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Embroidery digitizing has revolutionized the way we create intricate and beautiful designs on fabric. The right software can significantly enhance the quality and efficiency of your embroidery projects. In this article, we will explore the best embroidery digitizing software available today, providing detailed insights into their features, benefits, and how they can elevate your craft.

Embroidery digitizing is the process of converting artwork into a digital file that an embroidery machine can read. This digital file dictates the stitching path of the machine, ensuring that the design is replicated accurately on the fabric. The quality of the digitized file is crucial as it affects the final output's precision and detail.

Selecting the Best embroidery digitizing software is paramount for both hobbyists and professionals. The ideal software should offer intuitive tools, flexibility, and support various file formats. Moreover, it should cater to both beginners and advanced users, providing a seamless experience across different skill levels.

Wilcom Embroidery Studio is renowned for its robust features and versatility. This software is a favorite among professionals due to its advanced tools and comprehensive design capabilities.

• Advanced Stitch Engine: Wilcom boasts a powerful stitch engine that ensures smooth and precise stitching.
• Vector Graphics Support: It supports various vector graphics formats, making it easier to import and digitize complex designs.
• Auto-Digitizing: This feature automatically converts artwork into embroidery files, saving time and effort.
• Customizable Stitch Types: Users can choose from a wide range of stitch types, including satin, fill, and running stitches.
• Integrated Design Library: The software includes a vast library of pre-designed patterns and motifs.

Brother PE-Design 11 is another top-tier embroidery digitizing software that offers a balance between functionality and ease of use.

• User-Friendly Interface: Its intuitive interface makes it accessible for beginners while offering advanced features for experienced users.
• Advanced Lettering and Monogramming: The software excels in creating custom lettering and monograms with various fonts and styles.
• Photo Stitch Feature: This unique feature converts photos into embroidery patterns, adding a personal touch to projects.
• Appliqué Creation: Users can easily create appliqué designs, enhancing the visual appeal of their embroidery.
• Seamless Integration: It integrates smoothly with Brother embroidery machines, ensuring optimal performance.

Hatch Embroidery Software by Wilcom is designed for both home embroiderers and small businesses, offering a range of tools that cater to different skill levels.

• Modular System: Hatch offers a modular system, allowing users to choose modules based on their needs and budget.
• Creative Toolbox: It includes a variety of creative tools for editing and enhancing designs.
• Automatic and Manual Digitizing: Users can choose between automatic digitizing for quick results or manual digitizing for more control.
• Color Management: The software provides advanced color management tools to ensure accurate color representation.
• Customer Support: Hatch offers excellent customer support, including tutorials and online resources.

Embrilliance Essentials is a versatile and user-friendly embroidery software suitable for both beginners and experienced digitizers.

• Multi-Platform Compatibility: It works on both Windows and Mac, providing flexibility for users.
• Merge and Resize Designs: Users can easily merge multiple designs and resize them without losing quality.
• Lettering and Monograms: Embrilliance excels in creating intricate lettering and monograms.
• Stitch Editing: The software allows detailed stitch editing, giving users control over every aspect of the design.
• Affordability: Embrilliance Essentials is competitively priced, making it accessible to a wide audience.

Bernina ArtLink 8 is a free embroidery software that offers essential features for hobbyists and beginners.

• Basic Editing Tools: It includes basic tools for resizing, rotating, and editing designs.
• Design Transfer: Users can easily transfer designs to their Bernina embroidery machines.
• Stitch Simulator: The stitch simulator provides a preview of how the design will look when stitched.
• Simple Interface: Its simple interface makes it easy for beginners to navigate and use.

When selecting embroidery digitizing software, consider the following key features:

• Ease of Use: The software should have an intuitive interface that is easy to navigate.
• Compatibility: Ensure the software is compatible with your embroidery machine and supports various file formats.
• Design Tools: Look for software that offers a range of design tools, including stitch types, lettering, and editing capabilities.
• Auto-Digitizing: Auto-digitizing features can save time by automatically converting artwork into embroidery files.
• Support and Resources: Good customer support and access to tutorials and online resources are essential for troubleshooting and learning.

