The question we get most often at the commercial desk is some version of "what do you need from me?" For embroidery the answer is short, and it depends on whether your logo has been stitched before.
If your logo has been embroidered before
Ask whoever did it for the embroidery file. It will have a .dst extension. That file is not a picture. It is a set of instructions telling the machine where to put every stitch, in what order, in which thread colour. If you have one, send it over and we can work with it directly.
Keep a copy for yourself too. The file belongs to your logo, not to any one shop, and having it means you are never starting from scratch again.
If it has not
Send us a JPEG of your logo. That is genuinely all we need to begin. From there the artwork goes through digitising, which is the step that turns a flat image into that stitch-by-stitch file.
Digitising is a person making decisions, not a converter you run an image through. Someone chooses stitch types, decides the order things are sewn so the fabric does not pull, sets the density so thread does not bunch, and works out how fine detail can go before it stops reading at the size you actually want. A logo that looks crisp on a business card can turn into a blob at 2 inches wide on a cap if nobody makes those calls.
That work is where the one-time setup fee comes from. It happens once per logo. Reorder next year and the same file runs again at no setup cost, which is the main reason we tell people to get it right the first time rather than cheapest.
What helps
Bigger and cleaner is better. A vector file is ideal if you have one, but a high resolution JPEG or PNG is fine. What slows things down is a logo pulled off a website at 200 pixels wide, or a photograph of a printed sign, because the detail simply is not there to work from.
Tell us where it is going, too. A left chest on a polo, a full back on a jacket, and a cap front are three different problems, and the file is built for a size.
You will know the cost before we start
We tell you up front what any setup costs, before anything is run. There is no situation where a digitising charge turns up on an invoice you have not already seen.
What we can put it on
Embroidery goes on more or less anything you can hoop: work shirts, polos, jackets, hi-vis, caps, bags, aprons. Our machines are here, so the file stays with us and a reorder matches the first run rather than drifting.
If your job is a large run of tees or hoodies, embroidery may not be the right method at all. Screen printing and direct to garment printing are usually the better fit there, and we would tell you so.
Send artwork with a quote request, or call the store on (604) 856-3774 and ask for the commercial desk.
