Stock or custom embroidery designs
You can buy a ready-made design from a file shop or have one digitized for your job. Both have their place, and choosing wrong is what causes bad embroidery.
Stock designs
File shops and marketplaces sell ready-made designs, from baby motifs to school crests, in many formats. They work well for generic artwork at the size they were made. Check the license before using them on items you will sell.
Custom digitizing
Client logos, names, team crests and any artwork that does not exist ready-made. Also when the size or fabric is unusual: the file is planned for your garment.
The resizing trap
A stock design is made for one size. Sellers usually recommend not changing it by more than about 10%: beyond that the density changes and the stitches open up or bunch. If you need a size that does not exist, you need a custom file.