How it works
What happens between your picture and your machine.
The same decisions a professional digitizer makes by hand, made for you in seconds — and shown to you before you sew.
Step 1 · Import
Artwork becomes objects, not pixels
PiperStitch finds how many colors your design really has (a two-color logo stays two colors, even from a JPEG), traces each color region into clean shapes with their holes intact, and separates overlapping shapes into layers. SVG artwork comes in as exact vector paths.
- PNG, JPEG and SVG import
- Recommended finished size from the finest detail in the artwork
- Detected Text: replace traced lettering with real font-based lettering
Step 2 · Decide
The right stitch for every shape
Narrow shapes get satin columns. Wide areas get tatami fill. Fine lines get running or bean stitch. Thresholds follow standard digitizing guidance, and they're re-checked whenever you resize — scale small text up and it becomes satin on its own. Every choice can be overridden per object.
- Satin with curvature-adaptive density and squared end caps
- Tatami fill with staggered rows, selectable textures and fill-angle selection
- Satin rings around letter counters (O, P, R, A, D, Q) instead of forced fill
- Appliqué placement, tack-down and cover stitches
Step 3 · Engineer
Underlay, compensation and sew order
This is what separates a design that sews from one that only looks right on screen. PiperStitch lays underlay beneath every satin and fill, widens shapes to counter pull, adjusts for the fabric you chose, and orders objects so travel stitches hide under later stitching instead of scratching across the design.
- Fabric-aware pull compensation (twill, pique, fleece, knit, terry…)
- Edge-run and zigzag underlay chosen per object
- Hidden travel routing and trim minimisation
- Sew order that starts where a reader would
Step 4 · Check
See it sewn before you sew it
The canvas shows the exact digitized stitches, or a realistic thread rendering, at any zoom. The Embroidery Readiness report scores the design and lists every real problem it found — satin too thin to hold, detail too fine for the fabric, an unusual trim count — with the fix in plain words.
- Stitch-path and realistic thread previews
- Readiness score with specific, fixable warnings
- Stitch count, colour sequence, trims and finished size at a glance
Step 5 · Approve Proofs
Send it to whoever it’s for
When the design is for someone else, click Send to Proofs. The proof builds itself from the real stitch file — the render, the thread stops, the size on the garment — and goes out as one link they open on their phone. They approve, ask for a change, or ask a question; you sew when they say yes, with a certificate of exactly what they agreed to. Three proofs are included with every account.
When you want a hand on it
Done for you by default. Yours to dial in.
PiperStitch does the heavy lifting, then hands you real digitizing tools — so the final file is exactly what you intended, not just what the software guessed.
Lettering
Add text in a dozen bundled fonts, from clean sans-serifs to scripts. Letters are generated from the font's own outlines, so small text is crisp and a whole word shares one consistent stitch type.
Colors & threads
Merge near-identical colors, then match against a library built from real manufacturer catalogs — Isacord, Madeira, Robison-Anton and more — so the color sequence written into the file is the exact spool to load.
Paint, erase, merge
Paint in missing coverage, erase a stray fragment, or merge several shapes into one object — holes and fill angle are preserved.
Move & resize on canvas
Select one object or rubber-band several, then drag and scale directly. Stitch decisions are re-evaluated for the new size.
Density & parameters
Project-wide density sliders for quick tuning, or per-object control of stitch length, density, underlay and compensation.
Save, open & send
Save a project to your account and reopen it anytime from the Open panel. Undo any edit, or redo the whole design from the original artwork with new settings. When a file's ready, email it straight to a customer, a teammate, or your own machine's inbox — right from the toolbar.
Curious what’s happening underneath? Read how the digitizing engine works →
Watch it
The whole thing, start to finish.
Under a minute, and nothing to install to follow along — the trial is free.
Try it on your own artwork.
Free for 14 days, right in your browser. No card, nothing to install. Then $24 a month, cancel any time.