| Machine Embroidery Digitizing - What Youll Need Besides the Software |
| postdate:2008-04-12 HITS:52 |
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You've purchased an embroidery machine, practiced the designs that were included in the package, maybe even bought a disc of designs or downloaded a few designs off the Internet to stitch out. Now you're thinking about investing in digitizing software and taking your embroidery to the next level. But the digitizing program is just a part of what you'll need before entering the creative world of embroidery digitizing.
Choosing the hardware An embroidery digitizing program is image editing software capable of converting a digital picture to stitches and saving it in a format that can be read by your embroidery machine. And, like any robust image editor, a digitizing program is resource intensive. The program's packaging will state the manufacturer's recommended minimum computer system specifications to operate the software. Let's take a look at just such a recommendation and see how the 'minimums' stack up. (I won't mention the program or the manufacturer but these are actual recommendations from a popular digitizing software Yours may vary but probably not by much.)
The computer
Manufacturer recommends: IBM-PC or compatible computer originally equipped with a USB port.
I recommend: The same.
Operating System
Manufacturer recommends: Windows(R) 98, ME, XP or 2000. I recommend: Windows(R) XP Pro with the latest Service Pack and updates. You might be able to get by with an antiquated operating system but not for long.
Mouse
Manufacturer recommends: N/A
I recommend: Any comfortable, optical, non-rollerball mouse. When doing imaging you cannot attain the precision you need with a rollerball. And an optical mouse means there is no ball on the bottom to catch or jerk at a critical time.
Processor
Manufacturer recommends: Pentium 500 MHz or higher.
I recommend: Pentium class 1 GB or higher. The faster the processor the better. We're imaging, not typing a letter.
Memory
Manufacturer recommends: Minimum 64 MB (256 MB or higher is recommended.)
I recommend: Minimum 512 MB. Memory is cheap and more is always better. You can never have too much.
Hard Disk Free Space
Manufacturer recommends: Minimum 100 MB
I recommend: You'll need 100 MB free to install the software but you're going to need a lot more than that to store your creations. Purchase a hard drive with a minimum of 40 GB, 80 GB or higher is better. A hard disk is like a garage: It collects junk and you rarely clean it out. Give yourself plenty of room for storage.
Monitor
Manufacturer recommends: SVGA (800x600), 16-bit color or higher.
I recommend: 17" SVGA (1024x768), 32-bit color. You're going to appreciate the extra screen real estate from a large monitor, and you'll need to be able to easily differentiate your thread color choices.
USB Port
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