Uncategorized Archives - Make All the Projects!

July 5, 2017 by ANN

If you use Wilcom on a Mac you get no tech support

If you use a Mac computer and run Wilcom software, you are on your own. If you contact tech support, they will either refuse to even let you state what you need help with or berate you for your hardware choice. I did not know this before I spent thousands of dollars. I wish someone would have warned me, so I am warning you. If you run Wilcom on a Mac, you do not get even basic tech support. It is not stated anywhere on their website that I could find (and I have looked). They do not tell you that until after they have your money.

Google It

If you search Google for Wilcom and Apple, the first two results will be pages on the Wilcom site telling you how to install Wilcom on a Mac. In the blog article How to run Wilcom software on a Mac “I will recommend using this technology without any hesitation to any Wilcom user who wanted to move to a Mac and keep their Wilcom software, or to any Mac user who wanted to have the best embroidery software.” There is a tiny note at the bottom of the page stating *Please note: research current as of February 2013. This is an independent review only. Wilcom does not provide technical support on hardware devices.

What that little line is NOT saying is that Wilcom will not provide ANY support if you are using a Mac. You read that right – they will not support their product if you are running windows on a Mac. It does not matter if the issue relates in ANY WAY to the computer you are using. If you admit to running a Mac, the conversation is over and no support for you.

My experience

I recently “upgraded” from E3 to E4. I installed it per the enclosed instructions and was off and running, but I ran into a glitch on some files created in a previous version. It is a fairly new product, these things happen, it is part of using such a complex software. That is what tech support is there for. I went to the Wilcom America site where I purchased the software and located the Technical Support Policy. Now I will admit – I did not realize that the “Chat Now” that popped up may not be for tech support (I don’t know if it is or isn’t, but it is not listed in the policy, so it is possible that is not what it is intended for and I may have erred by using that, but I never got far enough to find out.)

As a digitizer, when a customer has an issue with a design, the first thing I need to know is what they are trying to do and what software/machine they are using. With that in mind, I started my conversation with Selena with that relevant information. Rather than type it out, a screenshot says it all (and yes, I got snarky. It was unprofessional and not my best moment.):

I followed up this conversation with a post in a Facebook group for Wilcom users and a message to support@wilcomamerica.com. In the Facebook group, the tech support manager for Wilcom recognized the problem immediately (I had not deleted E3 after installing E4 – nothing in the instructions told me to). It turns out that unlike what Selena said above “The control Z works on our PC version”, it is an issue that happens regardless of hardware. The fix was quite easy and was entirely unrelated to my computer. Maria encouraged me to call the 1-800 number for support. In the future, I will do that, but I had already sent my email. Maybe they have different people than those who manage the chat and email? Later that evening, I received an email from support@wilcomamerica.com that frankly left me stunned.

Hello,

Thank you for your queries.

Wilcom was not designed to run on a Mac.
Just because some people are acctually using parellels on Mac systems to run our software
does not mean we will support any issues that occur that maybe Mac related. If you called Apple and told
them you had an issue with Wilcom, what do you think they would say?
The reality is that most of the world still use PC’s
and that is a fact.
Just know that if you choose to use a Mac you run a risk.
Concerning the problems you are having in your Wilcom program we can take a look at this.
We would need for you to send the files you are having trouble with as attachments to us, so that we may escalate them to our development team.
Please explain in detail what you have experienced.
Thank you again for your query.

I have searched the Wilcom America site for “Apple” “Mac” “Parallels” “virtual machine” “boot camp” and I find nothing. As I said above, when I Googled Wilcom and Mac, I found the blog post recommending it as a solution and a page titled “Install ES/DS e3 in a Mac Computer” and the page “Operating System Compatibility” which again instructs users to install a partition and run Wilcom on Boot Camp, Parallels or VM Ware Fusion. Nowhere do I find anything stating that they will not support their software if you follow their recommendations and install Wilcom on a Mac.

I want to be clear, I understand that by running Windows on a Mac using a virtual machine, I run the risk of running into a problem that Wilcom cannot solve. It is a risk I am willing to take. I was NOT aware that they would refuse to talk to me, or be incredibly rude. I am stuck – I have spent thousands of dollars on this software – which really is the top of the line. It can do things that no other software can. If it works. I don’t expect Wilcom to deep dive into compatibility issues between Windows running on a PC vs Windows running on Parallels. I do expect them to run through the basic tech support possibilities, not refuse to even talk to me. If you run a Mac, do not buy Wilcom. That is really sad to say because it is amazing software, but without tech support, the risk is too high. If you use a PC, think long and hard about if these are the people you want to turn to if you have an issue. Who knows what unmentioned sin you may be committing that will set them off at you?

I hate writing this post. I love digitizing and embroidery and I want to be a positive presence in the community. This post is not positive and that is very uncomfortable for me. I feel a responsibility though. All I heard when I was considering a Mac was how great they are and how well they work with creative software – and that is all true. Nobody warned me (because they didn’t know, I’m sure) that I would run into such an issue of non-support. I would have either stuck with PC or not bought Wilcom and I do not want anyone else to have the same regret.

