What is the Best Embroidery Digitizing Software?

Looking to start embroidery digitizing to create or edit embroidery designs? As the world’s most awarded embroidery digitizer, people always ask me two questions:

• “What is the best embroidery digitizing software?” 
• “Which embroidery digitizing software programs are easy to use?”

Most embroidery digitizing software programs have the essential tools to create an embroidery design file. All embroidery software has the ability to use the three main stitch types; therefore, they can all accomplish (for the most part) the same result.

However, what does differ is the advanced digitizing tools and features that make creating designs easier. Some do require more leg work with manually inputting ‘stitch settings,’ while others are more advanced as they help automate the process and speed things up for you. For this reason, please note that:

All digitizing software is not the same, and there are many angles to consider when you’re in the market of buying a program.

As with anything in life, people have different preferences. Your background will probably, in some way, impact your decision more than anything else.

If you have a production or machine background, some programs will make more sense when turning your artwork into stitches. If you have a background in the graphics industry, other types of software will be easier.

The beautiful thing about today’s day and age is that technology allows us to try before we buy. I would highly suggest downloading a free trial for any software brand that has your interest. 

The trial phase will help you determine whether the software is a good fit for you or not. If you’re looking for a starting point, I highly suggest you try the 30-day free trial of Hatch through us. As a bonus, we offer our Embroidery Digitizing Made Easy Challenge to help you determine if you enjoy digitizing.

Another great research method is to go online and ask what others think about a software brand. Find embroidery help on Facebook, blogs, YouTube, and other platforms to ask questions and get honest feedback.

You should also consider the company’s reputation and, more importantly, the level of support and training they offer. I’ve always said: “Any software program is only as good as the support & education that comes with it.”

When learning to digitize designs, the training you get after purchasing your software is crucial. People often purchase software and have to figure things out on their own or learn from an unqualified teacher. This software knowledge “gap” is why my book Digitizing Made Easy sold almost 50,000 copies worldwide.

If you do discover a software brand you love that doesn’t have excellent education to help you master it, I highly suggest taking a look at our fan-favorite Digitizer’s Dream Course.

The Digitizers Dream Course is taught in 11 of the industry’s most popular software brands. It will take you by the hand and teach you the age-old theory behind creating beautiful embroidery designs.

Honestly, this depends on how much one-on-one assistance you think you’ll need with the basics. I endorse supporting your local dealer if you think their support justifies the extra cost.

Remember that dealers are in business and often have a ton of overhead. They likely have to support staff, brick and mortar stores, and other expenses. The reason why their software can, at times, cost a couple of thousand dollars more isn’t necessarily because it’s better than another program…

Instead, it can be because there are more sales channels that software has to go through before it reaches your hands. The brick-and-mortar store, regional sales coordinator, and of course, software manufacturers all need to profit.

Paying your dealer for help is okay if you need a lot of assistance with the basics. They deserve to get paid for their work and efforts.

However, remember that most stores and store employees often only know the software essentials. If you want to learn how to digitize and create more complex designs, you’ll want to learn from an experienced digitizer and someone who used to digitize professionally. You know, someone who has digitized for Coca-Cola, Disney, the NFL, and the NBA (amongst hundreds of other companies) and now offers software-specific digitizing lessons? (Alright, enough patting myself on the back)

To put it bluntly, no, you do not. For example, just because you own a Janome or Brother machine, doesn’t mean you need to buy Janome or Brother software. 

To be fair, although you don’t need it, sometimes some bells and whistles come from having the same brand of machine and software. Things like wireless connection can be significant motivating factors for some.

However, when it comes to creating embroidery projects and digitizing in particular, there aren’t any huge advantages to buying software specific to your machine brand. In fact, you usually just end up paying more.

There’s always a slight learning curve when it comes to learning anything new.

Education is key! Our lessons help an incredible amount when learning how to digitize, but sometimes you have questions about how to do something or where to find a tool. Although Google is an awesome resource, sometimes it’s easiest just to post your question online, where live humans can answer.

For this reason, being a part of a community/group is a huge bonus! We personally run an amazing Design Doodler Facebook group, and the world’s largest Hatch Facebook group. If you have a question or just want some inspiration, post it to the group, and one of our amazing members or administrators will guide you in the right direction.

The last thing I’ll suggest is not to be up-sold on the highest levels of software unless you feel you’ll use the added features. If you’re brand new to embroidery, you may not yet need full-blown digitizing software. With the modular-based programs available today, like Hatch, you can always start small and upgrade to the next level once you’re ready to explore different types of embroidery.

Now, I realize that most embroiderers don’t fully understand what digitizing is or if it’s something you’ll really want to invest your time into. For this reason, I created a Free Embroidery Digitizing 101 Video Course with a Cheat Sheet PDF.

It’s the perfect starting point to teach you the basic digitizing principles that EVERY embroiderer should know, like stitch types, underlay, pull compensation, and more. Trust me, whether you want to digitize or not, the theory you’ll learn here will help you achieve better-embroidered results.

Hatch is extremely powerful yet still has an easy-to-use interface and is available at a great price. It is also modular, allowing you to start small and add as you grow.

It takes a lot of the guesswork out of creating designs. In most cases, the software steps in and does the hard work for you.

I highly recommend you download the 30-day free trial of Hatch through us (I’ll even throw in some bonuses) to compare it to the other programs available out there. But for now, here are a few things that set Hatch apart:

• Hatch automatically assigns stitch properties, such as stitch length, stitch count, density, underlay, and more).
• Industry-leading Fabric Assist Tool: at the click of a button, it will adjust all the stitch properties to get the best results on any fabric type you choose.
• Time-saving Auto-Branching Tool: automatically paths or “branches” a design to logically sew out in a fluid sequence, avoiding many jumps and trims.
• Powerful EMB file format: Hatch’s EMB file format allows you to adjust objects as if they were vector-based files with set nodes or points. This makes the editing process much quicker and easier.
• 100% customizable ESA Fonts: they are object-based, meaning that virtually ANY aspect of the font can be adjusted. (Do you want the tail of “Q” twice as long? Simply click and drag to your desired length.)

As we’ve mentioned throughout this article, although totally worth it, embroidery digitizing does have a slight learning curve (much less with good software & education).

If you’re short on time or just don’t think digitizing is for you but still want to create your own simple embroidery patterns, fear not! Our new Design Doodler embroidery software allows you to easily draw, trace, and doodle your way to custom embroidery – all without digitizing.

This powerful yet wonderfully easy-to-use program is so easy that even kids can use it! If you can hold a pencil, you can doodle your own design… Oh yeah, did I mention it works on an iPad?

Get your free Design Doodler demo to try for yourself and see how easy it is to create your doodles into stitches!

As you know, you need to consider many factors when looking into digitizing software. However, the main thing to remember is to look for a reputable brand with quality education and support.

Download the free 30-day trial of Hatch and compare it to any other software brands available. Just make sure you download your trial through us to get the most out of it with our exclusive Hatch bonuses.

Still not sure if digitizing is right for you? Try our free Embroidery Digitizing 101 Course before buying your embroidery software. We suggest saving money and learning the basics. This will help you understand digitizing and learn important theories that all embroiderers should know.

Finally, if you want to create your own simple embroidery designs without digitizing – and would rather draw, trace, and doodle your way to custom designs with user-friendly software, check out our revolutionary new Design Doodler embroidery software.

I hope this helps you narrow your search for embroidery digitizing software. We’re always happy to help and the name of our site says it all: Digitizing Made Easy.