt.

Open the Leaves & Branches Garland Frame in Perfect Embroidery Pro or similar design editing software.  I used the 4” frame to accommodate the scale of the shirt and the size of the leaf stencil I will be using.  (This very generous collection includes multiple sizes including:  4”, 5”, 6”, 7”, 8”, 9” and 10”.)

It’s easier to group each row of garland separately before we start rearranging and copying.  To do this, select the top garland.  Right click with the mouse button.  Select Group.  Repeat this step for the bottom garland.  If you choose not to group, it can be a little tricky to select the correct elements that make up a single garland design.

Select the bottom design.  Copy and paste. Slide the design to an empty space.

With the newly copied design still selected, go to the Transform Tab.  Type 270 in the Rotate box and click Apply.

Reposition the design so that it is to the left of the original frames.

Slide the top and bottom garland designs to make room for the new vertical garland.

Select the left garland.  Copy and paste the garland.  Slide it to the right side of the design.

Go to the Transform tab.  Click on Flip horizontal.  Press Apply.

Rearrange the garland designs as needed until you have a pleasing shape.  Once finished, go to Edit / Resequence by color.

Save the design, print a template and send to the embroidery machine.

Vintage, Old School, Retro – Get the Look!

by / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Inspiration Socials, Inspiration Software, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Vintage Embroidery Software / 12 Comments

Last week, Sew Much More, Austin, TX, hosted the first Vintage Chic event and wow- it was a hit!  Attendees were fascinated with the look of this trendy embroidery.  Inspirations Education Consultant Ashley Jones repeatedly heard, “Did you embroider your shirt?  Can I do that too?”

Ashley Jones, Inspirations Education Consultant

They were captivated with the new techniques Ashley shared.  The four-hour class went by in a flash.  Ashley freely shared her samples and knowledge so that attendees could go home immediately and have success. She even shared how she used the threads on her serger.

Dime’s Rope 15 wt. polyester thread stitched on a serger!

And how to mix these chunky stitches with prints – like a powerful black and white stripe!

It even pops on prints!

There were so many happy faces in the crowd.

Who said embroidery is a solitary sport?

They couldn’t wait to get started on their own vintage creations.  Attendees exclaimed, “Finally!  I can duplicate this look on my home embroidery machine.”

Ready to get started!

Not only will they have immediate success with these techniques but you’ll two very informative videos on the Inspired by dime YouTube channel.  Our stitching wizard, Katherine Artines, posted these Vintage introductory videos on Friday.  If you’d like to learn more about the software, click here to watch Katherine’s videos.  While you’re there, subscribe to our YouTube channel so that you get all of the latest information on the Inspirations software line.

Dealers across the country are hosting Vintage Chic events.  Click here to find an event near you!  Join in on the fun because the embroidery rules have been rewritten!

 

The Embroidery Rules Have Been Rewritten

by / Clothing, Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Inspiration Socials, Inspiration Software, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized, Vintage Embroidery Software / 14 Comments

For years, I’ve been making embroidered gifts for two special men in my life. I don’t want to ‘throw anyone under the bus’ so let’s just call them – the boys. The boys are always grateful and charming when accepting these items from the work of my hands.  It’s a lovely moment. I’m touched by their gratitude and they’re touched by my thoughtfulness.  And then….I never see the items again.  I mean, NEVER.  But that’s changed because now I’m using Inspirations newest software – Vintage Embroidery Software – and the boys love the results!  One jacket I created for one of the boys has become a wardrobe staple. I’ve seen him wear it at least once a week. Wow! I’m so impressed with the possibilities this software offers, it’s a real game-changer.

So what’s so different about it?  Well, it’s not traditional embroidery – the rules have been re-written to give the look of yesterday’s hand stitches coupled with today’s digital products and high performance threads.

This software was inspired by what you see in retail stores: big, bold stitches in matte threads on knits, denims, cotton and linen.  The long stitch length and thick threads result in low-stitch count designs making garments so comfortable.  There’s no need for heavy cut-away or fusible stabilizers; just lightweight water solubles or tear-away wash-aways give all the support that’s needed.  Vintage embroidery is fabric-friendly and embroiderer-friendly!  The designs are low stitch count (because the stitches are big and the polyester thread is chunky). And the boys love to wear it because it’s comfortable and mimics what their friends are paying big bucks for.

This t-shirt and hat combo stitched in under 20 minutes – including hooping!  Love that!This backpack stitched in under 8 minutes.  Vintage Embroidery Software takes gift-making to a whole new level.Up until, a home embroiderer couldn’t get this look on an embroidery machine without some serious digitizing skills.

The best part of Vintage Embroidery software is you don’t need digitizing skills. You get to select from over 1500 built-in designs and 18 fonts.  It’s so user-friendly, it even tells you what thread weight to use for each color so you can duplicate the look.   The software gives you tons of editing and conversion tools, it’s quite robust without being overwhelming.

Next week, I’ll show you more and share a link to Katherine Artines how-to video on YouTube.  For now, you can ask your location Inspirations dealer for more information. They received their shipment of the software last week!  And you can attend a Vintage Chic event to learn more about it from one of Inspirations expert embroidery educators.

Click here to find a dealer and here to find an event near you.  In the meantime, take a look at what the software can do to a tired, denim jacket.

 

Fun with Symbols!

by / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized / 8 Comments

The built-in Symbol designs in Inspirations Perfect Embroidery Pro are tiny and intended to be used as border accents.  But you can do so much more with symbols.  Their small stature makes them perfect candidates for stitching fields of flowers, flocks of birds and schools of fish with just a few clicks.

Open a new screen in Perfect Embroidery Pro and click on the Symbol icon. Scroll down through the menu and select the Fish. Click OK. 

In the color sequence window, change the first color to blue, same as the second color.  

Recolor the blue and white to something you’d like. I chose blue and yellow.

Select each color, click on the Command tab in the Properties Box and change the End command to trim from normal. Click Apply. Make sure you do this for all three colors.

If you don’t, you might wind up with a mess like this:

Select the fish, click on the arrow next to the Circle tool and select Scatter.

Change the Area to 100mm x 100mm.  Remove the check in the Auto Rotate box and click Apply because fish in schools all swim in the same direction.

Click Apply again if you’d like a different layout.  These layouts are random so if you see one you like, click OK.

Select the design and Ungroup.  Reposition any fish if you’d like. At this point, there are 162 colors in the design. Yikes!  That’s a nightmare but an easy fix. Select all of the fish, go to Edit and select Resequence by Color.

The design is now three colors but it appears the needle will be jumping all over the hoop. 

No worries.  Go to File, Optimize Sequence. 

Now the design will stitch logically and your one fish has multiplied into a whole school!

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