How we set up a custom embroidery run

Most people think embroidery starts when the needle drops. It actually starts about two days earlier, at a screen, with someone turning your logo into stitch paths. That step decides whether the finished shirt looks sharp or looks homemade.

Digitizing comes first

Your logo file is a picture. An embroidery machine needs a map: where to put every stitch, in what order, in which direction, at what density. Converting one into the other is called digitizing, and it is a skilled job, not a file export.

What we need from you:

• Vector art if you have it. AI, EPS, or PDF.
• A high resolution PNG if you do not. 1000 pixels wide at minimum.
• Exact thread colors, or permission to match them from our chart.
• Where it goes, and how wide it should be.

Things that do not embroider well

We will tell you before we run it, not after. Fine gradients, drop shadows, hairline strokes, and type under about a quarter inch tall all turn to mush in thread. The usual fix is a simplified version of your mark used only for embroidery. Most brands end up with one.

Sew-out and approval

We stitch one on the actual garment, or on a scrap of the same fabric, and photograph it. A logo that sits perfectly on stable canvas twill can pucker on a soft knit polo. Better to find that out on one piece than on eighty.

1. We digitize and run a sew-out.
2. You approve it, or tell us what looks off.
3. We adjust density or underlay and run it again if needed.
4. Production starts once you sign off.

Placement

Left chest

The default, for a reason. Three to three and a half inches wide, centered about seven to nine inches down from the shoulder seam. Go much bigger and it starts to read as a costume.

Caps

Front panel embroidery has to work around a seam and a curve. Keep it under about two and a quarter inches tall, and avoid anything that needs to cross the center seam cleanly.

Sleeves and backs

Good for a second placement. We would not put your primary mark there.

Cost and turnaround

Digitizing is a one time charge per logo. After that you are paying per piece, and the per piece price drops as the count goes up. We keep your digitized file on record, so a reorder next spring costs nothing extra to set up.

Typical turnaround is one to two weeks from approval, faster if you are in a bind and we have the blanks on hand. Ask. We would rather tell you no than miss your date.

See how we run embroidery and screen printing, or send us your logo and we will tell you what it needs.