Frequently Asked Questions

StitchFast is an AI-powered embroidery digitizer. You upload an image — a logo, text, artwork, anything — and it generates production-ready embroidery stitch files (DST, PES, JEF, and more) in seconds. No manual digitizing, no expensive desktop software, no waiting days for a freelancer to send files back.

Upload your image. AI analyses the design — identifying regions, colours, and the best stitch type for each area. The digitizing engine then traces contours, generates fill stitches, satin columns, outlines, and underlay automatically. You preview the result with a real-time stitch simulation, then download your file. The whole process takes under 60 seconds.

PNG, JPG, and SVG. Clean logos, text, and artwork with solid colours produce the best results. PNG files with transparent backgrounds are ideal because the background is automatically excluded from stitching. Photographs with gradients will work but may need higher colour counts to capture detail.

Yes, you need a free account to use StitchFast. Sign up takes 30 seconds with just an email address. Your account stores your design history, credits, and billing information.

Absolutely. StitchFast is used by embroiderers in 40+ countries. It's entirely web-based — no software to install. Works on any device with a browser. Upload from anywhere, download instantly.

No. The AI handles the decisions that normally require digitizing expertise — stitch types, densities, angles, underlay, pull compensation. Upload your image, check the preview looks right, and download. If you do have experience, you can manually adjust settings like fill density, stitch length, hoop size, and underlay type before digitizing.

DST (Tajima), PES (Brother/Babylock), JEF (Janome/Elna), EXP (Melco), VP3 (Husqvarna/Viking), HUS (Husqvarna), and XXX (Singer). You can download any or all formats from the same digitized design — each download uses one credit.

They all contain stitch coordinates, jumps, trims, and colour changes — the same design data. The difference is the binary encoding. DST is the Tajima format and works on virtually every commercial machine. PES is Brother's format and also stores thread colour information (RGB values). JEF is Janome's format with its own colour encoding. Pick the format your machine brand uses.

This is completely normal. The DST format (Tajima) does not store thread colour information — it only contains stitch coordinates, jumps, trims, and colour-change commands. Your machine will pause at each colour change for you to swap threads. If you need embedded colours, download the PES or JEF version instead — those formats do include RGB colour data.

Yes. Once your design is digitized, all format buttons are available. Each download uses one credit. If you're on the Unlimited plan, download as many formats as you like at no extra cost.

StitchFast matches your design colours to a palette of 32 thread colours, each mapped to a Madeira Rayon catalogue number. The thread list with Madeira codes is shown in the Threads tab after digitizing, so you know exactly which spools to load.

Yes. StitchFast generates proper binary embroidery files using pyembroidery, a widely-used open-source library. DST works on virtually every commercial and home machine — Tajima, Barudan, SWF, Happy, Ricoma, and most Chinese-made machines. PES works on Brother and Babylock. JEF works on Janome and Elna. EXP works on Melco. Max stitch lengths, colour changes, trims, and jump stitches are all correct for each format.

Download the PES file. This is Brother's native format and includes thread colour information. Transfer it to your machine via USB stick. Most Brother machines (PE535, PE800, PE770, SE600, SE1900, etc.) read PES files directly.

Download the JEF file. This is Janome's native format. Most Janome embroidery machines (MC9900, MC15000, MC500E, etc.) and Elna machines read JEF files via USB.

Try DST first. It's the most universally supported embroidery format and works on almost every machine made in the last 30 years. If your machine specifically requires a different format, check your manual for supported file types. If you need a format we don't currently offer, email support@stitchfast.co.uk and we'll look into adding it.

StitchFast supports 100×100mm (4×4"), 130×180mm (5×7"), 200×200mm (8×8"), 200×300mm (8×12"), and 360×360mm (14×14"). Your design is automatically scaled to fit 85% of the selected hoop, leaving margin for the frame. The AI will also suggest the best hoop size based on your image.

Fill stitch covers large areas with rows of parallel stitches — like colouring in with a pen. The rows are offset slightly for a smoother appearance. Satin stitch is used for narrow columns and borders — each stitch spans the full width of the shape, giving a smooth, shiny finish. Running stitch is a single line of stitches used for outlines and fine details. StitchFast automatically selects the right type for each region based on its width.

Underlay is a layer of stitching laid down before the main fill. It stabilises the fabric, prevents puckering, and gives the top stitches a foundation to sit on. StitchFast offers three settings: None (no underlay), Light (sparse cross-hatch — good for stable fabrics), and Full (dense underlay — recommended for stretchy fabrics, knits, or large fill areas).

When a machine stitches a fill area, thread tension pulls the fabric inward slightly, making the stitched area narrower than designed. Pull compensation automatically overshoots the edges by a small amount (typically 0.2–0.5mm) to counteract this. Without it, your finished design looks thinner than the original. StitchFast applies this automatically — most cheap digitizing services skip it entirely.

