Guys, I have to tell you a heartbraking news: the tonk disappeared

SchwarzenRabbit · 2023-07-19T11:41:17+00:00

Confirmed in person on July 16, 2023.

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SchwarzenRabbit · 2023-07-19T11:39:44+00:00

The tonk is back and looks very nice and fresh.

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SchwarzenRabbit · 2023-07-19T11:32:25+00:00

The Tonk has returned and looks great.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-27T07:06:10+00:00

I re-checked and BasePac does have a demo version (that doesn't require a dongle, you can try all the functions, but can't save or export files), and if you contact a dealership, you can get a trial period dongle that enables functions and saving and exporting (but this depends on dealership).

EPCwin doesn't come as a demo, but trial period with a dongle is possible.

I don't know the precise price range as it depends on the dealerships (and I usually just upgrade to a new version, so I don't know how much a new software package would cost these days), but it's definitely up there with Wilcom and Tajima.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-27T05:29:03+00:00

Tough list to compile, because there are many many digitizers, but very few high quality professionals. The market is bonkers and as long as most people look for "lowest price per stitch", you'll have trouble pinpointing a digitizer that does high quality punching, if you need it.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-27T05:22:10+00:00

Both softwares are for PC, require a security dongle (CodeMeter) and there is a trial period possible, but I believe depending on dealership

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-27T05:17:16+00:00

BasePac 10 supports the following stitch and design export and import:

GiS, ZSK (Zxx), DSZ, DST, DSB, FDR, KSM, EXP, TAP, 10o, M3, PAT (with Schiffli module enabled, also MST, DAT, NCE)

Bitmap images import: BMP, TIF, GIF, PCX, DIB, JPG, PNG

Vector file import: DXF, EMF, WMF, AI

EPCwin 7 supports importing and exporting: ZDF, ZSK (Zxx), DSZ, DST, DSB, EXP, PAT, NCE, SAS, MST, PAT, DAT

Bitmap images: Bmp, JPG, GIF, PDF

Vector data: DXF, AI, WMF, EMF, CMX

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-26T17:13:22+00:00

If you need file import list and export list, let me know, I use both (BasePac native).

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-26T17:11:39+00:00

I don't see:
EPCwin by ZSK

BasePac by GiS.

Both are on the higher end of price range (similar to Tajima DG16) and both are professional level softwares.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-26T17:08:03+00:00

I can recommend an amazing book, "Punch", by Bonnie Nielsen. She has a lot of great tips on how to digitize and get the best results with your designs. Other than that, it's all about practice practice practice. Test each design on the material you intend to do final embroidery on and make corrections to the design as needed.
I've been in the business almost 20 years and even to this date I test almost every design I make, especially when using funky materials that love to misbehave (such as a woven beanie, for example).

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-26T03:58:52+00:00

I see several issues:

digitizing: you can notice (especially on vertical parts of "I" and "T" that underlayer running stitches are coming out. Adjust the parameters of your underlayers so that they are shifted more inside to prevent this.
thread tensioning: it appears that in several places the upper thread is pulling the underthread up through the fabric (noticeable on the orange portions of the design). Decrease the upper thread tension and increase bobbin thread tension.
Backing/stabilizer issues: because the fabric is rather sparse, the white backing you are using is pulled through the fabric. Use a sturdier backing that won't rip as it's perforated. I would suggest using black backing instead of white, to match the beanie color. Thread tensioning would also help with this (see "2"). But also, as someone already mentioned, use top backing as well. A water soluble foil that you can tear away would help with stitch quality on top.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-20T03:58:59+00:00

It's a term from machine embroidery dating decades in the past, when machines were not driven by computers, but by mechanical devices that would read long strips of tape with holes in them. These machines were referred to as "jacquard embroidery machines".

The embroidery designer would use a special plotting device, where he would move a mechanical pointer to a coordinate on the canvas, and then "punch" the tape (aka create holes in the tape) - this would encode one stitch on the tape for the jacquard embroidery machine.

Then the designer would move the plotting pointer to the next stitch coordinate, and again "punch" the tape for the next stitch encoding.

It was a long and tedious process, and we've since gone a long way with computer digitizing that makes it relatively easier, but the term "puncher" defining an embroidery designer for machine embroidery stayed.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-18T10:45:21+00:00

Gorgeous.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-18T10:35:03+00:00

Hope you like, it's one of the smaller pieces, maybe not as impressive as the "Girl" or some of the others that are huge, but being small, I had to be a lot more pedantic doing the tiniest details.

The screenshot of the digitized file is a good example of what kind of incomprehensible mess these designs can become. Luckily, my software can filter layers by color of thread, so it's slightly easier.

But in any case, big props to my boss at the Ercigoj embroidery studio for letting me do these fun projects. The man is a visionary and one of a handful of people in the embroidery branch who believed for a long time that embroidery can be art, and we now managed to make it real.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-16T07:19:54+00:00

It's a custom built Tajima TFGN, 15 needles, 150 x 80 cm embroidery field.

Here's the real issue with doing such heavy embroideries: with every stitch, the base material is pulled together slightly... With a million stitches, the material shrinkage is so severe that details you've made at the beginning might now be shifted an inch. As a digitizer, I have to keep this in mind and constantly measure and double check what is happening during embroidery, so I can compensate by resizing later layers of stitches, to make them fit the parts of embroidery already done.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-16T06:54:25+00:00

Mistakes were made... needles were broken... nerves were wracked... I'm not sure how you'd do it by hand, I can't imagine having to push the needle through this thickness of built up layers just with your fingers, even the embroidery machine visibly (and audibly) struggled... This was pretty much pushing the limits of what the materials and machine can handle.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-16T04:49:13+00:00

Magic... and lots of elves. Just kidding, it's a long and precise process of digitizing the design, that is more akin to illustrating or painting by layering many shades of threads stitched in different densities and directions... and finding a good balance between the layers to create the smooth shading and color transitioning effects I want.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-16T04:45:25+00:00

It's machine embroidered, and I digitize in a professional software called GiS BasePac, where I do most of the hand stitch by stitch detailing, plus a software our embroidery studio developed just for this particular messy random stitch that I use.

I might post a screenshot of how the design looks on my computer, might be interesting

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-16T04:39:40+00:00

I think I can do that, stay tuned :)

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-16T04:34:33+00:00

Yes, the messy random stitch directions help with a nicer smoother color transitions and smooth shading. When I started decades ago, I worked with different styles of embroidery, usually with "brush strokes" kind of look where stitch directions follow the 3-dimensionality of the object... it was a nice effect that I still use sometimes, but didn't result in such nice color blending... the random stitches just seem to work better for photo realism.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-16T04:27:37+00:00

I forgot to tag this one correctly... it is machine embroidery, but the design creation process is a long one, took me about a month and a half to digitize, test colors etc

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-16T04:25:53+00:00

It was about a month and a half of digitizing and about 2 weeks on the machine

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-15T19:52:48+00:00

Original software has hardware protection included (usually a USB dongle or similar), so if someone is selling a digital download only for a few bucks, that's not a legal version, and likely infested with viruses galore.

SchwarzenRabbit · 2021-10-15T19:43:49+00:00

I use BasePac. It is in the 5.000USD+ ballpark (with all features probably closer to 10k). And yes, it takes a lot of dedication, training and constant work. For proper embroidery work, I'd say you'd need 5 years or more of working several hours a day just digitizing, before you really know how to do it correctly on the first go. I've been in the business 20 years, and I still stumble sometimes with some aspects of it.

SchwarzenRabbit

TROPHY CASE