Embroidery Digitising Explained: Why Your Logo Needs Converting
By The Velocity Wear Team
Digitising is the process of converting your logo into a stitch file — a set of instructions telling an embroidery machine where to place each stitch, in what direction and in what order. It is a manual, skilled process, not an automatic file conversion, which is why embroidery carries a one-off setup step that printing does not.
Why It Cannot Be Automatic
A printed design is a picture reproduced on fabric. An embroidered design is a physical object built from thread, and it has to be constructed. Someone has to decide stitch types for each area, the direction stitches run, how areas underlay each other for stability, the sequence that minimises thread changes, and how the fabric will pull as thousands of stitches tension it. Software can approximate this; it cannot replace the judgement, which is why automatically converted files usually look poor.
What Does Not Translate to Stitch
This is the practical part for anyone supplying a logo.
- Gradients and subtle colour blends. Thread is a solid colour; gradients have to be reinterpreted as discrete blocks or dropped.
- Very fine lines. Below a certain width a line cannot be stitched cleanly and will either thicken or disappear.
- Small text. Lettering below roughly 4–5mm in height tends to fill in and become illegible, particularly on textured fabric.
- Photographic detail. Embroidery reproduces shapes and blocks of colour, not tonal images.
Simplifying Rather Than Compromising
The usual solution is a simplified embroidery version of the logo, and this is normal practice rather than a compromise — many well-known brands use a reduced mark for stitched applications. Dropping a strapline, thickening a hairline, or reducing a four-tone gradient to two flat colours produces a result that looks deliberate. Trying to force the full print logo into thread produces one that looks like a mistake.
“"A logo that has been redrawn for stitch looks designed. One that has been forced into stitch looks broken."”
Size Changes Everything
A stitch file is created for a specific size. Scaling it substantially afterwards does not work, because stitch density and underlay were calculated for the original dimensions — enlarging leaves gaps, shrinking causes bunching. If you need the same logo at a left-chest size and a large back size, those are effectively two separate digitising jobs. Decide your placements and sizes before digitising rather than after.
Supplying Artwork
Send vector artwork wherever possible — it gives the clearest definition of shapes and edges to work from. Confirm exact brand colours so thread can be matched to the nearest available shade, and state clearly which elements are essential and which can be simplified if needed. That last point saves a proofing round, because it lets decisions be made without guessing your priorities.
Ordering
Digitising is a one-off step: once a stitch file exists for a given logo at a given size, reorders reuse it. That is another reason to record your specification carefully — garment codes, logo dimensions, position and thread references — so future orders reproduce rather than approximate. Orders start at 20 pieces with mixed sizes, typically around 10–15 working days from artwork approval, plus 2–5 working days tracked UK delivery, with bulk discounts up to around 40%.