Outlines on Text - How to deal with them!?!

[shellyky]

EVERYONE AND THEIR BROTHER wants outlines on their text.  I have a horrible time doing this.  Not so bad on flat work but on a hat?!  I find im doing 10 tests and 3-4 complete redo's of the file before it gets "acceptable".  I just hate it and i hate how it looks and i hate how thick it makes the hat embroidery feel.

CURRENTLY my best results from sewing the outline first, then the text over top of it.  It allows me to make a wider outline that will give me less thread breaks.  Sometimes that doesnt work and i have to go satin overtop the lettering satin.  Ideally id like to use a fill with a satin border with text in the middle but alot of times (most) the text is so thin that i'd be adding 15k stitches for nothing. 

QUESTION:  How do you guys digitize outlines on text on a hat?  What densities/sew orders, etc give you the best results? 

thanks

[Denis Kolar]

Densities, I can not tell you, it depends on a type of a hat. And even if I tell you my settings, it would not help you. I got used working on a metric system and my setting for a slightly increased density is -0.3 or sometimes -0.5. The density for a puff is set to -2.25 of something, I do not even know the name of the measure.
On my Pulse software, if I need more dense design my numbers are getting smaller. When I went on a training at Hirsch, they explain to me how to change it, but I was already used to it, I was getting confused for a few days and I just put it back how it was at the beginning.

But my sew order would be (Lets say 3 letter logo) outline, letter, outline, letter, outline, letter. Just to prevent shifting of the hat.

[inkman996]

I always do one letter at a time, outline first then fill always from the center out. Keep in mind tho this is on a low amount of letter and bold of course, anything to small that wont look good I refuse to do or tell them they need to do panels.

I find what works best is using a center run outline on the outline, then an edge run and center run on the fill. The edge run keeps the two color threads from mixing into each other, I also  tweak the angles so the two colors do not run the same angle together.

[shellyky]

Thanks--yes this is "DISCOUNT DIRTWORKS" so its a huge amount of letters, and theyre narrow one word on the top, the other below it...the outlines are almost the same thickness as the letters itself.  Its just not what I like to do.  Like you said, i usually tell people to strip away any outlines on something like this (i think outlines make it harder to read anyways on a long set of words like that)...but some people will just not have it any differently and that brings me to where i always get stuck with a "good enough" hat.  (usually better than their last order from someone else but not up to my par)

center out isnt even seeming to work on this particular design unfortunately.  I just hate outlines with a passion LOL