How to digitize embroidery with Ink/Stitch: a free beginner’s guide

Digitizing is how a drawing becomes something an embroidery machine can sew. Professional digitizing software can be a big purchase, which is why so many beginners look at Ink/Stitch: it’s free, open source and writes the file formats home machines use.

This guide is an honest introduction. It covers what digitizing involves, how to install Ink/Stitch, the basic workflow from vector to PES or JEF file, and the two concepts (underlay and push/pull compensation) that separate a clean stitch-out from a messy one. Everything here follows Ink/Stitch’s own documentation, which is linked throughout so you can go deeper.

What is digitizing?

A machine embroidery file is a list of stitches and machine commands. BERNINA’s software help describes machine files as files that “generally contain stitches and machine functions.” A picture has none of that information.

Digitizing is the work of creating it. For every part of a design you decide:

• Stitch type: a running stitch for lines, a satin column for borders and lettering, or a fill for large areas.
• Direction: the angle the stitches run, which changes how light hits the thread.
• Density: how close the rows are.
• Underlay: the foundation stitches under the visible ones.
• Order: which parts stitch first, to reduce jumps and color changes.

That’s why renaming an image to .pes doesn’t work, and why “auto-digitizing” rarely produces a great result without cleanup. Brother’s support site warns that using data other than its supported design formats may cause the machine to malfunction.

What do you need to start?

• Inkscape, the free vector drawing program. Ink/Stitch says “a current version of Inkscape (at least 1.0.2) must be installed” first, and on Windows it recommends downloading Inkscape from the official website rather than the Windows App Store.
• Ink/Stitch, installed as an Inkscape extension.
• A computer running Windows, macOS (Monterey 12 or later, per Ink/Stitch) or Linux.
• Test supplies: scrap fabric like your project fabric, stabilizer, thread and a machine to stitch on.

How to install Ink/Stitch

Windows

1. Install Inkscape 1.0.2 or later from Inkscape’s website.
2. Download the Ink/Stitch Windows installer from inkstitch.org.
3. Run the installer, allow Windows to proceed, and accept the Inkscape extensions folder it detects.
4. Finish the install, open Inkscape and look under Extensions > Ink/Stitch.

macOS

1. Install Inkscape 1.0.2 or later and open it once before installing Ink/Stitch.
2. On an Apple Silicon Mac, make sure Rosetta is installed, as Ink/Stitch’s guide instructs.
3. Run the Ink/Stitch installer. If macOS says the developer can’t be verified, Ink/Stitch says to Control-click the file and choose Open.

Linux users have a separate install page on inkstitch.org.

The basic Ink/Stitch workflow

Ink/Stitch’s workflow page lays out the process in steps. Here’s a beginner’s version.

1. Draw or prepare clean vector shapes

Ink/Stitch works from vector shapes in an SVG file. You can draw directly in Inkscape with the Bezier or freehand tools, or import artwork. Ink/Stitch cautions that “auto tracing often creates tiny or fragmented objects that do not work well for embroidery.” For a first design, draw a few simple shapes yourself, such as a heart with an outline.

2. Assign stitch types

Ink/Stitch decides the stitch type mostly from how a shape is drawn:

You draw…	Ink/Stitch makes…	Use it for	Key settings
A path with a stroke color	Running stitch (or bean stitch)	Outlines, fine details, travel paths	Running stitch length, repeats, bean stitch repeats
Two mostly parallel lines (rails), usually with rungs	Satin column	Borders, lettering, narrow shapes	Underlay type, pull compensation
A closed shape with a fill color	Fill (tatami) stitch	Large solid areas	Angle, row spacing, max stitch length, underlay

A few details from the docs:

• Running stitch follows the direction of the path. Bean stitch repeats each stitch (forward, back, forward) to make a thicker line.
• Satin column is defined by “two mostly-parallel lines” and Ink/Stitch draws zigzags between them. If you use rungs to control direction, the docs recommend at least three.
• Fill moves back and forth in rows. Row spacing controls density, and the angle sets the stitch direction.

3. Set parameters

Select a shape and open Extensions > Ink/Stitch > Params. Ink/Stitch says “the simulator updates the preview when you change the settings,” so you can see the effect of each change. If the fill tab doesn’t appear for a shape, the basic usage page says to convert the object to a path first.

