Digitizing Fundamentals I Embroidery Project

Most of us are much more comfortable digitizing in imperial (English) units of measurement, rather than in metric units. However, it is better to digitize in metric units rather than imperial units, since embroidery machine movements are made in metric units.

When digitizing in imperial units, the measurements must be converted to metric before sewing. This is done automatically by the software. However, because of the fractional formulas used in making the conversion, some of the stitch data may be modified without the digitizer realizing it. Plus, most digitizers have no clue as to what the resulting metric data will be since they are not familiar with the conversion formulas.

Here is a quick reference chart for making conversions between the two systems of measurements:

Metric Conversions

Stitch Lengths
cm to inches – cm x 0.39
mm to inches – mm x 0.039
points to inches – points x 0.0039

inches to cm – inches x 2.54
inches to mm – inches x 25.4
inches to points – inches x 254

Density
stitches per inch (SPI) to points – 254/spi = points
points to stitches per inch (SPI) – 254/points = spi