What the heck is DIGITIZING????????

Digitizing, a funny word, and what the heck is it? Every embroidery design starts out as an idea, concept, or picture. A flat image that looks great on a piece of paper. A "Digitizer" is a person, somewhat graphic savey in nature, who takes a flat image and changes it into a sewable template. They will set up the direction of the stitches, places where the colors need to change, the size, thickness, and anything else that is needed to make a beautiful embroidered image. The cost to make this "template" will vary, depending on size and detail, usually starting out at about $50.00 and then upwards from there. A more experienced digitizer will charge a little more, for their expertise, usual minimum starting at $75.00.
All digitzers have a software program, specifically made, for the purpose of creating embroidered designs, and a good embroiderer can tell if a design has good or poor sewing quality.
As an embroiderer, comitted to quality, I have rejected designs or had the digitizer re-work a design, to my satisfaction. I've learned that all embroiderers can learn to digitize, but, much better to hand it off to the "expert", who devotes their day to the task of just digitizing.