Selecting the best embroidery digitizing software depends on your specific needs, budget, and skill level. Whether you are a hobbyist or a professional, the right software can significantly enhance your embroidery projects, providing precision, creativity, and efficiency. By considering the features and capabilities of each software, you can make an informed decision and take your embroidery to the next level.

For those seeking the highest quality and most versatile tools, Wilcom Embroidery Studio and Brother PE-Design 11 stand out as top choices. However, options like Hatch Embroidery Software and Embrilliance Essentials offer excellent value and user-friendly experiences. Finally, Bernina ArtLink 8 provides a solid starting point for beginners looking to explore the world of embroidery digitizing without a significant investment.

Gottman's emotion coaching is brought to life in the movie Inside Out 2.

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Dr. Gottman’s research has shown us that there are three steps to reaching a compromise.

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Dear Captain,

My current workplace (where I have been working for about 18 months) is the first place I’ve ever worked where I feel like I can come close to being myself. I have interests in common with my colleagues. For the first time…probably ever I am not the weirdest, most socially inept person in every room I enter. It’s nice but also very, very confusing. I don’t know how to be friends with people I work with. I also don’t use social media, so I can’t just send a casual friend request to create a connection with a colleague that exists somewhere other than the lunchroom. That’s all fine, I see these people almost every day…but now my favourite colleague is leaving to take a permanent job in another state.

I’m disproportionately upset because I haven’t made a new friend in over a decade, and I really enjoy this person’s company and was hoping they would eventually become a friend outside of work, not just a colleague. Everyone I am friends with now is an offshoot of the group of people I hung out with in college. I… don’t know how to make a connection with this person that will survive them moving to the other side of the country. Maybe it’s impossible. Maybe if they wanted to actually be friends they would have indicated that somehow before now – although I’m not actually sure I would recognise it if they had. What can I say that invites them to stay in touch and conveys the fact that I’ll miss them, without sounding like a stalker in the making? Yes, with no exaggeration, I am genuinely this socially clueless.

Yours, 

Workmate 

Dear Workmate,

The “what to say” is the easy part. Acquire a blank greeting card with an image you like. Write something similar to this inside it, give it to your coworker on or around their last day:

Dear [ColleagueName]:

Congratulations on your new job, and best of luck with your move!

I’ve so enjoyed working with you and getting to know you during the past year. I don’t use social media, but if you’d like to stay in touch my phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxx and my personal email is [address]. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re ever in town and want to catch up over coffee or lunch sometime, and of course I’m always happy to be a work reference should you need one.

Very best wishes,

Your Name”

Another way to do this is to ask, out loud. “I’ve really enjoyed working with you and would love to stay in touch after you leave, can we trade contact info?” Then you offer yours and let the chips fall.

Neither of those strategies are remotely stalker-ish. They both involve expressing genuine appreciation and giving your colleague a way to get in touch should they wish, and then leaving the ball in their court to reciprocate. If they reach out, it’s because they wanted to, and if they don’t, oh well. Once you supply the info and say something nice you do not have to do any more work about it ever again.

Now for the medium-bad news: You are probably right that that the timing is not great, as interstate moves are not exactly conducive to building close friendships from scratch with former colleagues. Even if they seem favorable to the idea of staying in touch, I would not count on your soon-to-be-ex colleague making *any* effort until well after they are settled, at which point a realistic “win” here is that you stay in touch as professionals within the same field who interact very occasionally. “I saw this job posting and thought of you.” “Did you see this neat article about [your area of expertise]?” “Are you going to the conference next month? If so, let’s grab breakfast!” If you don’t stay in touch even to that degree, it’s very unlikely that it’s personal or because you did something wrong. Life happens, and even close friendships can founder when the proximity or other shared context that brought people together goes away.

So here’s what I suggest: Once you give your contact information and pleasant parting message to this person, it’s time for you to work on the overall skill of making new friends as an adult. What is it that you like so much about this person? Do you have shared interests or hobbies, a shared senses of humor, shared ethics or a shared approach to life? Other than work, where might you meet people who enjoy the same things you do and who remind you of this person? Is it time for you to try out a new class, volunteer gig, or shared hobby that will bring you into proximity with new people?

