While I was writing my article on the market of embroidery, which I tried to highlight the opportunities for creative entrepreneurs to use the new embroidery machines to personalize textiles, I discovered the American web portal zazzle. I believe this platform for on-demand customizable products have understood this aesthetic (and commercial) interest for embroidery as they now integrate this tool for customizing its range of caps, polos, jackets and bags.
This new solution of personalization with embroidered image is particularly interesting for the quality of its graphical simulation interface.
UnSigne is now ready to try it with the help of this simulator which may brings useful advices for those wishing to create embroidery job on a standard product or to be sent to a professional embroider.
First step, the interface looks the same as for other personalisation solutions with the choice of the product to be customized including: model, size and colour.
The tab « Customize it! » becomes much more interactive as the construction of the product is changing its display following 3 views: product on a model, alone or focus on design for sizing and positioning of its image in the available area.
At this stage the design set-up is performed according to a realistic principle of “Drag & Drop » which changes in real-time the visualization of the finished product. This feature is available for adding an image but also a text if needed. Effective and highly intuitive, the interface is very easy to handle with very good response time. This stage rapidly becomes a game, and I get impatient to go further by finding a real logo to be attached to a real customization project…
Even more stunning, the interface provides a simulation of embroidery where it is possible to visualize the path of the needle in the different sequences of execution. This simulation is an exclusivity of the web site that implements a technology « RealView » property of Zazzle: A dynamic simulation to optimize the rendering of the embroidery and its cycle time.
See a embroidery simulation example
The portal highlights the fact that a pattern of embroidery is not a standard colour printing and needs a number of instructions for the design of the source file. Starting with the choice of the embroidery pattern, avoiding photos without frank limitations and without possibilities to apply gradients; funds or shadows.
However, the site offers a number of recommendations interesting to observe as being also applicable in the case of a design from one image to send to a professional embroider:
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The lines must have a minimum thickness of 4 points of dots (pixels)
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The minimum surface of a colored area is 7mm x 7mm
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The colours selected in the full palette must be available from the embroider machine, knowing that an embroidered rarely exceeds 8 colours available on a machine.
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The text fonts should be available on the embroider design software, or be treated as image (Zazzle provides in standard 100 selectable fonts).
Recommendations and precautions before conversion
Once the file is made and saved in bitmap (. JGEG. GIF,. PNG) as Min 150 dpi quality (max 300), go to conversion step to the format of job embroidery (. OFM eg ). This transformation of extension can be made on a conventional software, but must be executed on the software of the embroidery machine. In the Zazzle economic model, this step is not free and is billed according to the number of points required to complete the embroidery. His is calculated on a basis of $ 5 per set of 1000 points. For example my logo of an area of 5.2 cm by 4.4 cm square cost $ 20.
The deadline for conversion of the source file is 48h00. And if necessary an expert may contact you to make suggestions to improve the quality of graphics or fix it, in case it does not respect the advice listed above.
48 hours after, I receive my embroidery job file for validation … And « oh my god ! » I can simulate it with the « Stitch player »:
I discovered that the embroidery is done in 31 seconds and the needle will fill the full area then embroider their contours.
My logo is not very spectacular because mono-colour, but the interface propose to change the colour in the range of threads available on embroidery machines. If I had several areas of colours, I could select them area per area.
Here we are, my logo is ready to be embroidered and applied on any Zazzle product line … a t-shirt, baseball cap, a sweatshirt or a hooded zip … everything that might make me unique or represent my brand, my business, my team sport, my association, my commitment, my favourite band, or just something which is me …
And you know what ? In the wake, I can even offer for sale this embroidery file …
Following a principle of collaborative platform, the site proposes the creation of a gallery where visitors can select your creations to apply on their product. The rate of royalty collected is fully adjustable from 10% of final sale price, to a lot more if you felt that your artistic surplus-value added worth more than a standard product for mass consumption. I keep you post of the result…
You have already created files for embroidery? Share your experience with a comment:
