Every feature, shown on a real file.

The stitches on this page are Qepe’s own files for the sample designs, drawn needle point by needle point. The screens are the app; the numbers are what Qepe sets and measures.

10 machine formats written, 40 opened
69 hoops in 13 machine families
10 garments, each with its own values
128 Qepe Fonts for lettering

See every tool, one line each

The star of the FC Aurora sample: 1,121 needle points across 25 mm, in satin over the red fill, in the order the machine stitches them.

Digitize

From the customer’s logo to stitches you can change.

Auto Digitizer

A logo becomes a machine file.

Open the logo and answer what a digitizer would ask: where it goes, the garment, the colours, how the lettering should be embroidered. Qepe grades the file first, traces it, picks satin or fill for each part, sets underlay, density and pull compensation for the garment, then runs Fix all and Quality before the design opens.

Qepe’s editor: the parts list, the tool palette and a sample badge embroidered on the canvas.

93/ 105real logos came out acceptable for a branding shop: 51 as they were, 42 after a small edit.
62/ 105were done in under 30 seconds, on a laptop busy with other work.
3photos and screenshots were refused in under a second, each with the reason.

Our test of 16 October 2026: 105 real logos at 90 mm on a white T-shirt, Fix all applied, no hand edits, each judged by eye from Qepe’s simulated stitches, not from stitch-outs.

Stitch types and tools

The stitches a digitizer expects, set the way one would.

The Auto Digitizer uses the same stitches you draw by hand, with the garment’s values. Change any part with the tools on the left; each has its key.

Satin. The ring of the Alto Coffee sample on twill, with tatami inside it: 765 needle points in 25 mm. Satin runs from 0.8 mm wide to the garment’s limit; wider, its stitches split and scatter.

Fill. Tatami of the FC Aurora sample on woven sportswear: rows 0.40 mm apart, stitches up to 4.0 mm, the needle points staggered from row to row.

Qepe’s tool palette: Select, Edit, Fill, Satin, Block, Run, Knife, Text, Patch and Print image.

The tools, with their keys

S Satin: Columns with rails; satin, E, S or zig-zag.
F Fill: Tatami by default; contour, circular, meander and more, at any angle.
B Block: Auto block proposes the pairs, the order, entry and exit; nothing changes until you accept.
R Run: 1.5 mm stitches; bean for a heavier line.
K Knife: Cuts straight or on an arc, suggests where, and overlaps the seam so no fabric shows.
⇧W Vectorize: Traces every shape of the logo at once, then proposes the cuts a master digitizer would make.
W Magic Wand: Click one shape of the logo or photo to trace just that shape.
D Stitch direction: A dial turns only the stitches inside a part; ⇧ for 15° steps.
⇧S Edit stitches: Move, delete or add single stitches: to fix a customer’s DST or PES.

Segment stitches every possible construction of a part, compares them with Quality and proposes the simplest that stitches best. Every tool keeps the original: Restore original takes you back.

Underlay and pull compensation

The garment sets the underlay and the pull.

Thread pulls the fabric in as it is stitched, and soft fabric moves under the needle. Qepe sets the underlay and widens each satin for the garment: more on a knit, a heavier base on pile, fewer holes in leather. Ten garments, each with its own values.

25 mm round the letters FC of the FC Aurora sample. Switch to the underlay and travel: the runs along each edge and the tatami underlay that hold the fabric before the red fill lands.

Four underlays: centre walk, edge walk, zigzag, and tatami underlay under fills.
Lettering gets its underlay by letter height: none under 6 mm, a centre walk to 10 mm, an edge walk above.
Pull compensation rises with a satin’s width; lettering keeps a lighter range so text keeps its weight.
Change the garment later and Quality checks the parts again; Fix all adjusts them.

Where Qepe starts, garment by garment, in mm

Garment	Satin			Satin underlay starts at a column width of			Fill
Garment	Satin limit	Pull compensation per side	Lettering	Centre walk from	Edge walk from	Zigzag from	Fill row	Fill underlay
T-shirt cotton jersey	7	0.30–0.45	0.20–0.30	1.0	2.0	3.5	0.40	2 × 2.5 mm
Polo piqué	7	0.25–0.40	0.20–0.30	1.0	2.0	4.0	0.40	2 × 2.5 mm
Hoodie fleece	6	0.35–0.50	0.25–0.35	1.0	1.8	3.0	0.38	2 × 2.0 mm
Sport woven polyester	8	0.15–0.30	0.15–0.30	1.5	2.5	4.5	0.40	1 × 2.5 mm
Workwear twill	8	0.15–0.25	0.15–0.25	1.5	2.5	5.0	0.40	1 × 3.0 mm
Denim denim	8	0.15–0.25	0.15–0.25	1.5	2.5	5.0	0.40	1 × 3.0 mm
Cap cap	7	0.25–0.35	0.20–0.30	1.2	2.0	4.0	0.40	1 × 2.0 mm
Towel towel	6	0.40–0.50	0.30–0.40	1.0	1.8	3.0	0.37	2 × 1.8 mm
Jacket softshell	7	0.20–0.35	0.20–0.30	1.0	2.0	4.0	0.40	1 × 2.0 mm
Leather leather, vinyl	8	0.10–0.20	0.10–0.20	2.0	3.0	6.0	0.40	1 × 3.5 mm

Starting values from the trade’s published standards, not yet confirmed by stitch-outs on every fabric: on a new fabric, stitch out a test first. Fill underlay: layers × row spacing.

