I'm looking for good digitizing program to create some free standing lace. any suggestions on which program I should buy? I would like it to be easy to use with great results.

You got a lot of great advice from digitizers. I digitize as well, but not FSL. I'm sorry, but I had to giggle when I got to the phrase "easy to use with great results." Digitizing is an art, learned over a long period of time. It's a lot more than just learning to use computer software. Before you spend lots of money for something you may become very frustrated with in a short time, there are lots of great sites out there with wonderful FSL, and some are not even that expensive. I'm sure the Cuties here will have the web links, but Stitch Delight is one, and Tavernmaker, and Embroidery Library, as well as many many others. And I guarantee they would be easy to use with great results. Stitch Delight often has $1 sales, give them a try, watch them sew out at slow speed, and see if it's something you want to try. If you don't digitize, you sort of picked the hardest thing to start with, in my opinion. Best of luck to you. Marji

Whichever program you settle on , make sure there is plenty of support and they don't just say , "here" , and run . And leave you to fin for yourself . This is a fine art I believe and ,yes , as I see you have gotten advice already from the best , it is not easy to start with FSL .

I too would recommend Embird, and agree with Mops that FSL is probably not the best thing to start with! I think you need to get to grips with the basics before you try anything fancy. I've had the software for almost 2 years now and have put a lot of time in to learn how to use it, but I haven't tried lace yet......

I would recommend Embird as it is reasonably easy to make connection stitches so so don't end up with jumps - something you want to avoid in FSL.
FSL, however, is not the easiest thing to start with. You have to think out the stitching order very carefully and as a beginner you'd be better off starting with something simpler.
If you just want a background with a design on top (picture1) it is fairly simple, if you want to play with lacy textures and your own fillings (picture 2) it is an entirely different matter.

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I am of no help, but from what I read and heard digitizing has a large learning curve. Neither are the programs inexpensive. You may want to ask the same question and put it into Q&A category where more people will see it. I know some of them like Embird will let you download a trial version for you to test.
Angie