How can you tell what you're getting before you buy it?

[Grammie]

As far as I know all are welcome here. It is really nice to have another professional sharing with us on the chat.

Welcome Elaine. We hope to see you alot.

On the subject of encrypted designs I have learned in the past few days that we have Darlene Epp, Todd Brown with legacy quilting and Intelligent Quilting all selling designs and giving an editable file. KOODOS to you my friends.

With that in mind purchasers who OWN a CQ computerized system must know that not all designers are creating "TRUE CORNER DESIGNS". I have no problem with that as with an editable file I can make the "Motif Corner" work with my CQ.

I don't think Designers should have to Create separate designs for CQ owners rather I think CQ owners should LEARN how to take a Corner Motif and Make it a Corner Design that follows the rules of their CQ. This is when your creativity is heightened and Learning such rules and Techniques will indeed improve your knowledge of a system that will make you lots of money for your business. Sometimes I am not very good at expressing myself via internet. I just want CQ OWNERS to really get to know their system and be hungry for all that they can do with it with regard to creating Beautiful and creative quilts. Knowledge is just SO IMPORTANT.

Hugs

Grammie

[Jess]

Well, I've read all the posts so far & have to jump in with a few items, not in any specific order:

1)Digi-Tech provides a DXF with all their machine specific packages, as well as the WMF. We include the DXF because this way we can work together with the customer over the phone if they want some help walking through a "minor"change that they might need in order to get a design to fit the space that they want - Ex: take a loop off the tip of a triangle pattern if they have a shape that is a triangle with the tip nipped off. The other reason for this is exactly as what has been stated. Regardless of what program a customer may be using to create a layout in they can use that DXF to do it, or at the very least they can easily convert a DXF to other formats that they can use.

2) We like to provide DXF formats because a DXF file can be used as the basis for more than quilting. We have noticed a few woodworkers who purchase DXF files from us for use with their CNC routers & the like. All they have to do is add the Z axis measurement for the depth of their cuts.

3) A WMF may or may not be created = to the DXF depending on how it is created. I've noticed that when I create a WMF in Illustrator it is incredibly smooth in comparision to the WMF files created in Autosketch. When I take a WMF file from Autosketch & increase it in size it looses smoothness in the curves at a certain point. Granted this may not be a problem until the file is significantly larger than what we would ever use between quilting rollers. But again, we are looking beyond the quilting market & want to maintain a level of line quality that is very high & that is one where you can enlarge a design at least 500% & not have any quality loss. This is extremely noticeable on files that are taken to a plotter & printed out at a larger size - so this line quality is important for those designers who want to produce printed pantographs also. It is for that reason that we test our designs at 3 different sizes, the default size, really large (14-16") & as small as we can without making machine adjustments. That is how any sizing recommendations are made (based on the smallest it can reasonably be sewn without adjusting the machine settings)

4)So I know that the next question is "does this mean I can't sew the design smaller than the recommendation?" My answer is, No, you can sew it smaller (imagine Karen McTavish's Feathered Surf at 3"). It just means that we want you to drop us a line or call so that we can walk you through your specific machine settings in order to sew out the complex designs smaller than recommended, since each system is different & it may only be in a unique situation that you would do those very complex designs really small ( ex: ornaments), however if we include that info with all files then we increase the potential for customers to not read the instructions completely, as they will figure that they don't need them - a case of too much information, so then none gets through.

5)I respect the decision of designs to protect there designs like Mama Bears, but personally it is my feeling that if a person is going to steal a design they are going to do it anyway. They would be stealing designs off the internet if nothing else - so why would they proceed to steal by purchasing designs & wanting a DXF? This makes no sense to me. I feel this way because, the customer purchasing designs is most likely doing so because they see the value in purchasing a design for $20 instead of spending 4-5 hours digitizing it themselves. On top of that, those of us that design & digitize as a major part of our businesses all know each other, or know of each other (for the most part) & it's a small world, why bother to steal from those of us that are in the same boat, by purchasing the designs. If someone is going to steal a design they are most certainly not going to purchase the design in order to get the DXF to do it with, as that would provide a record of their "inspirational source" that could be used against them in a copyright suit. That would just be dumb! But that's just my own opinion & would probably put them in the running for that show "Dumbest Criminals" - Oh sure, let's leave a bread trail, why don't we. No way - paying customers are not the ones that designers have to worry about. They just want the designs so that they can sew quilts:D

