How to Use the Appliqué Generator

The short version

1. Type your text (up to 20 characters) and pick a font.
2. Set the letter height. It opens at 2 inches and goes down to 1.
3. Choose the satin color and the finish.
4. Click Generate Preview to see the real stitches, free.
5. Watch the stitch player, then continue to checkout and download your files.

Text, font and size

• Text: up to 20 characters. Short words work best for appliqué.
• Font: search more than 1,000 fonts, each with a preview. Bold, simple fonts give the best results; see fonts for appliqué.
• Letter height: from 1 inch (25.4 mm) up to 10 inches (254 mm), opening at 2 inches. It sets the height of the capital letters. The finished piece comes out a little larger because of the satin border. Below 2 inches, use a bold font and a satin cover of about 1.5 mm. See the size guide.
• Letter spacing: extra space between letters. Negative values tighten them.

Finish type

• Satin finish (the default): placement, tack-down and a dense satin cover. The classic solid appliqué edge, in three colors.
• Zigzag finish (tackle twill): placement and one open zigzag pass, with no satin cover. A raw-edge look in two colors.

Satin and tack-down settings

• Satin cover thickness: the width of the visible border, from 1 to 8 mm. See satin width and density.
• Satin density: the spacing between satin stitches. The recommended value is 0.4 mm.
• Tack-down type: zigzag or running stitch. See zigzag vs running tack-down.
• Tack-down thickness: how wide a zigzag tack-down is. It cannot exceed the satin cover. Hidden when you choose a running-stitch tack-down.
• Split satin stitches: on by default. Turn it off for wide columns so every stitch runs straight across.

Fabric type

Choose Stable (felt, backed fabric), Woven (cotton, twill) or Stretch (knit, jersey). The setting adds allowance to every stage so the finished satin is not narrower than designed on fabrics that pull in.

Layout and shape

• Straight: a flat baseline.
• Arc: the word follows a circle; you set the radius, start angle and direction.
• Arch and Arch flat: the classic varsity arch. Arch bends the whole word so letters fan out; Arch flat bends only the top and bottom edges while the sides stay upright. A curve slider sets how strong the arch is.
• Corners: Sharp points keep every corner exactly as the font draws it. Rounded corners soften them, which suits thin or spiky fonts.
• Merge overlapping letters: combines the outlines of letters that overlap, for connected script fonts.
• Trims: cut the thread between letters (the default) or never cut within a stage.
• Puff satin: raises the border over a foam layer. It needs a wider satin cover.

Preview, then download

Click Generate Preview. The preview is drawn by the same engine that makes the production file, so the stitch pattern, stitch count and size are exactly what you will get. Previewing and watching the stitches sew are always free. You pay, or spend plan credits, only when you continue to checkout. An appliqué design uses twice the credit of a lettering design, because it has three stages and a cut file. You receive DST, PES and EXP files plus the SVG cut file; see which format you need.