I'm an Ethos software user and I'm thinking about changing to DecoStudio, I was wondering about the manual digitizing tools in the DecoStudio package, are these tools strong enough to manually digitize. Also how is working with fonts? working with Fonts in Ethos software is ridicules!

Palindrome

I am using Deco Studio and Brother PE Design 7. 

With the single exception that there are a few more decorative fills in Deco Studio, the Brother program is far, far superior.  Deco Studio cannot change out of the .EMB format without totally screwing up all the colors (it will covert your pattern into its own Deco colors in the order of use).  Deco Studio CANNOT save in the .PES file format in any version.  If you are thinking of using Deco Studio for commercial uses, I would suggest trying another product.  I have found this program to be virtually worthless compared to the Brother program.  There has not been a single digitization that went better in Deco Studio than it did in PE Design (which cost about 1/3rd as much).  This is my personal experience, but if you want to buy Deco Studio--I'll sell you mine with a $500 savings!  Contact me at sharsand@gmail.com

Hi sharsand,

well, I don't own such a machine but a customer of mine working with DecoStudio somehow managed to feed designs digitized with DecoStudio not only into her industrial SWF but also into her Brother home embroidery machine, sorry, don't know which model. I think, she uses PE-Design V6 and as far as I know, she had problems only with opening PES V5 files. I am pretty sure, this matter is taken up by the developers already. I reported the problems to Wilcom support but couldn't be that exact than you due to the fact that I couldn't collect experience hands on, she is living 1000 km South of me. I had to rely on what she was reporting to me.

BTW, she never got into digitizing very deep since she felt not to understand how to digitize with her old program and is a very happy camper now using DecoStudio.

I believe this has something to do with personal habits and of course the level of digitizing skills matters a lot. I believe,  if you know  what you are doing and how settings should be in different situations, DecoStudio probably will limit you quite soon.

But this is not a problem of DecoStudio or Wilcom in general. I simply believe you are skilled enough to use the professional ES System with all it's possibilities and DecoStudio does not suit your needs and skills.

And there is also a difference between home and industrial embroidery (machines): Home machines have many features in terms of safety issues as well as guiding information (color brands/names on screen) which most of the industrial machines don't have. In industry the user has to take much more care e.g., not to hit the hoop or to assign needles in the correct order which are loaded with the relevant thread colors . Before DecoStudio there was a huge gap between home embroidery SW and industrial SW, but anyhow, I am still convinced that DecoStudio relates more to industrial users like graphic design(ers) companies who are used to workd with graphic programs and now being able to convert their shapes into embroidery but on the other hand also being able just to digitize in the embroidery part of the program without any graphics conversion. Believe me, those customers, who start to offer also  embroidery in addition to their  prints, don't take nor have the time to get into old style digitizing - they wan't acceptable stitch outs in a short time. They don't spend hour over hour in manual digitizing like you probably will do, like I did as home embroiderer and often do nowadays being in the industry.

I have been in contact with Wilcom Australia and THERE IS A SOFTWARE BUG in DecoStudio e1.  Files save in .pes but, except for ver. 1 (limited number of stitches), they are corrupt and cannot be read by the machine or other software that opens .pes files.  The software bug is being fixed and is a known issue with Wilcom.  I don't have a clue how your friend got her Brother machine to read a .pes ver. 4 or ver. 6, because DecoStudio currently cannot write a usable file.

A workaround has been discussed in other posts which involves using TrueSizer - 2006; you must save your .emb files in the 2006 format to use TrueSizer - 2006 to convert your .emb files to .pes files that you can actually use.

Sharon

It could be that your calibration kept your screen parameters withing those acceptable for the TrueSizer 2006 program--my calibration increased the values way outside those parameters (note the warning they have with the downlaod).  The other thing may be the system you are running is different.  I'm running Windows Vista (and it does a lot of things differently than XP, Millinium or '98).  My guess is that you are not running Vista.  I'm glad you didn't have the same issue.  I tried it twice and the same thing happened the two times I used the screen calibration.  I do not have ES, so can't comment on this.  I'll revise my warning to:  If you are running Windows Vista and the DecoStudio screen calibration gives you numbers larger than the default setting, you MAY find you have to reset the default settings and run Windows Restore.

