I wish I could help but I have been wondering for a long time the same thing. I have heard so many good things about Embird but I don't have a digitizing program and hate to get a program that isn't right for me.. I will be watching to see your response. Good Luck

I don't know Embird, I have Janome Digitizer Pro. But I have heard good things about Embird, Teri (simplyrosie) uses it, and many others, I think. There is a 30 day free trial of the program at the Embird site, I believe, so you can actually try it out before your purchase it. There are some limitations on the trial, like I don't think you can save the designs you make, or you can't send them to your machine? Not sure, don't have it, but I remember somebody saying this. Whatever you do, DO NOT let anyone sell you a program with the idea that you just have to do a couple of clicks and the program will give you a design to sew. That's "auto digitizing", and it sounds wonderful in theory, turns out lousy in practice. Digitizing is a skill, and an art. There's a lot to learn about the process itself, how to path a design, push/pull compensation, underlay, etc, that is common to any program you purchase. Learning your particular program is one step, learning how to plan a design is another step, and it does take time & concentration. There aren't any shortcuts. But, it is a really fascinating and satisfying skill to know, especially when you can make designs that no one else in the whole world has! Best of luck to all the potential digitizers out there!! Hugs, Marji

Embird is like any other program Waterlily...there is a learning curve. When my husband bought the program for me, he also invested in Carolyn Keebers tutorials from secretsof.com. They were a life saver! They are costly, but well worth the price! You'll learn how to digitize correctly from day 1. Good luck.

You may want to message meganne on CUTE, she knows the program very well and has posted some informative information. Good luck!

I've had Husqvarna software since 1999 and loved it, but there were a number of things that could not be done. I purchased Embird in November 2008, tried out the free tutorials from their site and then subscribed to a year of monthly lessons - in Dutch - by an acquaintance. I found Embird easy to use. There are, however, so many ways of doing things, you can set so many parameters, that you really need good instructions/tutorials.

Thank you all so much for your advice and information! I think I will try the free trial and a few online tutorials before I make a decision. I would love to learn digitizing, but It just might be one of those things I'm not cut out for.

I started writing an answer to you, but it must be on my laptop. OH DUR!!! I'm so absent minded since I've been having chemo, I'll have to go outside and check my laptop.
Hugs n roses, M

Embird is a brilliant program, very user friendly and extremely versatile with so many ways of getting the same end result that you can do things the way that suits you best. If you are also a quick learner, you will love it.

You can download a free trial and use it for a month before you buy and then you can purchase it in separate modules so you can buy each licence separately as you can afford them, but, (compared to the Machine branded software) Embird is extremely affordable.

I bought Carolyn Keber's Tutorials but I started using the program on my own, well before this.

Then I joined Kathy's Flying Needle Studio Club. She has the most reasonably priced, video and text, tutorials, the very best value, of any I have seen.

I still haven't got around to doing any of them but I have browsed through them and they are really great. I collected all of the 2008 lessons and signed up again for the 2009 series. You are also, automatically signed up for her group as long as you are a member of one of her Embird clubs.

Also, you can view Embird tutorials from the Embird website (free) and you can download these into the Embird program (like help files).
Or you can purchase Audio/video tutorials from Embird.

There are also some free tutorials available from Bill, link 4 and from Clipartopolis, link 5

I sure hope this helps,
hugs n roses, Meganne

I have basic Embird and its plug-in Iconizer; don't
know how I ever did without it. It does so much far
a lot less money than other softwares.

Those purchasing the digitizing portion of Embird (Studio) may want to check out the free tutorials offered for Embird on www.cantoodesigns.com. They are so down-to-earth understandable. She is so willing to help those wanting to learn. Thought those of you wanting to learn Embird features may wish to check out these downloadable tutorials.

Angel

AuntyM has a Yahoo Group for EM2, which I also have. She answers all your questions and will even call you if necessary. I had the Embird Tutorial but didn't get the hang of it, so I watched the EM2 videos and purchased it.
http://www.auntymdesigns.com/html/embroidery_magic_2.html
http://www.threadartist.com/embroidery/videos/digitizing-designs.html Great Video

Hope this helps,
Sondra

Thanks to you for asking the question, and all those who replied. Lots of good stuff / suggestions here. It will take a while to look at all these sites, and digest the info.