Impressions - April/May 2013 - (Page 56)

talking SHOP Embroidery Production Use Software Settings for More Quality Embroidery Tackle the following 7 sewout quality issues by making minor software adjustments. By Deborah Jones, Contributing Writer FIGURE 1. Fixed or absolute pull compensation adds width at a speciﬁc measurement to the entire selected object. w here do you think you can improve when it comes to your embroidery’s quality? Chances are good that you can correct many bothersome issues simply by using your shop’s embroidery software system. For this article, you’ll notice that many of the discussed settings are stated in metric terms. This is because the units of adjustment are so small that the metric system is more precise and less confusing. If you currently have your embroidery software set to input design measurements or letter heights in inches, I encourage you to consider switching to metric measurements for a week. You may never go back to using fractions of an inch to describe small measurements. Also, keep in mind the following best practice for editing: Before you begin to edit any design, open it and save it with a new name, such as DesignName_rev1. This allows you to retain the original ﬁle without changes while practicing your editing skills. Now, let’s look at some examples of quality concerns and their solutions. 1 Lettering Appears Narrow and Sinks Into Fabric Possible software solutions: Add pull compensation or underlay. 56 Impressions | April/May 2013 FIGURE 2. Proportional or percentage pull compensation adds width based on a percentage, so narrow areas do not have as much added as wide areas. This is an easy ﬁx, and virtually any modern software package allows the user to change settings to increase the column width of any object. You probably already know the lettering needs to have “pull compensation” applied, but maybe you don’t know which type or how much to apply. In many systems, there are two pull compensation setting choices. The ﬁrst is absolute or ﬁxed. This adds width to the entire object at a speciﬁc measurement. In Figure 1, a speciﬁc measurement using ﬁxed or absolute pull compensation has been added to the entire arrow shape. In Figure 2, percentage or proportional pull compensation has been applied. In this type of pull compensation, width is applied as a percentage of the object width. Notice that a very small amount of width has been added near the arrow’s narrow point, but much more has been added to where the arrow is wider. I prefer to use the latter type of pull compensation for lettering because I think it helps keep the lettering truer to the original shaping and tapering on script styles. If the lettering is small, use enough to make a difference, but not so much that the small openings in letters like a lowercase “b” and “e” become closed. I often ﬁnd that about 15% does the trick. Of course, if the fabric is plush or textured, you also should check whether additional or different underlay is needed to help the stitches sit on top of the fabric. Double zigzag underlay is great for plush materials (Figure 3). Edge walk underlay helps hold a straight edge on columns of lettering that is ½-inch or taller, and can be combined with other underlay types, such as zigzag or double zigzag (Figure 4). 2 Small Lettering Has Bulges After Sewout Possible software solutions: Use a specially digitized font and lighten density. When you create keyboard lettering, it is common for bulges to appear in areas where the stitches change direction. For this reason, most modern software contains keyboard lettering styles created speciﬁcally to enable clean appearances in small lettering sizes. These usually don’t stitch as cleanly as custom-digitized letters in very small sizes, but they represent a big improvement over using fonts designed for larger letter sizes when you’re actually dealing with letter sizes smaller than ½-inch. Check in your software and you will probably ﬁnd fonts with names like “Century Small” or “4mm Block.” In some software, the column width and density are locked and can’t be changed for these specialized fonts. For them to impressionsmag.com http://www.impressionsmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - April/May 2013

Impressions - April/May 2013
Contents
First Impressions
From the Show Director
FYI
Product Gallery
ISS Conferences
Game On!
There’s a Cap for That
Should You Start a Preprint Line? Part 2
How to Maximize Your Resources
Setting Up a Mobile Garment Decoration Business
Shop Spotlight
Embroidery Design & Digitizing
Embroidery Production
Screen Printing Graphics & Design
Screen Printing Production
Online Directory
Digital Decorating
Classifieds
Ad Index

Impressions - April/May 2013