DRAWings PRO XII vs Embird

DRAWings PRO XII is graphics and production software for embroidery, textile and screen printing, computerized quilting, cut and stencil crafting, and fabric painting. It runs on Windows and macOS and imports vector and bitmap graphics, alongside support for many embroidery machine formats. Tools include automatic scaling to fit a design within a hoop, stitch-density adjustment within a 25% range, auto-digitizing, stitch simulation and appliqué. Version XII adds a patent-pending Sketch stitch engine, support for additional embroidery machine models and hoop sizes, and printouts that can include barcodes for compatible machines to load designs with stitch-count and color-change information. The package contains 204 embroidery-ready clipart items, 147 cut vector designs and more than 3,000 embroidery designs. Users can copy and paste designs from CorelDRAW or import CMX files exported from it, but DRAW-Stitch functionality is no longer available in this version. The full downloadable package costs $2,199, paid once. A free trial is available after submitting an evaluation form; review may take up to one business day. Activation and updates require an active internet connection.

Embird is modular software for machine embroidery digitizing, quilting and customization. Its Basic program resizes, splits, edits, displays, prints and converts embroidery designs. The maker lists support for more than 70 embroidery file formats and 20 home and industrial machine brands. Optional plug-ins add digitizing, lettering, cross-stitch design and conversion of TrueType fonts into embroidery. Embird Basic costs $149, paid once, with plug-ins sold separately; listed plug-in prices range from $15, paid once for Pre-digitized Alphabets, billed per alphabet, to $150, paid once for Digitizing Tools. The demo runs for up to 30 days or 100 runs, and some plug-in demos restrict saving or available characters. Embird is a 32-bit and 64-bit Windows application; the download page lists Embird 2026 for Windows 11 and previous versions. For Mac OS X, the maker describes using the Windows software with Wine or Parallels Desktop. Support resources include text and video tutorials, training and a contact page. One license password may be used on two computers owned by the license holder if no one else uses the software on them.