Hi Again,

So I'm at the point where I need to buy software to combine embroidery designs and probably do some basic digitizing.

PE Design is hard - I downloaded the free trial and I've read the manual several times but I still can't get it to do want I want.

Embrid seems good - but the price seems too good to be true. I mean it's $199 while PE Design is $999

What's the catch here -- what am I missing?

Any suggestions? =)

Embird is wonderful. Part of the difference in cost is that you buy Embird as you need it or want it and PE Design you buy the program which includes everything, even stuff you may never use. For example, with Embird, you buy the basic program which you use for editing. Then if you decide you want to learn digitizing, you can buy the Studio module, but if you don't want to learn to digitize, you don't have to buy it.

Embird is very user friendly and easy to learn. I got PE Design 5 when I got my first embroidery machine and could never figure it out, so bought Embird and love it.

You could also check out www.sandscomputing.com They have a some nice products there as well. Their basic one is called SewWhatPro and it can merge designs, convert designs, resize and add lettering from your true type font library on your computer.Their price is even more reasonable than Embird and when ever they upgrade their product , it's free. They have a Yahoo group to help with any questions and they also have tutorials. They also have a free 30 trial of their product.

No catch with embird. I have it and use it all the time. I don't have the digitizing tho, just font engine,iconizer and basic.