Sharon

hi

Scan/import stuff , in comparison to vector to stitch stuff is a bit different, in some ways..and also in many ways - depending on the quality of the art.

If you have little idea about 'artwork' in relation to general graphics, and artwork, in the required forms necessary to output reasonable direct conversion, then any conversion software will be a disappointment to you.

To have successful embroidery conversion, you actually do have to have knowledge of embroidery requirements to some extent,and if anyone tells you otherwise, you can safely consider that a lie

'Tweaking' , if you dont have reasonable artwork for embroidery, is an understatement..The reality is, you can lose more time editing,and possibly even your client if after all that, you still dont have the right output.

Conversion software developers may somehow give the false impression that you dont need to know about embroidery to produce embroidery, and thats the truth if you believe your client will accept what you get from a wizard...in many cases, you might find calling it a 'whatsit?'..more correct...Wizards are associated with magic, and in many cases conversions are far from that.

I heard a bit,and saw some stuff from Stitch n Sew..so, I understand what youre meaning on that..I also saw quite a few others, so on average quite aware of most results.

Im curious to see your test art..Im willing to look at that

email direct: efect@mweb.co.za

Brenden,

I think u misunderstood my .pes comment.  Of course I know Wilcom knows about it--we've had a dozen or more emails back and forth (programmers), and have supplied them with some of my files which they have converted to .pes 1, .pes 4 and .pes 6.  .pes 7 will probably have to wait for the next major upgrade.   I think they have a "fix" that will probably go into the e1.5 (some ads for Wilcom Deco Studio at places that sell digitizing software are saying that a new release will be out, possibly in August).  You completely misunderstand what I am trying to say:  That it would be NICE to have Corel and Wilcom SUPPLY A LIST OF THE KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH DECO STUDIO in a FAQ's list (problems like the program not writing usable .pes, .pec files; like satin stitches splitting if greater than 6 mm and there is no way to fix it; like not being able to specify a hoop, especially if your machine requires extra stitches for multi-hoop placement because the program cannot write two pages for a file; etc.).  A lot of people are wasting a lot of time trying to get something to work and do not know it is a "known problem"--like the month I wasted trying to get DecoStudio to write a .pes file I could use.  Microsoft puts out memos or fact-sheets when they have a known bug or a known software issue just for that purpose and it is really helpful.  As an example:  MS's Media Center 2005 will crash if you use Windows System Restore and do not update the codecs after the Restore, even if it was yesterday's Restore point.  If you go to MS's Windows site and search "system crashes when Media Center started after System Restore" you get a whole page of known issues with these two items.  It directs you to the page to download the codecs and saves days and days of time.  I don't know what made you think I was saying the .pes was a new issue--I KNOW it isn't.

As for the problem with resizing/calibrating the screen on my laptop(s) running Vista:  I can't let someone else have access to my computer, especially internationally, because I have some sensitive files that could be accessed and allowing just that possibility to exist would be breaking some US laws with regard to patient confidentiality--and I don't want to take the files off and reinstall them later--too much trouble.  The program works just fine without the screen calibration being exact.  It may well be just a problem my computers are having (Gateway writes its own version of Windows--a lot of computer manufacturers do this, like Compaq, TI, etc.)--they have idiosynccrasies that are peculiar to that brand's systems only.  Both my laptops are Gateway running Vista 32-bit and it happens with both of them.  Vista has a lot of problems that cause problems in running programs that run just fine on XP.  In fact, some of my older programs won't run on Vista at all and there is absolutely nothing that can be done to make them run.  Plus, you cannot install XP on the same computer in order to run your choice of Windows.  It can be done with some processors, but njot with the dual-core chipset.  Even if you compact the hard drive and assign a new drive letter for the installation---it just hangs up and won't install.  Even Microsoft can't help you with that one.  The longer I work with Vista, the more I hate it.  I don't know if MAC is running the ad in Australia where a country-western signer is singing the "Vista Blues" to a "Mac"--but the ad is addressing all of us who hate Vista.

Thanks,

Sharon