At work (or after work, more precisely) since you share common interests with multiple current colleagues, could you join in with ongoing social events or initiate some of your own? “The film festival is coming up, who wants to go in on a pass with me? This way we can get advance tickets to stuff and go after work.” “I’ve pledged to actually use the company gym membership this year, but I’m slow getting started. Any other rank beginners/casuals want to join forces on Tuesday & Thursday nights? That’s when I’ll be there.” “I’m going to sign up for this class in [skill we use at work] next month. Anyone want to join me?” To keep invites as low-pressure as possible, tell people about a thing you plan to do anyway and invite them to join you if they want. You’re participation doesn’t depend on them, it’s just something that might be nice to do together. And for best results, don’t think of it as you vs. the entire group. It’s okay to play favorites here and start with the friendliest people. Additionally, if your office or college friend group or newfound social hobby has one or more outgoing people who like planning stuff, I suggest cultivating the heck out of them and making your desire to be more social explicit. “I’m trying to be more social this summer. Any ideas for cool local stuff to do?” “This was such a great event, thanks for all your planning efforts. Next time, can I help?” “I don’t know anybody here, would you mind introducing me to someone?”

Next, it’s great that you have an existing friend group inherited from college, and you could probably do worse than put some love and appreciation into those relationships as well. Who is your favorite person within the old gang? When was the last time you did something fun, just the two of you, that didn’t require a giant group text and multiple calendar invites first?  Commander Logic (aka The Best Friend Who Ever Friended, Who Also Uses Social Media Lightly Or Not At All) swears by replacing most small talk openers with the question “What are you nerdy about lately?” and letting people share their excitement about something they like. This works equally well on new people and people you’ve known forever and assume you already know everything there is to know about.

People who write to me because they do not have the quality or quantity of social connections they wish they had are often carrying a lot of fear, anger, and anticipation/memory of rejection along with them. They wonder if they are permanently broken in some way. They’re very quick to tell me about all the times they reached out and nobody reached back, and use that as evidence that nobody will ever want to be friends with them and there is no point in ever trying anything else. They resent having to be the one who takes initiative and face rejection again and again from people who seem to have it all figured out. These folks have their own histories and good reasons for feeling the way they do, and a lot of it depends on the luck of who happens to be around them at any given time, since “Am I unhappy because I’m uniquely terrible or am I just surrounded by assholes?” is a question that will sadly never go out of style. I neither can nor want to invalidate these experiences, but the fact remains that there are basically five ways to make friends as an adult:

• Join stuff that you think you’ll enjoy and see who else is around. You may not make a friend, but being around people in a non-pressured way is good practice.
• Invite people you like to do stuff with you and see if that is enjoyable.
• Put yourself in the hands of your friendly neighborhood extrovert, show up wherever they invite you, and see if that is enjoyable. (Contrary to high school and common media tropes, people who love to plan social events and connect people with others are mostly not doing it in order to be as mean as possible.)
• Cultivate deeper relationships with people you already know and like and have stuff in common with….by inviting them to do stuff with you and seeing if that is enjoyable.
• Keep doing one or all these things until something clicks, which is less about your performance than it is about the luck of finding other beautiful weirdos who share your beautiful weirdness.

Just like with any other type of love, there is no secret shortcut or way to both remain permanently safe and invulnerable and have close friendships with others. Fair or not, if you’re the one who wants things to be different than they are, you’re going to have to take the initiative to change it. Beyond a) the reminder that social anxiety is a very common, treatable thing, and if you think you might have it it’s worth finding out for sure (even if just to rule it out) and b) the fact that once I learnedI was neurodivergent in my 40s it suddenly made sense that many of my strongest and best connections were with fellow neurodiverse folks, if I have One Weird Trick for people entering or re-entering a social scene in search of more connection, it’s this:

Do your best to be polite, curious, and gentle with other people, but beyond that, replace “trying to be maximally likeable” in new social situations with paying attention to your own pleasure and comfort.

