Following is some information you may find helpful.

Embroidery machines are sold by the number of sewing heads. This indicates how many items can be embroidered simultaneously. A machine can have 1,2,3,4,6,12,15,20,24, or 30 heads. It is a single piece of equipment with multiple heads on it.

Following, please find some terms used in describing features of these machines:

Trimmers - Devices found on most machines manufactured after 1990. They trim the threads between color changes, jump stitches, between block lettering, and at the end of the design.

Cap Frames - Devices found on most machines to do embroidery on a finished cap. Some are wide angel or 270 degree. The later will embroider an area much further around a cap.

Tubular Frames - Frames or hoops that are especially designed to sew on garments that are manufactured in a tubular fashion i.e.: tee-shirts, sweat shirts, golf shirts. It also works well with jackets. The opposite side of the garment hangs below a cylinder arm and is out of the way of the garments on the other heads. In the case of a jacket the front and arms would be out of the way.

Software - Embroidery software is specifically designed for the embroidery industry. It is designed to generate stitches and output the information in a language that will communicate with the embroidery machine. Software such as Corel Draw, Arts & Letters, etc. are great for generating graphics but do not generate stitches and will not write to a file that an embroidery machine understands. There are several types of software sold to people with embroidery machines. They generally break down into 3 basic categories. Each manufacturer offers different features within these categories however.

Lettering - This software is intended to give you the ability to type in the lettering you want to sew and output it to a disk or directly to the machine for the machine to sew it. It usually has the ability to distort the lettering and is usually inclusive of several font and symbol styles. It also will allow you to add lettering to an embroidery design.

Editing and lettering - This has the same features as the lettering software, but in addition allows you to edit an embroidery design. Sometimes when you are using a stock design, you may need to change the color sequence or add/remove a stitch or two. You may also take parts of two different designs and combine them to make one design and so on. Often when you have a design digitized it becomes necessary to make some minor changes to make it sew better.

Digitizing - Usually incorporates all of the above features but also includes the digitizing features. This allows one to input a design via a scanner or a digitizing tablet and create stitches. Note: Most people who sell equipment agree that it is not advisable for people without experience with embroidery equipment attempt their own digitizing prior to having some experience with the equipment. The digitizing process is the most critical part of the whole process and generally speaking it is best to use experienced digitizers until you have gained the experience with the equipment. This is not to say that one cannot do both. Generally speaking the companies that offer this software can be upgraded from one level to another.

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Most of the companies that sell equipment will usually package everything you need together but it may be helpful to look at the individual parts of the package.

1. Embroidery machine - usually the sale of machines include all of the standard hoops/frames that you will need to get started. Generally the manufacturer will offer additional hoops that you can buy as you need them. Usually there are cap frames and 2-3 sizes of hoops sold with machines and these are sometimes enough but may not always be. Generally when hoops are included, there are 2 of each size for each head. This will allow you to hoop a garment while one is sewing and then you can re-hoop the machine more quickly.

2. Software - generally this is one of the three categories mentioned above. We generally recommend that unless you have embroidery experience you would be better off purchasing the editing/lettering packages. Most of this software comes in Windows '95 - '98 versions. A lot of the companies that sell this software will want to include the computer in the sale, but there are others that do not. There is some software that is still being sold in a MS DOS format and some are being sold in a Macintosh format. Some companies such as Barudan have operating systems, and built in software that offer limited versions of the software described above.

3. Computer - Most of the software will work on a Windows '95 - '98 computer and most of the time, if you have a computer you would like to use, it will usually work. There have been times when the software we sell will not work correctly on all PCs. Some companies such as Packard Bell make their computers in such a fashion that they are not compatible with Embroidery industry software.

4. Supplies - This would be an assortment of thread, backing, topping material, scissors, sewing snips, machine oil, bobbins, needles, etc. Also it is a good idea to have some sort of hooping device. This is a work aid that makes hooping garments easier.

5. Stock Designs - While stock designs are not required, they may prove to be most helpful. There are several companies who offer collections of designs. Some of the larger companies furnish nice color catalogs with detailed pictures, sizes and stitch counts of these designs. They become excellent sales tools and options for your customers who may find a stock design that would work and you could offer this design to you customer as a quick solution and it would be less expensive than a custom digitized design. We also find that by having one of these collections it helps you develop marketing and sales opportunities.