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Embroidery Software & Machines compatible with OS X?

Mac software for embroidery

Hi, all, just bumping the thread.

As Matthias points out, his StitchBuddy is a great value. And although it is a competitor to Convert It, Mac, I'd like to say that we're all for Mac, and those of us producing solutions for the Mac community need to stick together. He has acknowledged our product and we reciprocate.

If you are looking for a digitizer, there used to be Punto, which we haven't heard from in a while. There also was McStitch, but I don't know if that is active at all.

WabbitWanch seems to have taken down all their stuff that supported the early MacPfaffies. We have duplicated those files, however in Convert It, Mac. We even got Classic on Intel running to test, and had some older MacPfaffies confirm our files are working. (Can you beleive there are still Classic Macs running PCD? Wow! But there are!)

Regarding Convert It, Mac at MacEmb.com, it is very useful for browsing, colorizing, thread conversion and format conversion. It too has utilities for Designer 1 floppy and USB machines (saving a Mac user from needing Windows and Viking Disk Manager), bulk conversion, color sorting, basting, as well as removing hidden files so that machines are more Mac friendly. This includes the Brother/Baby Lock machines that use floppies and USB and machines like Janome 350e. It also reads and writes the latest Palette/PE-Design 9 files.

Also we've just released at http://www.Embrilliance.com the Embrilliance Essentials program, and it does many things common to embroidery, up to digitizing. Merge designs, colorize, re-size with stitch recalculation, add lettering, monogramming, circle text, remove overlaps (our patent) and more.

We are also working on a bezier-based Wilcom style digitizing system, which will come in levels of availability, starting with a 'training-wheels' version. We have been using this system behind the scenes for several years to create our Interactive designs for Designer's Gallery.

Someone mentioned that Designer's Gallery had polled the community for Mac interest. That was because we make many of the DG products, and we wanted to see how broad the interest was. It wasn't then quite enough for us to take the brand in that direction, as that brand is sold exclusively through Baby Lock US dealers, and there might not be enough Mac users who have access to those dealers. That decision will ultimately be re-evaluated, but not immediately.

Hence, we've launched Convert It, Mac and Embrilliance, which are available world-wide.

It is our hope that Mac users find all the solutions available, and we hope they support all the developers working on Mac embroidery products. The market is still a bit small, and it is really a labor of love. Matthias and ourselves seem to be the only ones currently working in this area.

Regards!
 
Wow! I started this thread 3 years ago, and it's still going!

So it's been a while, and technology has evolved, and new products are out. I'm going to put in a request from a layman's terms, and hopefully there's a straightforward solution.

I have:

1) A MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6
2) Adobe Illustrator files, that I can export into any format I need (JPEG, PNG, AI, EPS, etc.)
3) The desire to buy software and a machine for home use, that will be easy for me to use, and not break the bank.

What software / machine combo will work best, given the above? Will Convert It, Mac and Embrilliance do what I need, and what machines will it support?

Thank you!
 
GJSchaller said:
What software / machine combo will work best, given the above? Will Convert It, Mac and Embrilliance do what I need, and what machines will it support?
Click to expand...
As an embroidery machine every one with USB pen drive support is fine: many users prefer Brothers, I know a Janome first hand. They are easy to use, reliable, go with a rather small budget, and not need any additional software to transfer designs.

The software part is more difficult to answer. All "low budget" Mac apps can not convert an existing graphic file (bitmapped or vectorized) into an embroidery: Convert-It-Mac does (as its name suggests) conversations between embroidery files, not from graphics. StitchBuddy converts as well (although between fewer formats) and allows modifications down to stitch level, but no digitizing from scratch. And Embrilliance Essentials is mainly for monogram designs including fonts and merging, as well as (object-oriented) modifications.

So unfortunately the low-budget recommendation is still the same: Windows based on Boot Camp or a virtualization software, and Embird plus its digitizing add-on.

Just my $0.02 worth, Matthias
 
Same question

I just bought the Brother PE 770, and same question as Geoffery here, do I need to buy the card reader/writer in order to install my own designs (made by CS3 Illustrator, and will use a software like Stitchbuddy,) or as a Mac owner, all I really need is Stitchbuddy to convert my own design into the sewing machine? I'm so confused on software, dongle, card/reader/writer? Help! I haven't gotten the machine yet, but just want to make sure what other extra costs I need to invest in to actually embroider my own designs. I can do Windows XP on my Intel based Mac, but is XP supported by a lot of these other PC-based software?
 
gracepaik said:
I'm so confused on software, dongle, card/reader/writer? Help! I haven't gotten the machine yet, but just want to make sure what other extra costs I need to invest in to actually embroider my own designs.
Click to expand...
Grace, quite a lot of questions :) I try to cover them one by one:
  • You don't need additional hardware (except a USB flash drive) to transfer designs to your embroidery machine. Just plug it into your Mac, copy DST or PES files in its root directory, eject the stick, and connect it to your machine. Details can be found here.
  • StitchBuddy's only able to modify and combine existing designs. It is not possible to import a graphic file, neither bitmapped (like .png) nor vectorized, and convert it into an embroidery.
  • Currently StitchBuddy doesn't save PES files (although it can read all PES versions). But your embroidery machine can read DST files. and you can save your modifications in this embroidery format. Unfortunately DST files don't hold any information about the colors used in an embroidery, so the embroidery machine will ask for a new thread, but you'll need a printout (or something similar) to identify which one. I recommend to change the thread chart in StitchBuddy before saving a DST file, so the colors will be preserved at least at the Mac.
  • To create embroideries, there are only limited options natively on the Mac. Some time ago I created an overview at PatternReview.com.
I hope that answers your questions, just download the trial version and see if it suits your needs, StitchBuddy can be tested for 50 times...

