Embroidery Settings

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Embroidery Settings
	Stitch Type		The embroidery settings for satin line govern how the line is created. The Embroidery Settings are grouped into categories for easier navigation. When a category is expanded you will see a icon. Click this icon to compress the category. The icon will change to a . Setting such as Density and Underlay are universal throughout the program and will not be discussed in detail.
	General
		Density
		Edges
		Stitch Repeat
		Corner Type
		Tie
		RS Manager
	Underlay
		Central
		Edgewalk
		Fill
	Outline
		Running Stitch Outline
	Stretch
	Internal Connection Policy

Stitch Type

The stitch type selection selects how the object will be filled. Different stitch types are used to give a specific appearance to the embroidery.

Whenever a specific stitch type is selected, the parameters specific to that stitch type will be displayed below the selection box.

The Stitch type Embroidery settings are detailed in the Stitch Types section

General

The General Setting for Satin Line control the basic look of the line, these are the most common settings that you will want to change.

Column Width

This sets the width of the line in 1/10 mm. Lie widths should normally not be less than 10 (1mm), a line width of 65 would be about 1/4 inch. Normal widths are 15 to 30

Offset mm

The offset will move the stitching to one side or the other of the input line. An offset of 0 will center the stitching over the input line. This is a negative or positive number. This feature can be used to achieve a special effect or to compensate for stretch in a fabric.

Satin Angle

Normally a Satin stitch will maintain a perpendicular angle to the outline. However, in some rare cases, you may want to change this. If, for instance you need to make a very narrow column width, but do not want to sew any stitches less than 1mm, you can angle the 1 mm (or greater) stitches at some angle like 45 degrees, the overall width of the line will be more narrow, but the stitch length will be longer. This example illustrates 2 blocks with the same width outline stitches. Notice the stitches in the second block appear much narrower because they are on an angle of 30 degrees.

Running Stitch Length

Not used for Satin Line

Keep Column Width

Maintains a constant line width. This feature only functions with satin line angles between 45 and 135 degrees. As stitches on an angle go around curves and corners the column width has a tendency to change. This setting will adjust the stitch length to maintain a uniform width.

Short Stitches

Short stitches are used to maintain density through curves and corners. As the stitches fan out around a tight curve or corner, the system will insert a short stitch periodically to fill in the outer edges. Notice in the image the stitches in the left image are very tight in the inside of the curve. This could cause thread breakage. In the image on the right, the short stitching maintains the density on the outer part of the curve but alternates the stitch points on the inside of the curve to prevent the bunching that occurs with normal stitching.

More Button

The short stitch engine is based upon many variables and should not be altered by the average user. However, there are some basic changes that can be made to get the desired result.

Shorten Stitch Length Table

This is the individual values for the different rows of short stitching, There are a maximum of 5 different lengths of short stitches. This area should not be changed except by the most experienced users.

If Spacing is Greater Than %

Determines the cut off point where the short stitching will be applied. When the stitches start to crowd together, this setting will determine at which percent reduction the system will insert a short stitch. Raising the percentage number will increase the frequency of the short stitch generation.

Randomize:

All of the short stitches in a give row are the same length unless this option is selected. On long curves where there are many short stitches in a row, the alignment of the short stitching can become a visible line in the embroidery. Checking the randomize option will reduce the visibility of the short stitches.

Overlap

Overlap determines how many stitches or rows of stitches overlap in a fill area or column. In the simple illustration at the right, the digitizer determined they wanted the stitching to start on the left and finish in the center.

The system starts stitching up to the point where the end point in determined, then makes a ½ step to the center of the column and walks to the right where it stitches back to the center point C. Depending on the type of fabric that this will be sewn on, the stitching at point C may leave a gap, The Overlap parameter will add stitches to this section to correct this issue.

Overlap Size

The number of stitches that will be overlapped. Notice in the image at the right where the stitches come together in the center.In the bottom image, the stitches overlap by 3 stitches, while in the top image there is no overlapping of the stitching.

Walkstitch Step

This is the length of the walking stitch that the system generates to move from one segment to another. This setting is similar to a running stitch length..