Do they like you? Who knows? “They” are not a monolith and liking is completely subjective. Focus instead on whether you like them. Who makes you feel good, appreciated, welcomed, and valued? Who invites you in and rewards your effort to connect? What spaces feel welcoming and safe for you? Pay attention and seek those out. When you stop having fun, go home. That’s not a failure, it’s a decision to take care of yourself, and you can always try again another time. Conversely, who makes you feel judged, ignored, or like you are always chasing them or intruding? Who makes you feel chronically uncool and behind the beat? What spaces make you feel like an unwelcome visitor from another planet or like you’re wearing itchy shoes that don’t fit? Be polite when forced to encounter them, but stop making extra effort to fit in or minimize your own discomfort. That discomfort is trying to help you get the heck out of there and go somewhere fun *for you.*

The kind of persistence that’s so often sold in dating and social skills advice is full of hacks for turning people who don’t like you into people who do and making yourself into a person who fits into generic environments, like that’s some kind of prize. The only kind of persistence that’s ever worked for me is the version where I licked my wounds whenever something didn’t work out and then kept looking for people and places that required no convincing to welcome me in. My social skills, such as they are, improved 1000 percent once I stopped trying to fit in with people who just weren’t interested in the same stuff as me and when I stopped trying to get people who radiated indifference or dislike to stick around in my life. Turns out, the more I like where I am and who I’m with, the more likable I am.

You’ve finally found some people that you enjoy being around at work, and while one is leaving, the rest are not. Please don’t spend so much effort chasing the person who is leaving or running yourself down that you forget to appreciate the ones who are sticking around. What could be possible if you let go of the story that you’re bad at making friends and told a new one about finally finding out where you belong?

WARNING! For mature audiences only

Though the 4th of July is observed as “Independence Day”, it is also a longstanding tradition for us to celebrate our freedom to be TOGETHER in a way that is our own. It is our honor and privilege to create the dynamics in our respective relationships, including the bedroom! As we always say, “We teach people how to treat us.” That includes sexually! So, if you’re looking for climactic, fun, and explosive new sex positions to try this Fourth of July, we got you. Use these experiences to teach your partner what feels good AND what doesn’t. Anytime you and your partner try something new together in the bedroom, it is very important not to fake an orgasm or to pretend something feels good when it doesn’t! It’s OKAY if something doesn’t work for you; learning what you like and don’t like and communicating these desires contributes to the freedom of sexual expression. 

Street Sparklers

This one is all about foreplay and building intimacy.

How To Do It: Lay side by side facing one another. Begin at your partner’s face with gentle, light tickle touches and add in some light kisses as is pleasurable. As you go down their body and reach the feet, slowly move back up their body with a deeper massage. As you draw closer to the pelvic area, move your hands closer and closer, as teasing and playfully as possible, then move away to continue intermittent tickles and massages. Do this 2 or 3 times, up and down the body, alternating rhythmically between light tickle touches and deeper massaging. Then, trade! (unless it feels so good for your partner that you decide to keep going until climax, THEN trade 😉 Connection is the Goal! 

The Lady Liberty Lift

Like Lady Liberty, this position models strength and support, to lift one another higher, and to represent connection. It also builds emotional intimacy and emotional connection because it requires communication about what feels good and what doesn’t!

How To Do It: Stand or kneel while your partner wraps their legs around your waist. Engaging in this position will test your strength and balance and will also emphasize the trust between you both. As you move and find what feels good, communicate and enjoy the lifted experience! 

The Patriotic Pendulum

The rocking motion of this position helps build up to the pleasure you’re looking for!

How To Do It: One of you will lay on your back with your knees bent. Your partner will straddle you facing either toward or away from you, your choice! Begin rocking back and forth, as rhythmically as possible. Start slowly, then pick up the pace as it feels best to you both. The rocking motion mimics the swinging of a pendulum, a connecting and soothing experience.

The Finale

This one is all about building up to the climax of the show!

How To Do It: One of you will kneel at the edge of the bed and face your partner who is lying on their back with their legs placed on top of your shoulders. The partner kneeling at the edge of the bed will control the depth and intensity eventually building up to an explosive climax! 

CONNECTION CHALLENGE: Try all four and discuss with each other which one was your favorite! Happy Independence Day!

Written by Anna Collins

Marriage365 wants couples to connect in a ‘deeper’ way (pun intended), but connection in marriage isn’t only about sex. It’s about communication, emotional intimacy, forgiveness, boundaries, and much more. Our membership is the most affordable, practical and effective marriage resource to help couples grow in all of these ways.

Learn more about our membership. 

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