I have had to reinstall Embird quite a few times and each time I had to reinstall all of my thread colors. Do you by any chance know how I can find the file of my thread colors so I can save it and reinstall it when I reinstall Embird?

Thanks, in advance, for any help you can provide.
Gina

Hi Gina – This is what you need to do in order to save and reinstall your marked threads.

When you mark threads in a catalogue, your changes are recorded in a config file in the Embird32/Embird64 folder. This file is nitfy.ini and it stores your marked threads.

If you want to transfer your marked threads to a new version of Embird then you should copy the nitfy.ini file from your Embird32/Embird64 folder onto a removable media such as a USB drive or save it on your hard drive. Then paste this file into the same folder in Embird32/Embird64 folder on your computer after re-installing and you will have the the marked threads back in Embird when you re-open the program.

Always keep a copy of this file in a safe place.

Carolyn Keber
Tutorials for Embird and PE Design

I have recently purchased a Brother LB-6800PRW and was unaware that I needed a digital converter to convert my photo’s to .pes or .dst which are the two formats that my machine takes. I was told that I need to purchase either PE design plus or PE design next. After looking into these programs, I realized how expensive they are! I have seen and heard several people talking about Embird and how it is very similar if not better than the other two. I am trying to figure out if I can use Embird to convert my formats of my photos and use with my machine? I really look forward to your response!

You can definitely use Embird to convert your photos to PES files. You would need the basic Embird program, along with the plug-in Sfumato Stitch.

You can download the latest version of Embird (and any of the plug-ins) and use the program free of charge in trial version for up to 30 days to test the features prior to purchasing registration.

To download, or for more information, please go to this page of the Secrets website.

Margaret Hardwick-Smith

Customer Support
at Secrets of Embroidery

Hi Laurie

PE Design Basic does not have a digitising function at all. It’s really just for minor editing – although I would think that you would be able to purchase lettering that has been digitised already and open and arrange them in PEDS Basic. But if you wished to use True Type Fonts and convert them into ready designs or lettering then you would either have to purchase the full PE Design Next or perhaps PEDS Lite. But to be honest Embird represents much better value for money. The full price of the program is less than PE Design Next or Lite to begin with and then any upgrades are only dollars as opposed to hundreds of dollars for Embird upgrades. I teach both programs – PE Design and Embird – so I have nothing to gain in recommending one over the other but the last upgrade to Embird was $20 whereas I generally pay approx $600 per upgrade for any upgrade to the Brother programs. I’ve had PE Design since Version 2 and have now stopped upgrading at Version 8. I have also had Embird since 1998 and their upgrades have cost me in total over 14 years no more than $80 total (for 14 years).

In Embird Editor you can use the Embird lettering (purchasable at approx $13.50 per lettering style) or you can purchase Font Engine as an add on to Embird at $132.00. Embird itself is $150 and with Font Engine as an add-on or perhaps some of the pre-digitised fonts (which are excellent BTW) you will still be paying far less than the Brother programs plus you’ll have a great amount more of editing capabilities than you’ll ever have with PE Design.

If you wish to make designs from scratch – digitising – then you’ll also need to purchase Embird Studio (Digitising Tools $135.00) This will enable you to create any number of designs, save them and then stitch them on your machine.

But if you’re just looking to create some lettering – such as your daughters name – then my advice would be to get Embird Basic ($132) and some of the Embird lettering at $13.50 each. The lettering is fabulous and resizeable perfectly. And the editing capabilities of Embird are just fantastic. This is really the best value for money program around. Embird will write to any format other than ART

Try the Embird program for 30 days free of charge and see what you think of it . And its a fully functioning version of the program and can be used on any computer you own – without a security device (no dongles).

I think you’re best to start with Embird Basic and a couple f alphabets and get used to them before you buy extra add-ons such as Font Engine or Digitising Tools (Embird Studio) But be assured that Embird will do as you wish to do…

I hope that helps but if you need more info then just email me again.

Kind regards

Carolyn Keber
Step by step lessons for Embird and PE Design

At one time on Manager you could view all designs and at the bottom of designs was a place that you could tick that told you how many pages there were of designs and you could print them. You had the option of printing either odd pages or even so that you could print both sides of a page. You also had the option of going to any page. Now I can’t find it.

I think that you may have your Process Panel command in Manager turned off.

In Embird Manager go to Options on the Menu Bar and move down to Show Process Panel and left mouse click on it. The Process Panel will then appear and you’ll have the option to Print and you’ll also be able to see how many pages of designs are open etc.

I hope that helps.  Best of luck.

Carolyn Keber
Step by Step Tutorials for all Embird programs and for PE Design

Hi Carolyn, I am trying to digitize a small cross 1 1/2 cm long. I managed to do the cross but I can’t work out how to make it do a satin stitch. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have all your books but I am still at a loss.

Thank you – Gloria

Hi Gloria

If you digitised the cross in Studio then you should be able to easily convert your existing cross into a Satin Stitch object – as long as you have saved your original file as an EOF file.

Here’s what you need to do:

Open Studio.

Go to Design/Open.

Move to the folder where you saved the EOF file and select it.

Click Open.

With the object selected on the Design Page move to the Object Order screen on the right of the page and right mouse click.

Choose Ungroup if you had previously Grouped the objects in the file (if there were more than one object in the design) – otherwise skip this step if you have not Grouped the design.

In the Object Order screen select the object that you wish to change to satin stitch.

Go to Convert on the Menu Bar and choose Create Column from Fill.

Delete the original object.

Generate the stitches and check the result in 3D. If there are gaps in the stitches then the satin stitch is too wide and you’ll need to decrease the width of the stitches.

You can select the object and go to Transform on the Menu Bar and choose Change Column Width. Move the slider. Be aware that you may have to do some more editing after this step though.

Now save the design as a new file name.

I hope that helps but if you need more help or have problems then just email me back again.

Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
Step by Step Tutorials for all Embird programs and for PE Design

I have font engine with my Embird 2010 program.  When I select “plain fill” instead of just a plain stitch I get a program fill with zig zags in the lettering.  Can you tell me what to do to correct it? 

Hi there

To change from the default fill for Plain Fill you need to click on Parameters and the in the Plain Fill drop down box change the fill pattern to Fill 1. Click OK. That will change the fill back to the plain fill option.

It’s just a little quirk with the program and will possibly be changed in the next update. If you need to learn more about Font Engine then I have an extensive “step by step” guide that is available at Secrets of Embroidery that has just been released for Font Engine. It will teach you everything that you need to know about the program. There is a lot more to Font Engine than most people realise.

I hope that helps.

Kind regards

Carolyn Keber
Tutorials for all Embird programs and for PE Design/Palette

Does Embird do everything that PE Design Next does? Would appreciate Comparison of the two products, if possible. Thanks!

Dear Carolyn, In Embird Editor we have “reverse stitches” and “smart reverse stitches”.  Is there anything similar in Embird Studio?  I can not find any such tools in Studio. Thanks! – Charles Wilson

Hi Charles

In Studio there is a command called Reverse Nodes Order which is similar to the Reverse Stitches command in Editor. To use the Reverse Nodes Order you need to select the object in question and go to Edit/Edit Nodes (or various shortcutsJ ) and then go to Edit/Reverse Nodes Order and this will reverse the stitching of the selected object.

I hope that helps…Best of luck.

Kind regards

Carolyn Keber
Step by Step Tutorials for all Embird programs and for PE Design