Lettering and Names

Text embroidered stroke by stroke, the way a digitizer builds it.

Type in one of 128 Qepe Fonts, digitized by hand for embroidery, or in any font on your computer. Qepe stitches each stroke as its own satin column, straight, on an arc or along a path, from 2 to 300 mm tall.

R, I and D of the Pine Ridge Outdoor lettering on fleece: 649 needle points, each stroke its own satin column, turning with the letter.

Monogram: one to three initials, classic, stacked, round or block, in a frame, a laurel or a flourish.
It warns when letters are too small for the font and the fabric: on a knit, 5 mm for sans, 6 mm for serif, 8 mm for script.
Names: one list, one machine file for each name, in the text’s font, size and place.
Many commercial fonts don’t allow embroidery: check a font’s licence before you sell with it.

Patches and appliqué

Badges and fabric, with the machine’s stops in place.

Build a patch round any design, or stitch down a piece of fabric instead of a large fill, with under half the stitches of tatami.

Appliqué, as the machine embroiders it

1
Placement run
2
Stop: lay the fabric
3
Zigzag tack-down
4
Stop: trim
5
Satin cover, 3 mm

Pieces in one colour make one set: four letters stop twice, not eight times.

Patches: circle, oval, rectangle or shield, from 20 to 400 mm.
A satin edge of 2 to 8 mm, or a merrow edge: a run marks the cut line and the art stays 4 mm inside.
Cut files at 1:1: SVG for lasers, DXF for plotters.
Printed patches: the print runs 2 mm past the cut line, with registration marks.

Check

What a customer would see, found before the machine starts.

Quality and Fix all

Judged against the artwork, not just the settings.

Quality draws every stitch as 0.4 mm thread over the original logo, for the garment and machine you chose, and looks for what a customer would see: bare fabric, lost details, closed openings, parts not stitched at all.

The Quality panel: a score of 83 out of 100, six category bars and the Fix all safe problems button.

On the FC Aurora sample

78 out of 100, with 8 notes. The two largest:

The counters inside both A’s and both R’s are 1.5–2.8 mm², one a fill only 0.82 mm thick, one a satin narrowing to 0.1 mm: right for the artwork, too fine for thread at 90 mm.
In both R’s the satin pivots on one needle hole, and the star’s points narrow to 0.38 mm: Qepe marks each one for a second look.

What it reports, in the app’s words

Geometry · MeasuredFabric shows inside a part: 4 mm² bare is critical.
Density · PredictedNeedle hits in 1 mm²: heavy at 14, critical at 22 on a T-shirt.
Settings · PredictedPull compensation 0.1 mm on a T-shirt: use 0.3 mm.
Small details · PredictedText 2.9 mm tall is small to embroider.
Machine · PredictedA stitch longer than the machine takes: 12.1 mm.

Measured: counted on the real stitches. Predicted: a risk judged from the settings.

A score out of 100 in six parts: Geometry, Settings, Density, Stitch order, Small details and Machine. Any critical problem keeps it under 60.
46 checks, from five written standards for satin, tatami, lettering, structure and block.
Fix all safe problems changes stitch settings and stitch order, never shapes, checks again up to four times, and is one undo step.
Export asks first when a design has a critical problem.

Quality is an estimate before production. In our grading its line at 60 was right for 91 of 102 designs, so a new customer’s logo still deserves a test stitch-out.

Simulator and preview

Watch it embroider before the machine does.

The simulator plays the stitches in the order the machine stitches them. Drag through this file to see how Qepe built it: the underlay first, then each colour, part by part.

The Lakeside Swim Club sample embroidered from Qepe’s file: 13,313 stitches in four colours on a towel.

Stitches: 13,313 / 13,313
Thread: 4 of 4
Run time: 16:38 / 16:38

Run time at 800 stitches a minute, as Qepe estimates it.

Space plays at 1×, 5×, 25× or 100×; ← and → step one stitch.
X-ray shows each stitch by its role: top, underlay, travel and lock.
Lines, Thread and Realistic looks; jumps, trims, the hoop and a grid on or off; rulers and guides that parts snap to.
The canvas is the garment: its fabric, its colour and the hoop with its embroidery field. Mockup shows the design on a T-shirt, polo, hoodie, jacket, cap or tote, to send the customer.

