Hey there,

It's me again...asking for advice...AGAIN! :)

***rant on***
Anyway I was wondering if there were more cost effective alternatives to the Bernina Embroidery Software. I'm sorry but $1400 seems like highway robbery to me....for a piece of software...I mean I'm all for making a profit....but that price just seems ASTRONOMICAL to me.
***rant off***

Okay...that being said...is there another software I can use to create embroidery designs that isn't so expensive. Any input is appreciated.

I just get discouraged because there are things I would like to try out, and don't want to spend over $1000 on something I'm not sure I would use all the time.

I use Adobe Creative Suite in my freelance work... and the upgrade to the newest release is close to 2000 dollars. For an UPGRADE.

I can see spending that kind of money on embroidery software if you were going into business, but for a hobby... I think it's steep, too.

We have to get the open source community psyched about embroidery and quilting :)

I got my Singer Futura machine and software for just under $500, it does a lot and you can see if you're interested enough to spend the big bucks, it connectes to your computer, and I really like mine.

Have you looked at Embird? It seems to be popular, though I've never used it myself.

I just buy my patterns already made, but I have a question. Have you gone to a dealer to try this software? I am not sure about other softwares out there, but many are not user friendly. I own a few Bernina products and have never being unhappy with any. They are expensive, but usually worth every penny. It would be a nice idea to give it a try and see for yourself that is not for you.

If I were you, I'd stick to using pre-made embroidery designs. Especially since you're new at this and your machine. If you need a specific design made, it may be worth it to pay someone to make the design for you. Also, understand these packages are great, but there's usually a steep learning curve involved. I'd say, take it slow and don't jump in and drown. ;>

I agree.

Try this place: www.sandscomputing.com I use all of their products and love each and every one. SewArt is the one you might be interested in. It is a semi auto digitizing program that will get your feet wet and see if you want to do more. They have free trials of their software and the prices are very reasonable. The best news is that if they update the program you don't have to pay more for the update.

Alrighty, well here's what I would like to try and do. I'm making a Raggedy Ann doll, and want to embroider the face.

I'm a techie person, and it would easy for me to go into publisher or even photoshop and whip up what I want. It's really just circle, triangle and a few lines for the eyelashes, brows, smile.

So basically if I found a pattern I liked I could have someone put this together for me?

I've seen a few of the collection of doll faces, and really just need this one, as I don't plan on going into doll making. Just doing this for a friend who just adopted. :)

I would say be careful about having someone make the design for you. My daughter took a design to a person who turned the design into a digitized embroidery design. He embroidered the design onto 2 bags and then refused to give my daughter the digitized design. There are other details to this story but, this is the bottom line to the story.

I can't guide you on software since I don't use that part of my machine. There are a lot of free embroidery designs on the web as well as to purchase. My favorite site is Embroidery Library.
http://www.emblibrary.com/

I use Embird. I like it because you can buy each component as you are ready for it, and upgrades are usually very inexpensive (well under $50, I think).

I started with just the basics, which costs about $144. I learned to manipulate placement of designs, resize them, recolor them, and combine designs.

I then wanted more fonts (I think it comes with 3) and I bought a couple, but at $15 each, I could see that the Font Engine, at $145 with endless options, would really save me money. Wow! Font Engine is ultra-cool. I began designing logos just using different letters and wingdings. You can bring in almost any true type font and convert it.

About 18 months after I started, I purchased Studio and Sfumato for about $150 (it's more expensive now). I've been slowly teaching myself to digitize through email lists, workbooks, and trial and error. Just started with Sfumato and it is FUN! (that's taking photos and making them into embroidery designs)

During this time I bought a new embroidery machine and it came with PEDesign. That program is ok and I did some nice stuff in it, but Embird is currently meeting all of my needs so I haven't looked at PED for some time.

Free trial at http://www.embird.com/
Best prices at : http://anembroideredaffair.com/StoreFront.bok
Hope that helps.

Julie

I would bet if you do a search you could find the doll faces for sale separately and not all in a collection. There are many embroidery sites that sell single designs. Or shoot, someone here could probably whip one up for you, for not a ton of $.

I just did a quick google and I'm sure you'd find more but here's one for $3.50 http://www.embsupply.com/Embroidery_Designs_31920.html Sure beats buying and learning an embroidery design software...

Maybe put an ad in the classified section here for the face design?

Mike I use embird and have for 3 or 4 years. You can get a free 30 trial here. http://embird.com/

I also have explorations for bernina but don't bother with the digitizing in explorations because it is soooo limited; that's why I don't have it.