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longxi000 
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| 04/08/2008 5:49 PM |
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By Jimmy Lamb, Contributing Writer
As a commercial embroiderer, you’re faced with pressure to keep stitch counts low to reduce your customers’ embroidery costs. This is a reasonable concern considering our competitive marketplace, but you must be careful not to sacrifice quality to pacify a customer’s cost expectations. However, good embroidery can be achieved using fewer stitches by adjusting the design’s density, increasing stitch lengths and changing stitch types.
source:http://www.emb-m.com
REDUCE DENSITY
Reducing the density of satins and fills is the easiest way to save stitches, but be cautious when doing so. Assuming that you use the proper settings when digitizing, you can reduce density by 5% to 10% at the most. And depending on what type of garment you are sewing on, the fabric’s characteristics play a significant role in how much you can alter the density.
Smooth, stable fabrics (such as denim) can usually handle a greater density reduction than knits or those with a textured surface. Also, pay attention to the contrast between the fabric and thread colors. Large differences, such as black thread on a white fabric, will require more density than jobs where the colors are more complementary.
Here’s an example: A 30 mm x 30 mm fill segment with a density of 4.0 points (pts.) has about 1,220 stitches. If you reduce this by 10%, the new density is 4.4 pts., which yields about 1,108 stitches. That’s a significant change for such a small area, so make sure there is still enough coverage for the specified fabric.
GO LONG
The second method for reducing stitch counts is to increase the stitch lengths for running stitches. Many digitizers simply use the default running stitch lengths provided by their software and don’t take the time to analyze and adjust these values.
Consider this: Many software systems feature a default running stitch length of 3.0 mm. Thus, if you had a segment that was 36 mm in total length, you would expect it to have 12 stitches, each one being 3.0 mm in length. If you increase the stitch length to 4.0 mm, then you would only have nine stitches, each one being 4.0 mm in length (a 25% reduction in stitch count).
That sounds easy enough, but is it appropriate for the design? For most straight lines, longer running stitches will often suffice. But for curved lines, lengthening the stitches doesn’t always provide smooth curves. Also, be careful you don’t create extra-long stitches that snag easily and pull out of the design.
Another important consideration when increasing running stitch lengths is that embroidery machines typically slow down when sewing longer stitches. Most commercial machines automatically reduce their speed for stitches that are 4.0 mm or longer. If you reduce stitch count by increasing running stitches to 4.0 mm in length (or more), it will take longer to sew the design. You’ve reduced the stitch count and probably the customer’s price but in reality, it takes just as long (or longer) to sew the design because of the reduced speed. So be careful that you aren’t actually losing money on the job.
The same concept can be applied to fill stitches since they are composed of nothing more than zigzag running stitches. Most digitizing software allows you to choose different patterns for your fill stitch segments. Patterns are created by varying running stitch lengths and repeats within the segment. By choosing different patterns, you will probably find different stitch counts.
For example, in the Tajima DGML by Pulse software system, creating a 30 mm x 30 mm fill segment using a density of 4.0 pts. and fill pattern #1 yields 1,220 stitches. By changing over to fill pattern #6, the stitch count is reduced to 844 stitches. The reason that Pattern #6 has a lower stitch count than Pattern #1 is that it has longer stitch lengths within the pattern, some of which exceed 4.0 mm. Thus, the machine will slow down when sewing. The end result may be fewer stitches but not necessarily a shorter run time.
CHANGE IT UP
Switching stitch types where appropriate also can reduce stitch counts. For example, a fill segment that is 10 mm x 40 mm, with a density of 4.0 pts. has 626 stitches. By changing it to a satin segment with the same density, the stitch count drops to 217 stitches. Be cautious with this technique, however. The maximum width that can be set for a satin stitch is about 12 mm — and that’s stretching it. So when you change stitch types, make sure the new stitch segment is suitable for the design you’re working on.
You also can change satin stitches to running stitches in some cases, such as borders. Suppose you had a 50 mm diameter filled circle with a satin border using a density of 4.0 pts. The number of stitches in the satin border is about 700. Changing that satin border to a running stitch border with a 3.0 mm stitch length would reduce the stitch count to 64. My preference is to make the running stitch segment into a bean stitch segment to create a thicker border segment, and it would still only have a total of 174 stitches as compared to 700 for the satin version.
Figures 2 and 3 illustrate this concept. Figure 2 shows a design with 14,995 total stitches. By changing the satin border around the oval section to a bean stitch, the total stitch count drops to 13,966; a savings of 1,029 stitches (Figure 3). Though this is an easy change, make sure it isn’t detrimental to the design’s appearance. For instance, filled areas typically look much cleaner when bordered by a satin segment rather than a run segment, so make your choices carefully.
These three techniques are the most common ways to reduce stitch counts, though there are other options. In some cases, the overall design can be reduced in size. Or appliqué can be substituted for embroidery stitches, particularly on larger designs.
Another technique is to sew with a heavier thread weight, such as 30 weight. The larger diameter allows the density of satins and fills to be reduced while still providing the same coverage as with 40 weight (standard) thread. However, the stitch count is less due to the reduced density settings. Always keep in mind that lower stitch counts do not guarantee a faster run time, so they don’t necessarily justify a lower price |
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starwhizz777
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| 04/08/2008 6:14 PM |
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hi Jimmy
Thats primarily true, and in addition most today still pack in large amounts of underlay without realising that new developments in backings have largely reduced the need for highly intrusive underlays. Selecting the correct backings can also allow overall densities to be reduced , and lowering densities on thread groups that are similar to background fabric is also an assistance. Applying strategic underlays as opposed to fully automatic underlays is also another way to save on stitches. Some software functionality can also have a lot to do with reduced stitch counts..eg in I-Cliqq software, theres the 'extend symmetrical ' feature which aside from saving time, also saves on stitches.
If you 'youtube ' and search embroidery software , you can see a bit of that.
Overall, I think its a combination of a few factors that can contribute to streamlining stitch files and the resultant end product. In embroidery , its very rare that just one single factor affects outcomes.
bye
Nevi
www.efectpro.com
www.i-cliqq.com
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Nevi
www.efectpro.com
Digitizing..feel the difference. |
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