Mattes
 
question again

Okay, so I know that Stitchbuddy is an good interface for the Apple in terms of minor editing and picking out designs, are there any other software for the MAC out there that would give me full digitizing capabilities? My friend has an Ellure Babylock, and I sent her my design that I did on CS 3 Illustrator, (had to do it in black and white, like a line image) converted it into a jpeg, and her husband took the image, opened it in the Babylock software, and was able to tweak the design a little bit with the Palette (software?) and we were able to embroider it. Now, the only thing that it wasn't able to really transfer well was the font I used from Illustrator, so we had to pick the pre-loaded fonts that was included in the Babylock system, otherwise, it was perfect. How am I am able to do this with the new PE-770 Brother on my Apple? What exactly do I need to buy? Thank you so much!
 
gracepaik said:
My friend has an Ellure Babylock, and I sent her my design that I did on CS 3 Illustrator, (had to do it in black and white, like a line image) converted it into a jpeg, and her husband took the image, opened it in the Babylock software, and was able to tweak the design a little bit with the Palette (software?) and we were able to embroider it.
Click to expand...

I don't know, what exactly the "Babylock" software was, but nearly every vendor of embroidery machines sells a digitizing package as an addition. Often it's not developed by the vendor itself, but e. g. by Wilcom, a software company specialized in embroidery software. Most of these packages are about $1000,00 and often a light version is given as a complimentary or for little money. PED Light is this version from Brother, just look at its product's description:

"... If you master PE-Design Lite, it's time to try PE-DESIGN 7.0! You can experience the advanced embroidery world with the trial CD."

So it's basically an appetizer!

Important to know, that these "full featured" programs can be used with other machines as well, as long as (1.) designs can be transferred w/o a software, and (2.) the file format of your embroidery machine (EM) is supported by the program.

So I assume your friend's husband used a software package (you mentioned Palette) purchased with her EM. The result's quality depends on the nature of the source image, its contrast, outlines, details etc. Depending on your requirements, manual tweaking and much more factors (EM, fabric, and ... luck) you might be satisfied with the result, which can differ completely on other machines, with other fabrics, ... It requires the knowledge / expertise of a digitizer to make such a design look good under most conditions, e. g. by applying an underlay. And requires a lot of test stitching.

If your interested in further discussions about machine embroidery in general, or especially digitizing, I'd suggest to join a topic-related discussion group or forum, e. g. at PatternReview.com.
 
marndt said:
Just bumping this thread because finally (since last week) StitchBuddy is able to write PES v1.0 files.

Mattes
Click to expand...

Just found this... But I support ALL Mac Software developers!
Let's keep this thread alive!!

imgExperience.1024x768.jpg


http://www.embroideryi2.com/adobe/systemrequirements.htm
 
cdlight4u said:
The software from MacEmb looks promising as well, but so much $$$ for a conversion program?! They don't have me sold yet. I'll keep watching.

While StitchBuddy does not yet have a full selection of formats for conversion, it is inexpensive ($) shareware and a good starting point if you at least want to view and print your files. According to the developer, expanded capabilities are on the way! It is being developed with, first, an update to refine its features, and soon, edit capabilities.

FYI- I also got an email yesterday from Designer's Gallery (TM) -- marketed by BabyLock -- saying that their "developers are looking into [the market for a Mac product]."

I am interested to see how these programs develop and how they will compare to the Windows embroidery packages. It looks like we will finally have some options without having to hassle with virtual OS!

:cool: -Clara
Click to expand...

I tried to download stitch buddy but it said I need an ap from the ap store then it said it can't find one. There were three downloads, I tried them all, none worked.
 
awpacky said:
I tried to download stitch buddy but it said I need an ap from the ap store then it said it can't find one. There were three downloads, I tried them all, none worked.
Click to expand...
I'd suggest to contact the developer directly with such problems to get support, but anyway ... I'm here :)

The three downloads at StitchBuddy's website are all ZIP archives, which can be extracted and their content installed without any additional app.

The issue you have might come from confusions about the three different downloads and their purpose:
  • Two of them (at the bottom of the page) contain plugins for Quick Look and Spotlight: These can be used free of charge, but they are plugins, not applications you can launch: Plugins need to be copied to the right locations on your Mac, and are used automatically in the Finder, Spotlight, etc.
  • The first download at the page is actually the stand-alone app of StitchBuddy, which can be launched in demo mode, and is used to open embroidery files. As it already includes both plugins, there is no need to download / install them separately, and they keep functional even if you don't buy a license for the app itself.
Detailled installation instructions are provided in the FAQ section and linked at the download page.