Fill density is how many stitch lines per millimetre the engine puts into a fill area. The default is 4 lines/mm, which works well for most fabrics. Lower density (2–3) stitches faster and works for caps and thick fabrics. Higher density (5–8) gives more coverage and is better for fine details on thin fabrics, but increases stitch count and sew time.

Stitch length is the distance between needle penetrations in a fill row. The default is 2.5mm. Shorter stitches (1.5–2mm) give finer detail but increase sew time. Longer stitches (3–5mm) cover ground faster but can snag. The maximum stitch length in the output file is enforced at 7mm — any longer stitches are automatically split.

When you upload an image, it's sent to Claude Vision AI which analyses the design like an expert digitizer would. It identifies distinct regions, suggests the best stitch type for each (fill, satin, or running), recommends optimal stitch angles, estimates the number of thread colours needed, suggests the best hoop size, and sets pull compensation. All of this feeds into the digitizer automatically — you can override any setting manually if you prefer.

Clean vector-style artwork with solid colours, clear edges, and distinct shapes. Logos, text, cartoon-style illustrations, badges, and monograms all digitize very well. Photographs and images with lots of gradients can work but may need higher colour counts and will produce larger stitch files. If your image has a background, use a PNG with a transparent background for the cleanest result.

Wilcom and Hatch are professional desktop software costing hundreds or thousands of pounds, with manual control over every stitch. For complex multi-layer designs with custom pathing, they still have an edge. But for the majority of everyday digitizing — logos, text, badges, standard artwork — StitchFast produces clean, production-ready files in seconds at a fraction of the cost. Many users run both: StitchFast for quick jobs, Wilcom for complex custom work.

Single designs cost £4.99. A 5-pack costs £19.99 (£3.99 each). A 10-pack costs £34.99 (£3.50 each). There's also an Unlimited plan at £29.99/month with no per-design charges — cancel anytime. All options include AI analysis, all 7 output formats, stitch simulation, and Madeira thread codes.

No. Credits never expire. Buy them when you need them, use them whenever you're ready.

One credit is used each time you download an embroidery file. Uploading, previewing, adjusting settings, running the AI analysis, and viewing the stitch simulation are all free. You only spend a credit when you hit a download button. If the download fails for any reason, your credit is automatically refunded.

Yes, cancel anytime from your dashboard. No cancellation fees. Your unlimited access continues until the end of your current billing period. You can manage your subscription directly through the Stripe billing portal.

All major credit and debit cards via Stripe. Payments are processed securely — we never store your card details directly.

If a downloaded file doesn't work on your machine due to a fault in our generation, contact support@stitchfast.co.uk and we'll either fix the file or refund your credit. We stand behind the quality of our output.

A jump stitch is when the needle moves from one area to another without stitching — the machine lifts the needle and moves to the new position. StitchFast inserts trim commands before jumps so the machine cuts the thread cleanly. Some machines auto-trim; others require manual trimming. The number of jumps is shown in the stats after digitizing.

A trim tells the machine to cut the thread before jumping to a new area. Without trims, you'd have long thread tails connecting different parts of the design that need to be cut by hand. StitchFast automatically inserts trims before every jump stitch for clean results.

StitchFast enforces a 7mm maximum stitch length. Any stitch longer than this is automatically split into smaller segments. The DST format technically supports up to 12.1mm, but 7mm is safer for consistent results across all machine types. This applies to all output formats.

StitchFast uses marching squares with sub-pixel precision to trace the boundaries of each colour region, including detecting holes (like the inside of the letter O). Contours are simplified using the Ramer-Douglas-Peucker algorithm to remove unnecessary points, then smoothed with Chaikin subdivision for clean curves. Fill stitches are generated using even-odd scanline fill across all contours.

Your image colours are reduced using median-cut quantization followed by K-means refinement. Each quantized colour is then matched to the nearest thread in a 32-colour Madeira Rayon palette using weighted perceptual colour distance. Duplicate thread matches are removed, so the final colour count reflects the actual thread changes your machine will make.

If your digitized design exceeds 80,000 stitches, StitchFast will warn you that the design may take over 2 hours to sew. You can reduce stitch count by lowering the fill density, increasing stitch length, reducing the number of colours, or choosing a smaller hoop size. Most standard logos and text designs fall between 10,000–40,000 stitches.

Your images are sent over HTTPS to our Cloud Functions for AI analysis and file generation. We do not store your uploaded images after processing. Design metadata (stitch count, format, date) is stored in your account for your design history. Payment is handled entirely by Stripe — we never see or store your card details.