4. Plan the stitch order

Ink/Stitch says it “processes objects in the order they appear in the objects pane, starting from the bottom.” Arrange shapes so fills stitch before the outlines that cover their edges, and so each color stitches in one go where possible. You can also add commands for trims and color changes.

5. Preview

Use the simulator or stitch plan preview to watch the design stitch on screen. Look for long jumps, shapes in the wrong order and areas that look too sparse or too packed.

6. Export a machine file

Use File > Save a copy and choose your machine’s format. Ink/Stitch writes PES (Brother, Baby Lock), JEF (Janome), VP3, DST, EXP, XXX and others. Keep the SVG as your working file; Ink/Stitch recommends saving it so you can modify the design later. Not sure which format to choose? See embroidery file formats explained.

7. Test stitch, then adjust

The workflow ends with sewing a test run on matching fabric and stabilizer and watching for gaps or density problems, then refining the settings. In practice you’ll repeat this loop several times for any new design.

What is underlay and why does it matter?

Underlay is a layer of stitches sewn first to hold up the visible stitches. Ink/Stitch explains that without underlay, stitches sink into the fabric and fills look sparse. For fills, the underlay typically runs at 90 degrees to the top stitches with wider row spacing.

For satin columns, Ink/Stitch offers three underlay types:

• Center-walk: a running stitch down the middle and back, suited to thin satins.
• Contour: a running stitch along each side, inset from the edges.
• Zigzag: a lower-density satin underneath. Combined with contour, Ink/Stitch calls it “German underlay.”

On stretchy or textured fabric, underlay is often the difference between a crisp design and one that looks thin. Test with and without it to see the effect.

Push, pull and compensation

Fabric moves while it’s being stitched. Ink/Stitch defines pull as fabric “being drawn inward, often along the direction of the stitches,” and push as fabric being pushed outward where dense stitches pack into an area. It lists fabric, stabilizer, design size, stitch type, length, density, underlay, hooping and machine speed as factors.

The visible result is gaps: a fill that doesn’t reach its outline, or a satin column narrower than you drew. Ink/Stitch says satin stitches pull the fabric together, “resulting in a column narrower than you draw in Inkscape.” Its pull compensation setting widens the stitches outward by a fixed amount or a percentage of the width.

Ink/Stitch’s tutorial suggests cutting shapes short on the sides where pushing happens and enlarging them on the sides where pull happens, and stresses that the right amount only comes from testing on your real fabric. Good hooping and the right stabilizer reduce the problem too; see how to hoop fabric and embroidery stabilizer types.

A first project to try

Keep the first design small and simple:

1. Draw a heart or circle about 2 inches across.
2. Give it a fill color, so Ink/Stitch makes a fill stitch.
3. Duplicate the outline and give it a stroke only, for a running-stitch border.
4. Put the outline above the fill in the objects pane, so it stitches last.
5. Preview, save a copy as PES or JEF, and keep the SVG.
6. Stitch it on scrap cotton with tear-away stabilizer, then try again on a knit with cut-away.

Then try a satin border, then lettering. For appliqué, Ink/Stitch’s appliqué tutorial covers placement, tackdown and the satin or zigzag cover stitch; our appliqué guide for beginners explains the hooping side.

How hard is it to learn? An honest take

Ink/Stitch is powerful, but it isn’t a one-click tool.

• You’re learning two programs. Inkscape’s vector tools come first. If you’ve never drawn with Bezier curves, budget time for that alone.
• Embroidery has its own rules. Density, underlay, stitch direction and compensation don’t exist in normal drawing programs.
• Testing is part of the job. Every new design needs at least one stitch-out, and most need a few.

Choose Ink/Stitch if you enjoy learning tools, want to make original designs without paying for software, or use Linux. Skip it, for now, if you just want names on towels or to tweak purchased designs. Lettering and editing programs like Embrilliance are faster for that; see best embroidery software for beginners.

Once you can digitize, you’ll also understand why resizing a purchased design has limits: the stitches were planned for one size. Ink/Stitch regenerates stitches from your shapes, so resizing your own SVG is far easier than resizing a finished PES file.

More software and file guides are in the designs and software topic.