Embroidery software: what each type does and how to choose

The most useful way to sort embroidery software is not by brand but by what it can do to a design. Some programs only look at stitch files. Some can rearrange, combine and letter them. Some can create designs from scratch, with full control of stitch types, angles, underlay and density. Price, learning curve and computer requirements rise roughly in that order. Start by finding the lowest level that does the jobs you actually have.

The four levels of embroidery software

Programs often span levels. Many sell a base product and paid upgrades, so the same name can mean a converter or a full digitizer depending on which edition you have. Read the edition's feature list, not just the product name.

Viewers and converters

A viewer answers the questions you should ask before stitching: how big is it, how many stitches, how many color changes, does it fit my hoop? Stitch count alone tells you a lot. A design with an unusually high count for its size is probably dense and will need firm stabilizer; the stitch density guide explains how to judge that. Many viewers also convert between formats, which is all some embroiderers ever need. The conversion guide covers what to check after converting.

Editing and lettering utilities

This is where most home embroiderers end up. Editing software works on stitch files without digitizing new shapes: it combines designs on a virtual hoop, changes colors, removes elements, and adds lettering. Lettering is the big one. Fonts built for embroidery (sometimes called keyboard fonts or embroidery fonts, as opposed to computer TrueType fonts) are pre-digitized letters with correct underlay and compensation at their intended sizes, so names and monograms stitch cleanly. The lettering guide covers sizes and fonts in detail.

Resizing is the limit to understand. Editing software can scale a stitch file, but it is stretching existing stitches. Some programs recalculate stitch count when scaling, which helps, but large changes still need the original object file. See resizing designs before you scale anything by more than a small amount.

Full digitizing software

Digitizing is building a design from artwork as stitch objects: deciding where satins go, which areas get fill, the stitch angle in each area, the underlay, the pull compensation and the stitch order. Digitizing programs save an object file and export machine formats. They also include auto-digitizing, which converts artwork automatically. That feature is a starting point at best; the auto-digitizing guide explains why clean results nearly always need manual work.

Budget time as well as money. Learning to digitize well takes many test stitch-outs, and the software is only as good as your understanding of how stitches push and pull fabric.

Well-known embroidery software

The products below are widely used. Editions, prices and system requirements change, so treat these as descriptions of what each is, and check the maker's site for the current details.

Embrilliance

Modular software for Mac and Windows. Essentials covers editing, merging, lettering and saving to many formats; StitchArtist adds digitizing in levels; other modules add fonts and specialized tools. Popular because you buy only what you need and it runs natively on Mac.

Hatch Embroidery

Developed by Wilcom for home and small-business users, with editions from lettering and customizing up to full digitizing. Shares much of its approach with Wilcom's professional software. Primarily a Windows program.

Wilcom EmbroideryStudio

Professional digitizing software widely used in commercial shops and by professional digitizers. Its EMB object format is one of the most common working files in the industry. Windows.

Brother PE-DESIGN

Brother's digitizing and editing software, writing PES natively along with other formats. Brother also offers smaller utilities and apps for specific jobs. Windows.

BERNINA Embroidery Software

BERNINA's digitizing package, built on Wilcom technology and saving the ART object format. Offered in more than one level, from lettering and editing to full digitizing.

mySewnet

The software and cloud platform from the company behind Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff and Singer, offered at more than one level and tied into their connected machines for wireless transfer.

Ink/Stitch

Free, open-source extension for Inkscape. You draw or import vector artwork in Inkscape and assign stitch types to shapes. Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and saves many machine formats. Capable, with a learning curve that includes learning Inkscape itself.

Commercial shops also use other professional suites, such as Pulse, that come bundled with or tuned for specific multi-needle machines; the commercial brands page covers those machine families.

How to choose embroidery software

1. List the jobs you have this month, not the ones you might have. If it is "stitch bought designs and add names," you need editing and lettering, not digitizing.
2. Confirm it writes your machine's format. Mainstream programs generally write PES, DST, JEF, EXP and VP3, but confirm the exact list, especially legacy formats, if your machine is older. The file format finder lists what your machine reads.
3. Check your platform. Mac users should favor native Mac programs or Ink/Stitch, or accept running Windows. Check the current requirements on the maker's site, since they change.
4. Prefer an upgrade path. Modular or tiered software lets you start with editing and add digitizing later without relearning a new program.
5. Try before you buy. Most commercial programs offer a trial period. Do one real job in the trial: a name on a towel, a combined design, a converted file.
6. Weigh brand features. Brand software sometimes offers wireless transfer to its own machines, exact thread charts and machine-specific hoop lists. Third-party software offers flexibility across brands.

Matching software to the embroiderer

Software cannot fix a stitch-out problem that comes from tension, stabilizer or hooping. When a design stitches badly, run the stitch-out tuning method on a known-good design first, so you know whether the file or the setup is at fault.