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I stumbled upon this software "Master Works Lite" for creating embroidery and it saves in several formats including DST which Zazzle uses. There's a 30 day free trial of the software with no limitations, this is fully functioning software. After 30 days you must purchase the software or it wont run anymore. I've made a few embroideries for hats and must say the software is fairly easy to learn and surprisingly fast. You can even take JPG images you've created and have it convert it to embroidery. So I made a background to use then used the software to add any text. There are ALOT of text styles to choose from. After creating my logo for my store I saved it as a DST, uploaded to Zazzle, added to a hat, changed the colors via Zazzle (DST files don't store color info, just stitches) and voilà ! Easyer than I thought it would be. Click HERE to visit their website and download the demo. It doesn't give a price for how much the software is nor can you buy it from their website. But you can do a search on their site for the nearest store to you that sells it.
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Since there are no replies yet figured I'd post a pic of what I did with the software . . .  The camera was a graphic file, I used the software to convert to stitches then added the text via the software. Saved as DST file, created a hat and uploaded the file, choose colors (the original had 25 colors, apparently Zazzle limits it to 22), and this is what was created  I tried adding text via Zazzle, but could never get the text the size I wanted and couldn't place it like I wanted. This software will let you manipulate the text in several ways, including curves and circular. This is a basic embroidery item, I did something a little more intricate and it looks fine. did it for a customer so I can't post it here but I can tell you they were floored when they saw it
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awesome...looks great!!
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Yes, the hat does look great. I think you may have left the s off of Photo? We know you're not a one-hit wonder.  Thanks so much for the tip...I have some ideas for embroidery but wasn't sure I wanted to pay for conversion without testing the waters to see if I could sell them. Now I can, wow. On the Master Works Lite, can you make the embroidery really thick, so its even more 3-D? My design will need some depth to make sense. Maybe I should try the MasterWorks II.
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FNolan wrote:...Click HERE to visit their website and download the demo. It doesn't give a price for how much the software is nor can you buy it from their website. But you can do a search on their site for the nearest store to you that sells it. The price quoted on the website, click on the MasterWorks Comparison Chart, is .... $799.99 for Master Works Lite.
http://www.designersgallerysoftware.com/products/product.asp?Product_ID=EDG-MWL
Otherwise, something cool to work with for the trial period.
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BlockQuoteProducts wrote:FNolan wrote:...Click HERE to visit their website and download the demo. It doesn't give a price for how much the software is nor can you buy it from their website. But you can do a search on their site for the nearest store to you that sells it. The price quoted on the website, click on the MasterWorks Comparison Chart, is .... $799.99 for Master Works Lite.
http://www.designersgallerysoftware.com/products/product.asp?Product_ID=EDG-MWL
Otherwise, something cool to work with for the trial period.
Hmm, thought I checked that link, oh well Yea, a bit steep unless you do alot of embroidery work. Not worth it for me since photographs don't translate to stitch too well. But for the artists here that do cartoon type work I bet it'd be a great addition to their arsenal Even at that price it's less than some others and you get the added funtion of converting your images to Cross-Stitch too.
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Sensato wrote:Yes, the hat does look great. I think you may have left the s off of Photo? We know you're not a one-hit wonder. I'm a photographer, not a spelling bee champ lol I saw it after and just didn't bother correcting it 
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i have been prepping my designs into the appropriate number of colors and picking ones that will go well on embroidery....then once i have a stack of them i am going to go with the free trial and convert them all....this way i feel like i accomplished something with my free trial LOL
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How easy is it to use? .. I tried another programme and couldn't work it out at all .. I don't want to get it and waste days of the free trial just staring at it like I did the last one 
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I learned to use it within an hour. Pretty straight forward. I didn't read any of the help files, I'm a man, we're not supposed to read the directions lol Seriously, there is a help file via th F1 key and I did use it once or twice when I got stuck, but once I figured it out I made several DST files in no time. Just be sure the "Hoop" is the size of what Zazzle wants for the particular item your making it for. Unfortunately you can't make one big one and use it for smaller areas, you have to have a separate file for each size.
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FNolan wrote:I learned to use it within an hour. Pretty straight forward. I didn't read any of the help files, I'm a man, we're not supposed to read the directions lol That was the problem with me and the last one I tried .. help files are not there to be read ..its a manly thing to struggle through lol .. ok I will give it a go when I have some days off work and have your direct home contact number .. your emails ( all of them ) your cell number .. a home address and money to send for you by private jet to come and help 
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shopaholicchick wrote:i have been prepping my designs into the appropriate number of colors and picking ones that will go well on embroidery....then once i have a stack of them i am going to go with the free trial and convert them all....this way i feel like i accomplished something with my free trial LOL -- Let us know IF that works. Not sure what you are using / planning. Most embroidery software I've looked at WILL NOT 'import' image files of any kind - until you get to the expensive ($2000-$6000) stuff! You -have- to use the tools they have in that software. -- And many of the 'branded' (and 'better) programs require you to dongle them to their brand of embroidery machine so without having both the computer AND the software they do not work at all. -- An 'independent' - the old CorelDRAW add-on (DRAWings) was $3000 and the new program add-on (by Corel now) is 'only' $2000! The 'features' offered by different embroidery software programs -may- be helpful. Like 'proper' stitch direction, turning corners in letters and similar (shading and more) - then the biggie - SCALING! - not many seem to do very well at all. The one I've seen lately is $6000 and no better than some others I've seen in the past. -- Personally - I've done better digitizing than most 'automated' ones I've looked at - but at the cost of time ... as usual. Time or quality - finding a balance. -- I've been looking at one that does DST that is $99 ($149 list) on eBay - but there is ZERO indication that it will import ANY image file. .
