DRAWings PRO XII vs TurtleStitch

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.

TurtleStitch lets people create embroidery patterns by writing programs with visual blocks, then share or remix those designs. It is built on Snap! and runs in a browser, connecting block-based programming with textile craft. Density Warning flags possible stitch-density problems, and X-Ray View helps locate overlaps. Designs can be exported for embroidery machines that use DST or EXP files; Ink/Stitch is identified as a possible way to convert designs for other machine formats.

Online work requires internet access and a modern browser such as Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. For offline work, users can download a release and open index.html in a browser; projects are saved as XML files on the computer and can be reopened, but cloud access is unavailable. Cloud saving requires an account and email, and saved projects are public by default, with an Unshare option. Programming does not require personally identifiable information. TurtleStitch is free, and its described settings include schools, workshops, maker spaces, art projects, and community use.