Density

Density for this recipe is the distance between stitch points on a particular side. As the Density number is decreased , the stitches move closer together resulting in a fuller appearance. Normal density values range from 3 to 5 but can be as high as 20 for certain types of effect such as Tackle Twill.

Degrade

The Degrade option will vary the density of a block between 2 predetermined values set by the user. This is most often used for effect or to blend colors but is also used as a single color for degrade to achieve an effect.

Notice when using the degrade option that all walk stitches are routed to the perimeter as not to be visible through the low density stitching

Degrade Types

Linear: The density will gradually change from the min density to the max density

Exponential: The density will change from the min to max density values gradually at first but changing more rapidly as it approaches the end of the block

Sinusoidal: The density will alternate between the min and max values.

Min Density

The density value where the stitches will be closest together

Max Density

The density value where the stitches will be furthest apart

Intermediate Density

The Intermediate density is used only when a special type of degrade is required. Normally the user will place equal values for the minimum and maximum densities and use the intermediate density to provide the degrade density.

Intermediate Density Value: The density to be applied in the intermediate area.

Area Percentage: This determines where in the block the intermediate density will be applied. A setting of 50% places the intermediate density in the center. Less than 50% places it further away from the first input point, Greater than 50% places it closer to the first input point

Edges

The Edges control will apply a random edge to the outline. The control allows for selection of which edge or both edges to be randomized. And by what percentage.

Outline Type

Determines which side will be randomized.

First Side:

Satin Line First side is the determined by direction of input. If you make a straight line starting from left to right, first side is the top.

Second Side:

Applies the random factor to the edge that is opposite the first side.

Both :

Applies the random facto to both edges

Outline Percentage

Determines the amount of randomizing to be applied to the outline. 80% will be more random than 20%

Stitch Repeat

This function will repeat an individual stitch by any odd number specified. This effect is used mainly in run stitches where a bolder line is desired. When applied to a running stitch, a stitch repeat of 3 or more applied to every stitch is sometimes called a "Bean Stitch".

The stitch repeat can be applied to any repeating stitch or every stitch. This effect is also used in special types of embroidery where low density is required such as embroidering on paper. The stitch repeat will allow a single stitch to look very fat giving the appearance of a hand sewn embroidery.

Number of Repeats

Number of repeats. How many times to repeat the stitch
Apply Every...Stitch: The value selected here will determine the repeat interval. Set to 1 will repeat every stitch, 2 every other stitch and so on

In this example we have manually moved the stitches apart to show the repeated stitches. The settings for this example were a normal run stitch, number of repeats 3, Apply to Every Other stitch.

So, you can see, the system repeats every other stitch 3 times

Corner Type

Choosing the correct corner type can be critical to achieving the best possible sew out. The default corner for the system is the Continuous corner and will work well in most situations. However, in certain areas, Continuous corners become too long and should not be used. In such cases you will want to switch to a Bevel Square or Inserts type. The Block Corner is used mainly for very small column widths or Appliqué with low densities.

Continuous

This is the default setting and works well over the largest number of areas. The stitches gradually change angle as corners are approached achieving a uniform looking line of consistent width

This corner is not suitable for severe angles as it will result in very long stitches.

Properties of Continuous Corners:

The Continuous Corner advanced properties utilizes a fractal space calculator which will determine how close to the corner the stitches will remain perpendicular to the line before making the corner.

Bevel Square

This corner type is most suitable for sharp corners. The Bevel square control will divide the corner into 2 segments and can clip the corner at a specified length. This corner will not apply to.

The Bevel Square is a good overall corner to use as the system will automatically detect corners less than 90 degrees and on these inputs it will apply a continuous corner while on the sharper corners it will apply the bevel square.

Properties of Bevel Square Corner:

The bevel square corner utilizes 3 advanced properties.

Cornet Cut angle. The minimum angle at which the bevel square will start to cut the corner

Corner Cut %: The % of the total corner that will be cut off.(0-60%)

Overlap: The overlay % defines how much the stitching in the corner will overlap.

Compare these 2 corners.

