Can any artwork be embroidered?

Have you considered an iron on computer printed transfer? they look great also

Hi, Do you do embroidery or are you just looking for somebody to do it? ALMOST any design can be converted into embroidery. However, if you don't have an embroidery machine, you would still have to pay to have it done. $40.00 per color plus set up seems rather high. Can you post the pictures on here? If so, you might want to check out alt.biniaries.crafts.pictures newsgroup. There are a lot of folks there who digitize on request and might even be able to find someone close to you that can do the actual embroidery. TIZME

No, I hadn't heard of this. I just did a Google search and there are quite a few outfits selling the paper and heat transfer machines.

Have you used any of them? How does it look on the shirt? Is it anything like silk-screened? Will it survive the washing machine?

Any recommended brands or sources?

Thanks

You do not need a heat transfer machine to do hot transfers. All you need is the transfer paper for computers and a household iron. I did a lot of uniform shirts this way. It looks great as long as you FOLLOW PACKAGE DIRECTIONS. And, they do go through washings just fine. The only problem I had was that my reds ran in the first wash but cleared up in the next washing. So, no problems. I used Canon and HP Hot Transfer Sheets. Both do a good job. Now somebody has come out with a cold peel sheet. Don't know a lot about them. Canon and HP sheets can be picked up at any computer supply store. TIZME

I have used the iron on transfer paper from HP. I print the design from the scanned picture, print it and then iron it on. The instructions are fairly thorough. What you MUST remember is to wait until it is completely cool to peel it off. I know, that it is very exciting but you must wait. Washing is fine, cool water and no dryer. They last a long time. HTH Nana

I don't do it. I was hoping that maybe there are computer-aided machines these days that can take an image and do the embroidery automagically.

So are you saying that there are machines that will "digitize" an imae so that another machine can dop the sewing?

That was for the companies that so silk-screened t-shirts. I might not have gotten it exactly right.

OK, I'll try that. Thanks.

Do I need a color printer? Does it matter what kind?

How does this work, do you know?

If you want to print in color...you need a color printer. I found some of these sheets at my local Wal-mart. I would think that any good stationary store would carry them. But read the instructions...I believe that you have to print in mirror image.

I would have thought so. Does it matter if it's an ink jet or laser or ???

How the heck do these things work? I mean, what chemical process is going on?

Let's see if I can explain the process of digitizing and embroidering a design.

First, you have to have the software in your computer that will "Help" you digitize a design. There are way too many of these on the market today for me to even start trying to list them. I will use PE Design software to try to explain farther... Most embroidery machines sold today have compatable software available for purchase from the same dealer. Cost is not cheap. T

With PE-Design, you can import a design, save it as a template and manually digitize a design over it (Layout and Editing) or you can convert the image to a line art design and then "tell" it what color, density and direction to lay the stitches in. (Design Center). Then, you have to import it into Layout and Editing, save to a card (puts the design information into a language your embroidery machine understands) put the card into the machine and push the "go" button. Of course, you have to have the fabric hooped and on the machine with the proper backing and/or topping. Then you have to stay with it so you can change thread colors as needed.

Now, there are "automatic" digitizing programs that take an image and do the digitizing automatically... However, the design almost always needs some tweaking after this process so it is not really automatic... I hope this helps you understand a little better about machine embroidery. There is really nothing about it that is "quick and easy". TIZME

I haven't used them myself...you'd have to get a package and read the instructions.

However there are lots of us who like to digitize and welcome the chance to play with the software. If you ask, especially on alt.binaries crafts.pictures, I'm sure someone would love to take a look at your pictures and digitize them for you. Then you might find someone in your area who would sew them out for you.

Just a thought to consider here...there may be a copyright problem. You might want to check to see if you can copy the artist's designs without his permission.

The cushy Janome badge (emblem) under the touch screen has leaked silicon or something down the front of the machine. My dealer gave me a new one to stick on, but had no suggestions how to clean the goo off the machine. Any help ??? (Drop the .gov for direct reply)

Goo-Gone from local hardware store. B~