HTH, Mattes
 
Embrilliance does not write to Designer 1 Viking floppy disk

Whatever you do, be sure to find out if the software you want will write files to the disk method (floppy, usb, etc) that your machine requires. I just got Embrilliance Essentials for my Mac Book Pro and to my great disappointment, it will not write files for my Designer 1 Viking floppy formatted disk. Patti

GJSchaller said:
Wow! I started this thread 3 years ago, and it's still going!

So it's been a while, and technology has evolved, and new products are out. I'm going to put in a request from a layman's terms, and hopefully there's a straightforward solution.

I have:

1) A MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6
2) Adobe Illustrator files, that I can export into any format I need (JPEG, PNG, AI, EPS, etc.)
3) The desire to buy software and a machine for home use, that will be easy for me to use, and not break the bank.

What software / machine combo will work best, given the above? Will Convert It, Mac and Embrilliance do what I need, and what machines will it support?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
 
Convert It, Mac writes D1 disks

karalow said:
Whatever you do, be sure to find out if the software you want will write files to the disk method (floppy, usb, etc) that your machine requires. I just got Embrilliance Essentials for my Mac Book Pro and to my great disappointment, it will not write files for my Designer 1 Viking floppy formatted disk. Patti
Click to expand...

Hi, Patti,

We make Convert It, Mac for the purpose of writing Designer 1 floppies. Maybe you got the two programs confused? The interface for building a D1 disk is suitable for a browser-style program which lets you add multiple designs to the disk. You can see the program at MacEmb.com

Embrilliance Essentials has a different job; working with compositions, lettering, monogramming, sizing, density, color, etc.

Please don't feel bad owning both! They are different tools for different jobs; like a wrench and a hammer.

Regards,
-Brian
Maker of both programs.
 
350E and Mac OS 10.4

Hi have just joined this forum when searching for help on how to get my Janome 350E to read designs on the USB via my Mac.

I have followed the instructions to the letter and even checked the USB this morning on my sister's 11000, which will read the designs okay but as soon as I plug in the USB to the 350E get the message memory error reformat, so reformat back to the mac copy across a design back to machine and the same happens again. At this point about to throw the 350 out the window and wish I had held onto my 9000.

Thank you in advance
 
  • Don't use a stick larger 2 GB
  • Copy all design into the "My Designs" folder created when formatting the stick on the MC350E (or in a folder next to this). No subfolders
  • Maximum size is hoop B (140 x 200 mm)
  • Maximum 64,000 stitches per design
  • No more than 100 designs per folder (less is more)
  • JEF format, only (of course)
 
Thank you

Thank you for the reply have followed but as soon as I put the stick in the 350E again get the message: Memory error reformat? I seem to be stuck in a loop with no way out.
 
Carolee said:
Thank you for the reply have followed but as soon as I put the stick in the 350E again get the message: Memory error reformat? I seem to be stuck in a loop with no way out.
Click to expand...

The Mac puts invisible files on the stick that create a problem. Use Convert It, Mac's "Copy To..." feature or Embrilliance Essentials "Save As..." feature as these remove the hidden files and make the stick usable. <CAUTION> do not do anything to the stick with the Mac/Finder after these operation as doing so will allow the Mac to recreate the hidden files.
 
Thank you Macemb I am getting a new imac, should turn up tomorrow and will buy the convert it software.
 
Last edited:
Thank you Macemb. I put the stick into the machine format and get the Embf5 and MyDesign folder set up automatically. Put into my Mac where I can see the folders etc move the design over put back into the machine then get Memory Error, reformat? My mac seems to convert the jef file to a binary file which I think is causing the problem. Looked at my DS's 11000 yesterday and her designs show a mini version of the design and look nothing like mine do, she also uses a Mac.
 
Sewgrannie said:
I would appreciae some help, also! Can I use my Janome Cusomizer program on a Mac?
Click to expand...
There are two different ways to run Windows programs on a Mac:

First you can divide the hard drive, install Windows in one part, and select when starting your Mac if it should run OS X or Windows. This installation is called "BootCamp" and turns your Mac onto a PC. Its advantage is that each one, OS X and Windows, can use 100% of your computers memory and processor power. But it has to be rebooted to change between both OS.

The other way is a virtualized environment, where you're running Windows inside of a Mac program, in parallel with all your Mac applications. So you can switch between both worlds instantly, but you need as much as twice the memory because both OS are active at the same time. Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, and Oracle VirtualBox are Mac programs providing such a virtualized PC.

HTH, Matthias
 
Embroidery Software

Im running PE Design Next through VMWare with Windows XP, works a treat, machine connects straight into software via USB, but i do all my previewing and screenshots via Mac. Its a good setup invested about £8k into it. But i do it professionally helping my wife with her business, doing the digitising.

What im looking for is a PES viewer for Mac that will allow me to take screenshots and place in dropbox which links to facebook for our customers to choose designs.

Tried Needleworks for Mac, but its 1 file at a time, need some sort of gallery viewer for MAC, any ideas?
 
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