In the meantime, Floriani released a new update to the Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro product the last weekend in April. You can check for updates by opening the software and selecting Check for Updates beneath the Help menu. After running the update, you should have version 4.73 of the software.
I haven't meant to ignore the blog, but I've been working on a wedding commission that's due this month. I'll get back to actively answering questions and sharing information after the wedding.
In the meantime, Floriani released a new update to the Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro product the last weekend in April. You can check for updates by opening the software and selecting Check for Updates beneath the Help menu. After running the update, you should have version 4.73 of the software.
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Monday, January 10 was the first Floriani Series 2 class to be held at the Issaquah Sew & Vac in about six months. We were doing the lace insertion towel for the first time. Everything was going smoothly until we went to add the Q from one of the Text Design alphabets to the towel. Of the eight of us there, about half of us didn't have the alphabets in the Text Design catalog anymore and the other half did.
Here's the thing, however. When I prepped the lesson about 2 weeks before class, I did have all the files in the Text Design catalog. When I went to insert the Q in class, my Text Design alphabets were gone. Now, I know that I didn't delete them, but just the same they weren't there. Fortunately I was able to copy the library of files from someone in class who still had them to those of our computers where they were missing, and we could finish the class. As soon as I get some time, I'll go up and post this issue in the Floriani Support Forum. In the meantime, since I know that neither I nor anyone else in class deleted the files from our computers, I would suggest that you backup the files in the following folder to a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM: C:\Program Files (x86)\G7Solutions\Click2Stitch\Library. This way if yours should go walkabout at some point, you can just copy them back to where they belong. This is a reprint of the 12/14/2010 Shibui Originals From Thought To Thread blog entry of the same name. Starting a home-based embroidery business and need to know about software? That's what this blog discusses. If you need to be able to create your own designs for machine embroidery, you need to have digitization software. Why? You need digitization software because while you may have some clients who will pick out a predigitized design from a catalog that you offer, you'll have others who want you to digitize their logo or their custom design for them before you do any embroidery. Now I've used Pfaff 3D and Pfaff 4D both of which had multiple programs operating within the one umbrella. Creating a design and editing a design were done in separate windows. I used this software on and off for a couple years, but it wasn't terribly intuitive. After Pfaff software, I used Brother's PE-Design 7 solidly for a year. I got decent results, but once again, different functions used separate modules rather than one unified interface. Also, anytime that I wanted to digitize a curve, I had to represent it with lots of points which made editing the curve a nightmare. Everything was based on bunches of points which eventually drove me nuts. I was working for another company, at the time, and started doing research on what software would make me a more efficient digitizer. I stumbled across a magazine advertisement for Floriani Embroidery Suite Proaround that time, and the features intrigued me. So I loaded up the demo (which is a full version of the software that doesn't allow you to save) and tried digitizing one of the designs I'd been working on in PE-Design 7. After a couple hours I knew that this was the software that I wanted to use for future digitizing. Several months later, my boss and I were laid off, and we started our own embroidery business. Within three months, I went out and purchased Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro. Let me say this right off the bat: if you're looking for a digitizing package that will be able to easily and effectively auto-digitize designs, give up now. I've never seen a demo of a digitizing package that doesn't tout its auto-digitizing or magic wand features, but this rarely works as well when you get the software home. Furthermore, wizards and magic wands don't give you the quality that you need for professional embroidery. That said, a number of things make me recommend Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro:
The advertisement I read said that you could import Adobe Illustrator art directly into Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro for digitizing, and I was really excited about that. In reality, it doesn't work smoothly or consistently, and the thing that got me to look at the software in the first place is something I never use. I suspect that it doesn't work that well because Adobe Illustrator isn't terribly backward compatible, and Floriani can only import Illustrator version 10 files (version 10 is a lot of versions in the past). Even when I've experimented with converting current Illustrator files into version 10, I've gotten mixed results. But that brings me to the other software that would be useful if you're starting a home-based embroidery business.
Whenever you can, seek out training for the software that you've purchased. Check out community colleges for classes in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Check your local sewing store to see if it offers classes in Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro. There are many books on the market for Adobe and Quickbooks. Take a look at them and see if you find them helpful because the less time you spend flailing, the more productive you are.
If you've decided that Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro is the digitizing package for you (as it is for me), attend the free webinars that Walter Floriani occasionally holds online. You can also check out my book Pictures to Stitches to help you learn to the basics of the software. Again, as a parting thought, let me state that machine embroidery isn't a cheap hobby or businessto get into. But if you're looking for a way to be creative and yet usable at the same time, there's nothing like it. I've added a new page: Tips & Tricks, and it has its first tip on it. This tip talks about what to do if you've created a folder or sub folder in Design Library and included a period in the name.
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