✂️ Adding Trims to Your Embroidery Files (And Why Your Machine Settings Matter)
When it comes to clean, professional embroidery, trims are one of the most overlooked—but most important—details in your design.
If your machine is leaving jump stitches all over your design… chances are it’s not just your file—it’s also your machine settings.
Let’s break it down 👇
🧵 What Are Trims in Embroidery?
A trim command tells your embroidery machine to:
- Stop stitching
- Cut the thread
- Move cleanly to the next section
Without trims, your machine will jump from one area to another, leaving long thread connections that you have to cut manually.
👉 Bottom line:
No trims = messy design + more cleanup time
✂️ Why Adding Trims in Your File Matters
When digitizing (especially in software like Wilcom Embroidery Studio), you should manually insert trims anytime:
- There is a gap between objects
- The machine needs to travel across open space
- You want a clean stop between elements
- Working with small lettering or detailed designs
💡 Pro Tip:
Adding trims properly during digitizing gives you:
- Cleaner finished product
- Less manual trimming
- Faster production
⚙️ The MOST Important Part: Machine Settings
Here’s where most people mess up…
Even if your file has trims, your machine might ignore them depending on your settings.
Most embroidery machines (like Tajima embroidery machine or Ricoma embroidery machine) use a setting called:
👉 Jump Stitch / Trim Length (or Trim Distance)
This setting tells the machine:
“How long does a jump stitch need to be before I activate the trimmer?”
🔧 What You Should Set It To
If your design already has trims built in:
👉 Set your Jump/Trim Count to:
- 1 stitch (recommended)
- or 0 (if your machine allows it)
This forces the machine to:
✔ Recognize trims immediately
✔ Activate the trimmer every time
✔ Eliminate unwanted jump threads
🚫 What Happens If You DON’T Change This?
If your trim/jump setting is too high (like 3, 5, or more stitches):
- The machine may skip trims
- You’ll see jump stitches between objects
- More manual cleanup
- Slower production overall
🧠 Real-World Example
You digitize a left chest logo with clean trims added…
BUT your machine is set to trim only after 5 stitches.
👉 Result:
- Machine ignores your trims
- Runs jump stitches across the design
- You’re stuck trimming by hand
✅ Best Practice Workflow
-
Digitize properly
- Add trims where needed
-
Check your machine settings
- Set trim/jump count to 1 or 0
-
Test sew-out
- Always verify trims are working
-
Adjust if needed
- Every machine brand behaves slightly different
💡 Final Thoughts from TEX Inc.
Clean embroidery isn’t just about digitizing…
It’s about how your file AND machine work together.
👉 If you’re adding trims but not adjusting your machine settings,
you’re only doing half the job.
🔥 Want Better, Cleaner Embroidery?
At TEX Inc. – The Embroidery eXperts, we’ve been digitizing for over 25 years and focus on:
✔ Clean stitch paths
✔ Proper trims
✔ Production-ready files
Because in real production…
👉 Time saved = Money made