NOTE: This is my personal experience with Wilcom America Tech support regarding their professional software E4 on June 29, 2017. I do not know if Wilcom Hatch support is handled by the same support group or not.

February 15, 2017 by ANN

Digitizing embroidery designs for beginners

First, a bit of vocabulary – creating embroidery designs is a process generally called digitizing. The software you need is called digitizing software. The first thing to figure out is if this really is something you want to do. Many people get a machine and assume that they should make the designs that go on it. That is certainly an option and it might be the right option for you.

This post contains affiliate links

Hang on! Are you comfortable with your embroidery machine?

I strongly encourage you to get to know your machine and how to work it well before you jump into digitizing. Embroidery and digitizing are two related but entirely different skill sets. When you stitch out your design and something goes wrong (it will, it happens to everyone, it is all part of the learning process), you want as few variables as possible. When your fill and your outline don’t line up, is it an error in the design or are you using the wrong stabilizer or is your tension off or is it just not really a design suited to the fabric you are using? Once you are confident with your machine and stitching on different fabrics, you will be able to test your designs and know if it is something that you need to change in the design or if it should be corrected at the machine. There are enough things to learn when starting out in embroidery. Using designs from reliable digitizers will help you through the learning curve.

Is that pucker from using the wrong stabilizer or because the design needed a tweak? My tester was experienced and had run into this before, so we knew that the design needed a tweak and I was able to fix it quickly.

OK, I’m getting pretty good at this embroidery thing – now I should start digitizing, right!?!

If you want to – sure! Why do you want to create your own designs? I’ll start with the only one that makes any sense to me. Do you enjoy working on the computer and learning new software, you have time to dedicate to reading manuals, watching tutorials and a lot of experimenting – and you have ideas just begging to be made? If so, digitizing might be right for you!

This design was at least 2 years in the making. I knew I wanted to made a design that changed from one thing to another and it took years to figure out how to do it.

Are you trying to save money on buying designs? Considering the cost of designs these days, it would take you a very long time to create enough designs to offset the cost of buying them vs the cost of software and the other costs involved in digitizing and testing. Even if you are paying someone to custom digitize logos, etc, carefully consider how long it would take you to learn to design and whether that time would be more profitable spent stitching for your customers. That is a cost/benefit only you can know.

You want to make designs to sell and get rich? It could happen. Reality is, as a field, digitizing is flooded. The cost (and with that profit) of designs is at an all time low and the competition is fierce. Back to my first point – if you love doing it and have brilliant and unique ideas, and you are pretty good at marketing – you might be able to break through. It is most definitely not a get rich quick stream of income for most people and requires many skills beyond digitizing. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, there are many successful digitizers selling their designs. It is just not as quick or easy as making a few designs and putting them on Etsy.

I wish!

With modern software, creating a design is actually quite simple. Consistently creating designs that stitch out well and achieve the look you are going for takes a lot of study, practice and testing.

You tried to talk me out of it, but I still want to do it!

Great! After all that, you really want to make cool stuff and understand what you are getting into – lets do it! I love digitizing and what it lets me do. There are quite a few very good digitizing programs on the market and each has its benefits and drawbacks. It is important to understand some basics first. On one end of the spectrum, you have auto-digitizing. This is when you import a picture and click Convert (or something like it) and voila! you have a design. Some autoditizers will give you a small amount of control in choosing what kind of fill you want or outline style, but it is generally a very automated, quick process with very little input. This sounds fantastic! I’ll have my entire clipart folder converted and ready to stitch by dinner tonight! If only it were that easy… This requires very “clean” artwork, meaning just a few colors, high resolution and little to no shading or shadows. Even given that, the results are quite unpredictable. Check out my post about autodigitizing here.

Auto-digitizing creates designs that range from awful to kind of ok

On the other end of the spectrum is manual digitizing. You can either work from scratch or import an image to use as your background. With manual digitizing, you create objects by setting “nodes”. Once you have those shapes, you choose what kind of object it will be – a run or a fill and what properties it will have. Do you want it a very thin line? A thicker line, a satin column? The control is all yours. On the one hand it is more challenging because you have to make those decisions for every part of your design, but on the other hand, you can get the outcome you were imagining because you have the control. It definitely takes longer, but in the end you have a design worth stitching.

All those options can be overwhelming, but they are the building blocks of a quality design.

Some digitizing programs include an autodigitizing function. Go ahead and play with it – for some extremely simple things, it might be a shortcut worth taking. I would never spend the money for a program that is only auto-digitizing. It just isn’t worth it.

Stay tuned for my Digitizing software roundup, but I’ll give you a sneak preview – My favorite software for beginners is Embrilliance. I love that you can purchase only the modules that you need and expand as you need it. Stitch Artist is the digitizing module that I am using these days.