The one on the left uses a corner cut angle of 50, Cut % of 30 and overlap 0%

The one on the right uses a cut angle of 50, Cut % 20 and Overlap 20%

Inserts

The inserts corner will miter the corner, shortening stitches as it approaches the outer edge. This is a good all around corner although it can cause bunching of the stitches in severe angles as shown towards the tip of the shape at the right

Properties of Bevel Inserts Corner:

TracePtOffset:

Diagonal Split: This control works similar to overlap but determines where the angle is split to create the corner

Overlap: The overlay % defines how much the stitching in the corner will overlap

Cap

The Cap corner is a very good choice for severe angles, but is not suitable for normal angles of 90 deg or so. The Cap will split the corner into 3 parts. The left and right legs and the cap. The line will sew normally up to the point where the 2 lines intersect, the program will then walk stitch to the point of the corner and stitch back to the opposite leg resulting in a uniform coverage with no bunching or overlap in the corner. On less severe angles this can result in a long connector stitch in the corner.

Block

Block corners intersect perpendicular to one another. This corner is very effective when using small column width or when using low densities were a uniform stitch length is desired. It is also the most desired corner when trying to achieve a Tackle Twill effect in appliqué.

Tie

The tie control determines what type of knot the system will use to tie off the blocks. A tie should be created any time the thread is to be cut. Without proper tie stitches, the embroidery can easily unravel.

This parameter simply determines the type of tie stitch, the determination of where to apply the tie stitch is governed by one of the connection policies.

Tie File

The default tie stitch is a series of in line stitches of a .1 mm step in, followed by a .5 mm stitch, then 2 .3mm return stitches. The tie stitch prevents the thread from unraveling after the thread is cut.

For some fabrics and situations a larger tie will be needed to ensure the embroidery does no pull out. In these cases, the default tie should be disabled, and one of the selected alternative ties will be used. There are a number of pre-made alternate tie stitches to choose from.

A catalog of alternate tie stitches is available by clicking the small button in the tie settings

Use Default Tie

The default tie stitch is a series of in line stitches of small stitches sewn in a straight line. The tie stitch prevents the thread from unraveling after the thread is cut.

A tie like this is the most versatile and invisible as the angle of the tie is always in line with the stitch angle. However, this type of stitch is also the least robust. For times when you need a more stable tie stitch, use one of the alternate ties for more holding power.

RS Manager

The running stitch manager controls the length of the running stitches in a block.
If a user sets the running stitch length to 2.5 mm, and the block is of a length that cannot be evenly divided by 2.5, The running stitch manager will change the stitching to create the block in the correct length. The way it is changed is user defined.

Running Stitch Manager Settings

Spread Remainder – This option will calculate the length of the line and determine what the remaining stitch length would be, then add the remainder to the individual stitches. So you may have chosen a stitch length of 2.6, but you may get a stitch length of 2.7 if the line you have created cannot be divided equally by 2.6.
Move Last Point – This option will honor the desired stitch length and will simply add a short stitch to the end.
No Last Point – This option will honor the stitch length but will not include any last stitch, so the line may be shorter than the actual outline.

Narrow Curve Approach

The narrow curve approach will shorten the stitch length to more precisely follow a curve. How much the stitches are shortened is determined by the minimum length and chord gap settings.

Notice in this example the stitch length curve is generated much more accurately when the system can shorten the stitch length

Minimum Length

The shortest stitch length allowed while generating the curve. As a curve gets a tighter radius, in order to adhere to the line, the stitch length should be shortened. If not, cutting of the curve will result. This setting should not be set to below 10 (1 mm) or excessive thread breakage could result.
If stitch count and stitch length are more critical than exact lines, you will pick a higher min length and a high chord gap.

Chord Gap

The maximum allowed deviation from the original line.

A low Chord Gap setting will result in more shortening. In the example at the right you can see that a low chord gap places the stitching closer to the outline. However the one on the right will have more stitches.

Underlay

Underlay stitches are preliminary stitches sewn before the top stitching. Underlay has many functions and proper underlay is critical to quality embroidery. The underlay can provide stability to unstable fabrics, it will attach the backing to the fabric, it will add bulk to the stitching, and it prevents gaps from opening up in the filled areas.

Outline

Stretch

Internal Connection Policy

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