ImagesMagUK_December_2020

BUYERS GUIDE DECEMBER 2020 images 69 SCREEN PRINTING CONSULTANCY DTG PRINTING EQUIPMENT ADVERTISE HERE: NEW & USED EQUIPMENT CONTRACT TRADE SERVICES JOB VACANCIES BUSINESSES FOR SALE… advertising@images-magazine.com 01273 748482 The base skill a digitiser requires, however – and which underpins all artistic interpretation – is technical skill. A good digitiser must begin by understanding the natural distortion of embroidery – and plan for it. A good friend of mine put it thus: you must digitise distortion to stitch perfection. Good digitisers not only accept the distortion inherent in the process, but understand how it happens and what can be done to mitigate it, and literally draw their shapes and set parameters in the embroidery file knowing that the result will only be found after the transformation it undergoes on the machine, even going as far as to recommend specific materials and methods to their embroiderer clients. Only stitches can say In short, a good digitiser knows that the file is not the product; only the embroidery ultimately matters as a measure of success. The digitised file is a mid-point, a map of our input into the software, a ‘before’ picture for which the after can only be seen once the shifting and changing that is natural to the embroidery process has occurred. An experienced digitiser becomes tuned to the way distortion affects their work, and compensates for it while they create, trusting that the edges of the shapes they draw will arrive at the intended position, using automatic adjustments and compensation settings to finesse the design to perfect that position or to adjust for changes in material. Moreover, when things aren’t arriving where they ought to, the digitiser trusts in the outcome of the embroidery enough to know that, even if it looks wrong on screen, measuring the difference in the distorted sample and adjusting by the measured amount will result in the perfect positioning. They’ll stretch a filled area until it overshoots an outline, leave holes and gaps, and allow lines of lettering to look roughly humped, knowing that the sample has told the tale of how the interaction between the file, fabric, machine, and execution will proceed. Digitised Shape Embroidered Outcome www.images-magazine.com Stitches always shorten in their length and when stacked at density, will push beyond the ends of where they are drawn. Draw the rectangle in blue with no compensation, and you’ll get the satin stitch in red Erich Campbell is an award- winning digitiser, embroidery columnist and educator, with more than 20 years’ experience both in production and the management of ecommerce properties. He is the programme manager for the commercial division of BriTon Leap. www.erichcampbell.com