6) On that same note, I read in an earlier post that Bonnie said something about changing designs 35% & that would allow the person who changed the design to lay claim to it as a new design. This is a myth. There is no set percentage within the copyright laws that allow for people to change a design & then claim the result as their own. The copyright law actually states that if the derivative artwork can be easily confused with the original that it can be considered in violation of copyright. It states that a derivative artwork is a piece of work that gains significant inspiration from another work or a derivative work may be the digital version of the original artwork - which applies in the case of computerized quilting formats. Distribution of such derivative works is only possible with the consent of the original designer. If a person simply changes a design a little bit they have not created a new design (hard to prove sometimes), but they have created a derivative artwork which they could sell/distribute if they have the consent of the designer, but only if they have that consent. The slippery slope begins where a designer does not fully protect their designs/artwork. Their rights can be stripped if they are found to not be actively protecting their design/artwork. Many designers have taken this to the extreme (just my own opinion & they are welcome to do so) by not releasing the DXF files or doing everything in their power to state that they do not want a user to make the design a different size, use a different row index, etc . However, it's my personal opinion that this is actually more detrimental to their reputation & sales then allowing some creativity in the end use. It is the digital age & I think customers/quilters want flexibility in their designs. In reality, you can prove that you are actively protecting your designs/artwork by listing the copyright on the files, accompanying files, or design image. There is no need to go further, unless the designer wants to limit the uses of the design. We try to work with a group of designers that share our opinion that we are in a progressive digital age & that while we will definitely protect their designs, as they should also, that the we are in this as a career & you can choose how to spend your time . I choose to spend mine making more designs, staying one step ahead by providing more new designs.

7) Finally on the issue of corners: A corner can be a motif & we try to list corners that are basically "cornerstones" or motifs as CORNER MOTIF, rather than CORNER. If it says CORNER, in our title then that usually means that it will work as a "continuous corner/border" with the border that is a companion pattern. We've tried to list more corner/border combinations, per customer requests. I have to admit that making corner motif is much easier & it is easy for computer system newbies also as they don't have to immediately make the leap to make everything "fit". I know that this is "old school thinking" about quilting, but the reality is that that is where many customers are coming from. It does take a little while to mentally make the leap that this will really work.

I have to say that it came naturally to digitize corners & borders at the same scale as you really need to make sure that they will meet & continue as they should. What I have noticed is that sometimes the difference in scale is not the planned intention of the designer when they digitize. There are some features of CAD type programs that can be triggered to open DXF files at a scale that "fits the page", the same goes for the SKF files for Autosketch. I had this happen recently when I re-installed some software that had nothing to do with Autosketch. It reset the way it opened previously saved files & it would open them to fit the page all the time, regardless of what the actual scale was suppose to be. I had to go back in & find those settings & make the adjustments. Now I watch every file to make sure that the scale is not way out of wack.

My reason for pointing this out is that it may very well be that some of the designers that are digitizing for Statler are digitizing at an appropriate size, but that they have had something affect their settings & in the process the scale gets thrown off. This would be the only reason for a design to come in at 100" pattern height for example. The scale was probably thrown off from 1:1 to 1:10 ratio. So in reality this pattern was probably meant to output at 10" rather than 100". This is not hard to adjust in Autosketch or any other CAD or Graphics program.

Ok - there's my super long take on the whole thing so far - sorry this is so long but I didn't want to post 5 times to cover what I wanted to say.

[Grammie]

Thank you Jess

That was beautifully said. Thank you for your had work and beautiful designs.

I'm am thrilled to see the response from other designers letting all of us know where they stand on the touchy issue. I plan to spend my money with designers like yourself and all the wonderful designers who have stated they will do the same. I think it's AWESOME.

Again Thank you

Grammie Tammie

[TishMarshall]

WOW, I don't get computers very well and this thread really makes my head spin. I think the work here is beautiful and love a lot of the patterns available.....I suppose I need the basic computer skills, and a class in patience and then I suppose I'd be ready.....lol

My hat is off to those of you that understand.

Tish

[Darlene Epp]

Hi Tish,

When we talk "techie", we're making it sound a whole lot more complicated than it is for the user of these systems. A lot of digitizing language has gotten mixed into the conversation, and this isn't anything you *really* need to know to use the computerized systems. I knew NOTHING about digitizing when I got my system 4 years ago and I still managed to turn out beautiful quilts. You get training with the installation of your system and that's all you need to do the job. Of course, Knowledge is Power, and the more you know the more you want to know, and for some that means learning how to digitize patterns, but it's certainly not necessary to turn out a beautiful product!

[Jess]

Hi Tish,

Darlene is exactly right. Some conversations get very techie, but it's not always something that everyone needs to know in order to operate the system. Basic computer knowledge (ie. how to open files & transfer a file from one computer to another on a memory stick ) is helpful, but all this can be learned very easily also. Like Darlene said there is training with the system & I know that all the Reps that also install computerized systems are available to answer questions after the installation. We all know that there is only so much that can be absorbed in a few days & that follow up is helpful.