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a2zgraphicsworks wrote:shopaholicchick wrote:i have been prepping my designs into the appropriate number of colors and picking ones that will go well on embroidery....then once i have a stack of them i am going to go with the free trial and convert them all....this way i feel like i accomplished something with my free trial LOL -- Let us know IF that works. Not sure what you are using / planning. Most embroidery software I've looked at WILL NOT 'import' image files of any kind - until you get to the expensive ($2000-$6000) stuff! You -have- to use the tools they have in that software. -- And many of the 'branded' (and 'better) programs require you to dongle them to their brand of embroidery machine so without having both the computer AND the software they do not work at all. -- An 'independent' - the old CorelDRAW add-on (DRAWings) was $3000 and the new program add-on (by Corel now) is 'only' $2000! The 'features' offered by different embroidery software programs -may- be helpful. Like 'proper' stitch direction, turning corners in letters and similar (shading and more) - then the biggie - SCALING! - not many seem to do very well at all. The one I've seen lately is $6000 and no better than some others I've seen in the past. -- Personally - I've done better digitizing than most 'automated' ones I've looked at - but at the cost of time ... as usual. Time or quality - finding a balance. -- I've been looking at one that does DST that is $99 ($149 list) on eBay - but there is ZERO indication that it will import ANY image file. . This software imports JPG files and can convert them to embroidery and cross stitch. It then can be saved to these machine files . . .  Follow the link in the original post and it gives you all the info.
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-- As I said - none do (that I know of) ... until you get to more expensive software ... $800 does qualify as 'more expensive' in my book (as I only hear the jingle of change now). And the cheaper the software (now $800 is cheap ... !) the less accurate the scaling - if they include it at all.
-- The software I'd worked with before is $6000 and the 'lessor' one was over $1200 - neither one mine. Both -require- the dongle/computer/machine connection to function.
-- Since I work in CorelDRAW for vectors and could output at any size I like - I'd love to find an inexpensive one that would take JPGs. BUT - digitizing over and over again is quite time consuming - and Zazzle's size limits are pretty small (and unfortunately - on the requests so far are not large enough to satisfy those requests). Been contemplating buying another computer and an embroidery machine to do those one-off requests, but - like here - the co$t$ would be high. At least I would have the files for re-use.
-- One job was for jackets that sell for nearly $300 each - and about $200 or so is allowed for the embroidery (not for personalization either!) - and this is in 'bulk' ordering!!!
I'd like to find software in the range of $50 to say $200 ...
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Well your not going to find software to do what you want for $200. This software is free to use for 30 days without restrictions. Rather than knock software you've never used, download it and try it. Then give your review of it, negative or otherwise.
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as i said i will be using it during the free trial period only...and then i will be canceling it....however i intend to get the most out of my 30 days
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FNolan wrote:Well your not going to find software to do what you want for $200. This software is free to use for 30 days without restrictions. Rather than knock software you've never used, download it and try it. Then give your review of it, negative or otherwise. -- Not going to find ... Knock ... ? What in the world are you talking about? Sure we can find software that does all that has been mentioned here for -less- than $200 - just how well it does it is the question. I'll knock ALL of the so-called 'brand names' (and I've assessed over 30 of them and used some as well) -- Any that require you to use the PC / dongle / machine are not even included as I won't recommend them to anyone who is not going to be directly involved in embroidery every single day - for income. -- 'Thredworks'. Used to be a paid software, now Freeware. (works w Embird) -- 'Embird'. $144, and $150 work together (more 'plug-ins' $$) -- Pantograms Embroidery Magic 2. $100 now (sale? new version coming? was $150). Fonts for v1 will NOT work w v2 (take care if buying). -- Each of these WILL take in JPGs, output DST (Tajima & Zazzle), even 'scaling' (to a point) and have plenty of features for those not wanting to save time like a person who is making a living from embroidery needs to do. Some 'automated' features. -- DST (and OFM, etc) are basically sets of file instructions that 'explain' or 'direct' each stitchs' placement, direction, color change, etc. -- Using embroidery digitizing software is quite different than drawing (IF you are interested in doing it well). -- Also - use a mouse when digitizing - NOT a tablet (much less work). .
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Does anuone have any idea if it works on a mac.
I am looking for software for the mac to convert my jpegs to dst.
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I haven't found any program for dst free or paid for that works on Linux so I guess I'll just have to wait til I've made enough sales to pay Zazzle.
I'd rather do it myself though.
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I guess it is all PC driven. I might have to get a PC then javascript:insertsmiley(' %20','/images/emoticons/smiley_central_crying.gif') I rather do it myself also.
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