TanyaL

I save mine on my hard drive under downloads. I put them in various folders according to the type of design they are or what I am using them for - i.e. alphabets, or Christmas placemats, or fleur de lis, etc. I down load them unzipped and I save them unzipped. I move them to a jump drive (high speed USB) to transfer them to my sewing machine. I have about 20,000 designs.

romanojg

This is what I do. I download my designs into folders according to where I bought them; like orders_emblibrary, etc. Each site has it's own orders folder and the name of the design never changes in That folder.

Then as I unzip them I rename them to make since as to what they are since most are #'s. I put them into folders according to what they are; beachy, Holidays,w/subfolders for each holiday and kitchen, it has sub folders like potholders, kit decor, ect.

The reason I download my designs into order folders is, I was told that most sites will let you download designs more than once if needed. The thing is though they sometimes update their designs and put some into archives and then unless you know the # and where you got a certain design you can't get it back. That is why I put it into a folder with the sites name and leave the download #/name the same and only change it when I put it into a different folder. It also makes it easier to backup my designs by only having to backup the orders folders and the ones that have designs that I created in them. Which I'm just starting to design since I bought Professional 5D for my Ruby.

Now I'm in the process with the help of 5D of converting a copy of each of my designs into a picture and when I get them done I'll print out thumbnails of the designs so that I have a visualization of each one and can flip thru a book to see what I have. I hope this helps.

Trying to get it all organized has been a challenge so I spoke to my Viking teacher on how she does it. She said she's been doing it for 6yrs and is still changing things around. I keep the folders at the top of the list on my pc by placing a # in front of them like 1MyDesigns 2MyMonograms. This keeps them at the top; above all the software installed things. I also have a folder for designs that I create called Judy's designs and Judy's Monograms, etc.

Krystyna

I have everything on my hard drive. They get downloaded into download and unzipped from there and moved to a file I named 1 just so it was on the top of all the others. From there I open the folder, get rid of formats and other stuff like images that I don't need and then re-name if necessary and move to a category in a folder library called Embroidery. I downloaded a folder system from someone's Yahoo group -- can't remember where -- and it works! I've added a few and gotten rid of a few. At the moment I am going through to be sure all designs are organized and then burning a DVD or two for safe keeping.

Krystyna

Thanks, Louise!

deplaylady

I have a separate computer just for my embroidery. I really had too - I have a digitizing program that isn't compatible with Vista on my main computer! Fortunately, my DB found a laptop for me (the one that I had replaced with the Vista one had pooped out), so I can use my program. I store a lot of patterns on that - I also have some (a few thousand) on a flash drive saved from my old computer that is sorted into categories and several CDs full of designs. I wasn't happy when I learned the digitizing program couldn't be upgraded with a patch or something to work on my new laptop - and a new program would cost near $2,000! Oh well - it worked out better having a lap top just for embroidery - its older, but works with all my programs and has a slot for my card reader/writer from my machine to slide into.

BTW - I love Criswell!

cmw0829

Hi everybody.

First, I'd like to commend Emblibrary.com for standing behind their commitment to assist customers having trouble with their designs. I reported a problem and they send me an updated file in a day or so.

Now...I love their designs but they are very dense. Last night I put together a quilt top with nine of their designs. Individually, they didn't seem overly stiff but now that the top is put together as a group I'm not sure if I'm really happy.

I'm wondering, does anybody know if there's a way to soften them? I do plan to wash the quilt before gifting. Will washing remove some of the stiffness? I used three layers of tearaway stabilizer for all but one design in which I used four.

Thanks,
Cathy

romanojg

I too like their designs and service. My Viking teacher said the same thing about their designs being really dense. I recently went to a trunk show for Hatched in Africa and I love how their designs stitch out. None of them are real dense. It is run by a family and they try to make sure that their designs can be either worn or used on a child without any problems. I hope softener helps; sometimes vinegar will also help. Maybe it'll desolve some of the stablizier. You could try soaking if for a little while before starting the wash cycle so the stablizier can loosen up some and maybe more of it will wash away the first time out.

romanojg

[QUOTE=deplaylady;5264336]I have a separate computer just for my embroidery. I really had too -

I did the same thing. My daughter had my larger laptop and she broke it and left me with my little netbook. There is no way I could scroll up and down trying to do designs on it. When I was sure I was buying the 5D I went out and bought a 17" laptop. It makes it so much eaiser to work with designs when you can see it all on one screen. I really want to get into designing my own designs and adding cutwork to alot of designs so that my needles can do the work. It is so easy to find cutwork designs but most aren't designed to work with the cutwork needles. I needed to be able to see it all on one screen to do this. It was hard enought reading my email.

cmw0829

Thanks Judy. I'll try that. I doubt it will wash away because it wasn't washaway, but the fibers might soften. Wish me luck.

Little RoO

Please....Please can someone tell me why this Machine Embroidery section is not yet a new link? I know there was some discussion about it sometime ago .... but surely it's popularity shows there are many of us that use embroidery as part of our quilts.
It would be great if it were.