DRAWings PRO XII vs SewArt

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.

SewArt converts raster and vector images into embroidery file formats for machine sewing. It accepts BMP, PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, WMF and EMF files, and can produce PES, DST, JEF, EXP, HUS, VIP, VP3 and XXX files. Digitizing tools include automatic and manual methods, pattern fills, stitch-angle choices and a manual satin-fill stitch tool. Artwork preparation options include color reduction, smoothing, color merging and speckle removal. The free 30-day demo is for evaluation, but saved converted files are limited to at most three colors. A SewArt license costs $75 as a one-time purchase, with no additional update fees; the CD option costs $93, paid once and ships only in the US. Windows downloads are offered in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. A Mac download is available but requires Windows emulation software. The maker says output can be converted by SewWhat-Pro or other embroidery editors into additional formats compatible with most home and commercial machines.