Related to my previous thread on hats...I am trying to get my logo converted to the right file type to have a small test run (2) done locally on the hats. I have my logo in .eps from some previous graphic work, but the local place needs in .dst for the embroidery.
.DST - I work in digital, design, tech, etc and have never heard of that and I guess for good reason as it appears to be specfic to embroidery... Anyway, while googling that I found an online tool https://convertio.co/dst-converter/ Hopefully that can work for you.
I went to a local Lids store to get a couple trial hats. I have no intention to buy our large run of hats through them, but want to get something local first to see what direction we want to go. Problem is they want $50 to convert the file and said it would take a few days to get that done. I don't want to pay them $50 to convert the file for 2 hats. At that rate I would be into 2 hats for $100. If I can bring them the file they will embroider them for $12.
Embroidery places that take regular "image" type files are likely digitizing it themselves into a DST or other specific file their system uses. From my very limited experience in this, getting a file digitized for embroidery work is the battle. It's not like you can get them to work off an image file. The DST has the pattern for the stitching machine to follow, it's like a fancy connect-the-dots file. Each stitch is mapped out. The good thing is if you pay someone to digitize it (and they provide the file) you are covered from here on out. You can use this file to use on your own machine or with another company, assuming they use the same file format. You're only option is to pay someone to digitize it, look around for someone who can do it on the side for free, or use a logo/pattern/text that the stitching company already has digitized so you can pay for the stitch work and nothing more.
Where does the needle start, what fill pattern is used for the solid colors, where are the thread cut locations at the end of the stitch, which color is associated with each individual stitch route. Etc etc this is the information that needs to be done when an image file is "digitized" into the format their machine.
