I regularly see designs digitized and put out for free here and other places. And a download counter telling how many times it has been downloaded. Then there are the few thank-yous. I'm wondering approximately how much time does it take to digitize the designs that are snarfed up with nary a thank you by most? Seriously, how long do you spend on an average design? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days?

Everything that has already been said plus the time it takes to test stitch the design, perhaps several times with tweaks in between, before I'm happy to share it.

1 comment

by kryztyna 18 Feb 2012

I have tried my hand at digitizing and have been chuffed at what I have done, BUT....it gonna take many a tweak and many a week before I even consider sharing my very amateur designs, but they did amaze my family and friends hehehe

Meganne, this hug is for you and all the very talented and generous people that share their work so that I may get the enjoyment and satisfaction from something that I love doing. Although you may not see the flowers and thanks I offer, I know that I have given them and that more often or not I exclaim out loud with many an ooh and aah for your amazing work. There are times when I wish I could give a whole bunch of flowers.Hugs and Blessings, Christine, Johannesburg

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1 comment

by justonlyme 18 Feb 2012

I agree. It does seem like we should better be able to communicate our amazement, fascination, excitement, etc. with the digitizer!!!

There are explantions. Frequently I download a design in 2 formats or in 2 folders (Cute & You), if a design has been in the catalog for a long period of time, I do not comment (which changes the order of the catalog), not all people comment (for reasons of anonymity), Just like having a party... if you want a big turnout invite too many people! Even if RSVP someone will not show up! My last thought... for those who are "making a living" in this industry, the best way to say Thank you and show your support is to make a purchase! Live Laugh Download Stitch! Thank you all Digitizers!

1 comment

by justonlyme 18 Feb 2012

Oh, absolutely, I agree. In all aspects. I was just observing and wondering...no harm or foul intended. I truly applaud those who work hard to present here and everywhere!!!

Never in seconds! Usually it takes the better part of a day or even days, and then there are those that take forever to get it just right. Perfectionism has its drawbacks.
I agree with Meganne, it depends so much on the design.
Simple outlines only take minutes, like a patch, but anything you add can and probably will be time-consuming. As an example take the tiger puppet and the elephant. The tigers stripe took far less time than the 'simple' lines in the elephant as I wanted those to stitch in a continuous line. So looks can be deceiving for a non-digitiser.

And while practice makes you do things faster, it also makes you try out more and more difficult things - end result might be that it takes so much longer to finish a design than when you only dared tackle simpler things.

I have learned so much in the past 3 years of digitizing, therefore it does take much longer to finish a design. As Meganne has already stated there is so much to take into consideration, even the order in which the stitches are to be stitched in the color groupings should be organized. My realistic animals can take days to finish, others a couple of hours....no set time really...depends on what details you want to put into the design..

5 comments

by justonlyme 18 Feb 2012

That seems so backwards, that the more you know, the longer it takes. :) But if you are a perfectionist, then I can imagine it taking quite a bit longer. Thank you for taking the time to answer!!

by mops 18 Feb 2012

It isn't, it works this way with everything, the more you know, the more you relise what you don't know. Take a simple flower, at first you digitise the petals as one, at say a 45 degree angle. Then you realise you can do better, digitise one petal and then copy, paste and rotate (or use an encore function) so the fill in each petals has a different angle and you want to avoid jumps - more time. Then you want a shadow and draw lines by hand - more time; then you want nice shading and you digitise in 3 shades of the original colour - much more time. And that's just one example.

by mops 18 Feb 2012

realise ot relise

by mops 18 Feb 2012

copy, paste and rotate (or use an encore function) then make sure you avoid jumpstitches - more time. Next you want a bit of definition and draw in lines - more time. Then you decide to use three shades of the original colour to create a more realistic flower - much more time. And that's just one example.

by mops 18 Feb 2012

flower - much more time.

And that's just one example why the more you learn the longer it takes.

It all depends on the design.
Special requests can take weeks because I am VERY pedantic about the quality of my work.
Some designs I can knock over within 2 to 10 hours.

Manually digitised alphabets take forever because there are two times twenty six individual designs plus numbers zero to nine and they can get horribly monotonous and boring after the first 20 or so. LOL!!!

I don't mind just receiving flowers as I can see my design is appreciated by how many there are and no matter how hard I try, I don't have enough hours in the day to go back and read all the posts. For this reason I do wish people wouldn't ask questions on the designs posts, I may NEVER see it.

If you have a question about one of my designs, it is far better to email me directly, put CUTE in the subject line, address me by my name, and you will always get an answer.
But I digress.

Rule of thumb is:
A good digitiser will take as long as it takes, to achieve his/her standard of perfection.

A poor digitiser will churn out designs, one after another, with nary a thought to mapping, colour changes or jumps; push/pull compensation, density, underlay or the myriad other finer points of digitising. You can recognise these designs as the ones you stitch out ONCE then delete from your collection.

Please remember I am talking generalities here, not in any way shape or form am I finger pointing or implying, or suggesting, or denigrating anyone here at CUTE.
Hugs n roses, Meganne

4 comments

by justonlyme 18 Feb 2012

Thank you. I wasn't asking for finger pointing. I was curious about how long it really does take, and maybe wanted to share that info with others. We see the work, which is beautiful, and do not what goes in to it.

by justonlyme 18 Feb 2012

My purpose in asking was to find out how much of themselves the digitizers here are giving. It sounds like a LOT!!! I for one appreciate everything that is put out there. This is such a giving, generous group!! There were no inferences there. I applaud the work here!!

by justonlyme 18 Feb 2012

I applaud the work here. I had absolutely no intention to point fingers. Thank you!!

by beatie58 18 Feb 2012

I love you and appreciate all the designs and the time you spend digitizing as I cannot do that! Your designs as with the others on cute are wonderful and much appreciated. Hugs Sally

I'd love to know how long it takes to digitize, as I've still not been able to dive in to learn how. But I think I'm gonna have to disagree about the nary a thank you part. Many times, I give a flower as a thank you, but I don't want to add a comment that seems so similar to the ones that are already there. I bet there are others like me.

3 comments

by justonlyme 18 Feb 2012

I wasn't specifically referring to this site. There are others, and plenty of room to say thank you. I very often see over a thousand downloads and less than a dozen thank yous. This was a VERY general question.

by justonlyme 18 Feb 2012

And my purpose was more of finding out what kind of time folks are putting in, more than to point out that there are "takers". Therefore, I did not name names or sites, because it wasn't important. Just noticing....

by parkermom 18 Feb 2012

You know, I've realized that sometimes I am just too sensitive. And other times not sensitive enough. At nearly 50, I'm still just growing up. I overreacted, and I'm sorry.