Customer Reviews

Digitizing Made Easy: Create Custom Embroidery Designs Like a Pro

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I cannot recommend this book enough!! It is the only thing like it out on the market for the home embroiderer. It is not software specific. It picks up where the software manual leaves off. In this book John Deer talks about distortion, underlay, density, etc and shows lots of pictures that makes it really clear what he's talking about. You also get a cd with the book that has the designs that he uses as examples in the book. I asked the store where I teach embroidery software to stock this book & it's been flying off the shelves.

Up until now I feel like the commercial embroiderers were trying to keep their tips a secret from the home embroiderers. I have to thank John Deer for sharing all of his great tips with all of his sitting at home trying to figure this out on our own!!

This is a truly fantastic book. Even if you don't want to learn how to actually digitize designs, you will benefit a great deal from learning how they are digitized, leading to better stitchouts and projects. The book is full of pictures that clearly demonstrate the easy-to-understand text. It takes what can be a very complicated process and breaks it down into simple steps that anyone can understand. I have an easier time choosing proper stabilizers and fabrics now that I understand the concepts this book presents. If you machine embroider, this definitely needs to be on your bookshelf!

This book is a wonderful value. You received a step by step with pictures plus a CD with 25 embroidery designs, tutorial and bonus material. The steps are excellent for a beginner. John Deere is an excellent teacher - recommend this highly
Carolyn Milne

Beginning with a history of embroidery and the author's personal experiences in the field (which are extensive, impressive and interesting), John Deer leads the reader through a step-by-step approach to creating ones own embroidery design -- called digitizing. Mr. Deer's attention to detail as well as the broader scope, is extensive -- never mind he is an easy read. If you have been intimidated by digitizing, then don't expect the learning curve to be quick -- as anything worth doing is worth doing well and will necessarily require time, patience and much practice -- but do expect to be demystified. John Deer does a great job explaining and offering advice and solutions on: (1) explaining the different stitch types as well as motifs and fills, (2) stitch angles, corners and curves, (3) push and pull compensation (how to deal with fabric shifting during stitch outs which causes distortion and poor registration), (4) density (how much thread is placed in an area of the design, (5) underlay (how, where and why to use it) and many tips and tricks such as making stitches disappear between the letters of text. Not that there isn't more, but those were the areas I found most beneficial. Even if you don't want to digitize, one of the best things you will get out of this book is how you can edit and repair those designs you purchased. And I don't know about your experience, but mine has been there are problems with every design I've ever purchased from the biggest name companies down to the smallest little digitizers. Until now my editing has been haphazard and relatively successful. What I am assured of now is a faster and easier way to fix those designs and be more certain of them in the future. Thank you, John Deer. I do hope you'll have many more books to offer us on other topics!

I never thought I'd pick up a book about a subject like digitizing and find it fascinating---but this book exceeded my expectations. It is very clearly written and has helpful illustrations throughout. In addition to the how-to's, the author also covers the history of embroidery machines before the computer era, and how some of the knowledge from those early years helps with digitizing with a computer today. I just wish I'd bought this book from Amazon, because I paid list price for it at a sewing shop. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in digitizing and computerized embroidery. It explains why designs sometimes don't stitch out as well as expected, how to digitize to avoid problems, and what to look for when shopping for digitizing software.

This book is not about how to digitize as much as it is about expanding your information about what is possible with digitizing. Mr. Deer has a great deal of knowledge that he share with you. Only a few of the included designs are really good ones. His goal is to encourage you to bravely try digitizing on your own. I was introduced to a few new techniques which were explained well. Enjoy!

IF you struggle to understanding why embroidery designs resized in your software program did not sew out right--this basic book is for you. If you already know the terms PUSH & PULL and concept of compensation...then probably too basic. For me, embroidery is new hobby. I purchased the 4D software and only afterwards realized it assumed a knowledge base beyond what I had to make my investment worthwhile. This book is useful beginner resource and very easy to understand. Accompanying CD is designed to sell more of his product. He demos his instructional CD as well...so recommendation might be to look into that first if you prefer that as learning method.

I almost bought this book at a recent seminar and should have. John Deer has written a very easy to understand book on digitizing with information that can be used for any software format. His talents are among the top digitizers and we are fortunate that he is willing to share his procedures with the reading public.

Digitizing Made Easy goes into great detail about how various digitizing programs work, and how you can improve your outcomes. It suggests how to fix common problems with digitized embroidered images, and explains why they happen. It is not a step by step guide on how to digitize, it doesn't recommend one software over another, nor does it give you "best value for your needs" advice. If you do not have digitizing software or do not plan to buy it, this book will only be of value for the free embroidery images that come with it. For those trying to decide, this book does not explain how to use graphic software to digitize. If you want to know how to work with actual embroidery software to get better results, then this book is for you, and it is well written. It is worth the money.

A good generalized informative book on digitizing. I perhaps was looking for more specific ideas on shading, etc. I think I will be purchasing some of those books in the not too distant future.