This message was posted by The Embroidery Authority on AmayaUsers.com. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY VIA EMAIL. Instead, respond to the thread on the WEBSITE by clicking here: http://www.amayausers.com/boards/ultimatebb.php?/topic/1/619.html#000007 Kamalzango, You say you don't know anything about embroidery??? Well you know more than the guy who is just starting today. :) Ixnay on the last question. Keep 'em coming. After the third question, we bill your credit card. :) In embroidery, there are three categories of stitches: walk stitch, column stitch (satin) and fill (step satin) stitch. The thinest stitch would be a walk stitch only one thread wide, which when using standard 40 weight thread will be approximately .35mm - .40mm wide. The thinest needle readily available in the US for commercial embroidery is the 65/9 needle. This means it is .65mm in diameter. As for software, yesterday I worked on a Toyota machine and the software the lady was using was something like 'stitch pro' and as she was trying to type out 15 letter "I's" with a colorchange between each, I was beating my head against the wall. Something so simple seemed like it required a signing of another Stimulus Package. Geeze Louise!!! If you are serious about making money with embroidery, consider Design Shop. You will be able to do all you need to do for many years with the second (of four) level. If you purchase a machine with the software (same time) or wait for a sale, you'll get the most bang for your buck. But until that time, I believe Melco has a system in place that allows you to demo the software for something like 30 days until it expires to see if you might like it for free. But if you really don't know what you are doing, you will spend a great deal of time trying to figure out what in the world you are looking at and where to start. Remember that with the purchase of Melco software, four days of training is included at a Melco facility. Trying to learn digitizing from a book is like trying to learn Karate from a book. ...In time you'll figure it out but it goes so much faster when learning from someone in person as it is interactive. $1,000 is chump change for good software in today's industry. If you are spending under $1,000 for software, you're probably dealing with software designed for the home or hobby market. You'll do okay at first but you will be longing for more in a short time. Then, later, when you do buy the commercial software, you will be upset you wasted your money on that "home software" you don't use anymore. If you apply yourself to make money in this industry, the software and machine will pay for itself and then some in time. It's important to get a good deal but even more important to educate yourself both before and even more after. You've got a good start on this by finding this group. Also, if you have software, you will want a machine to sew out everything you draw. If you have a home machine, you will need to know how to get a design file into the machine you will be using until you step up to the commercial machine. (Man, I should be in sales!!) When it comes to commercial software, the leaders in the industry are Melco, Tajima, and Wilcom. With Melco software, you will get the most bang for your buck as it is as powerful as it needs to be and is half as much as the other guys software. Tajima and Wilcom have software levels as hight as $18-20,000. I just don't get what makes it that valuable. Can anyone answer that question??? I hope this information is helpful to you. Ed =========================================================== The AmayaUsers Mailing List Website: http://www.amayausers.com Discussion Board: http://www.amayausers.com/boards Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.amayausers.com/list ===========================================================