Hand off

The file for the machine and the paperwork for the people.

Machine files

Files that embroider what the screen shows.

After writing a file, Qepe reads it back with its own readers and compares it with the screen. If anything differs, the file isn’t saved and the old one stays.

Written for your machine

DST: Tajima, Ricoma, SWF, Happy and most commercial machines
U01: Barudan
PES: Brother PR
EXP: Melco, Bernina
JEF: Janome
VP3: Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff
XXX: Singer
DSB: Barudan, Ricoma, ZSK
TAP: Happy
PEC: Brother home machines and cards, Pfaff

What each format keeps Your machine, its hoops and its file

What the read-back compares

Every needle point, each within 0.06 mm of the screen
Every thread change and needle
Every trim and stop
The header the machine reads: stitch count, colours, extents and label
The thread names, where the format keeps them

In our release check, 77 of 77 machine files were read back right by independent readers.

And it opens these 40

10010obrodatdsbdstdszemdexpexyfxygthusinbjefjpxksmmaxmitnewpcdpcmpcqpcspecpesphbphcsewshvspxstcstxtaptbfu01vp3xxxzhszxy

Opens 40 machine-file formats as a design you can recolour, move or add a name to.
13 machine families, each with its needles and longest stitch, 12.1 mm.
69 hoops: round from 9 to 30 cm, rectangles up to 40 × 50 cm, cap frames, and your own.
The smallest hoop that fits is picked for you, or a 90° turn suggested. A design larger than the hoop is split into hoopings, each its own file, with alignment marks.

Sheets

The paperwork comes from the same stitches.

Every design prints what the customer and the operator need, under your shop’s name and logo: an A4 or Letter PDF each, under 1 MB, named by customer, order and date.

Approval sheetThe real stitches on the garment’s colour, the size with dimension lines, the threads, your terms and a line to sign.
Production worksheetHoop, needles in stitch order, trims, jumps, stops, run time, fabric, machine file and where to start.
1:1 templatePrint at 100 %, with a cross where the machine starts and a 50 mm ruler to check the scale.
Stitch imageThe real stitches as a transparent PNG at 300 DPI, for mock-ups and quotes.

Around the work

Saving, languages and the optional AI.

Saving and recovery

Work that survives a crash.

A shop can’t lose a design at five to closing. A crash, a full disk or a power cut never leaves a half-written file.

What happens when you press Save

1
Written to a temporary file in the same folder
2
Flushed to the disk
3
Moved over the old file
4
The save before kept as .qepe.bak

Unsaved changes are kept as drafts a moment after each change and come back after a crash; drafts stay 30 days.
If the file changed on disk since you opened it, Save asks first.
Several designs open at once in tabs, each with its own 200 steps of undo.

Languages

In the language your operators speak.

Every screen, menu, message and explanation: 3,687 texts in each of seven languages. Qepe starts in your computer’s language, and the shop can change any wording to its own.

English
Shqip
Deutsch
Español
Français
Srpski
Türkçe

Qepe AI

An assistant on the design, if you want one.

Ask for a change in your own words, or ask for a review: how the design is digitized and what a professional would change. Qepe does everything else on this page without it.

Every AI change goes through Quality and is rolled back when quality would drop; one undo step per run.
Keep the original artwork on this computer, and no picture of the logo is sent.
An add-on: it runs on AI credits added to your licence.

What the AI does, and how credits work

Everything else, one line each.

Align and distribute, entry and exit points, several stitch angles in one fill, 75 thread charts and the rest: 135 tools and features on one page.

See all tools

Auto digitizing, in short

How to digitize a logo, step by step

What is auto digitizing?: Auto digitizing turns a logo into embroidery stitches by itself: it traces each shape, chooses satin or fill, sets underlay, density and pull compensation, and orders the stitches. Qepe’s Auto Digitizer does that, then checks the result against the artwork before the design opens.
Is auto digitizing good enough for customers?: In our October 2026 test, 93 of 105 real logos came out acceptable for a branding shop: 51 as they were, 42 after a small edit. Quality shows what to look at, and every part stays editable for the rest.
What makes auto digitizing software good?: Files that stitch out as the screen shows. Qepe scores every design against the artwork, fixes what is safe to fix and reads every machine file back before it is saved, on a Mac or a Windows PC, for €149 a year.
Can I edit what the Auto Digitizer made?: Yes. The result is ordinary satin, fill and lettering parts for every hand tool: satin, fill, block, run, knife, segment, the stitch-direction dial and stitch editing.

Your next logo, ready to embroider.

Turn the next logo your customer sends into a checked, machine-ready file, on your Mac or PC.

See availability See pricing

Not released yet. From the first release: 7 days free, then €149 a year