If you have ordered embroidered polos before, you probably saw a $50 line item called digitizing and wondered what you just paid for. Fair question, and it is rarely explained well. Here is the straight answer.
A digitizing fee pays for converting your logo into a stitch file an embroidery machine can actually read. Ours is $20.00, charged one time, per logo. After that we keep the file on our system, and every reorder of that same logo never pays it again.
Why your logo file will not work as-is
An embroidery machine does not print a picture. It moves a needle. So it needs instructions: where each stitch starts and stops, which direction it runs, what kind of stitch fills each shape, what order the thread colors run in, and how much the fabric is going to pull while it happens.
Your PNG has none of that. Neither does a clean vector file. Somebody has to build the stitch path by hand, then run a test sew-out on real fabric and fix what went wrong. Small text closes up on itself. Thin lines vanish. A gradient has to become solid thread or a blend that reads right from three feet away. That work is what the $20.00 covers. It is a real job somebody sits down and does, and the fee is what that job costs.
It is charged once, not every order
This is the part worth understanding, because it changes the math on small orders. Say you want embroidered polos. A Port Authority Dry Zone polo is $11.39 in sizes S to XL, and embroidery is $7.00 a piece for a logo of any size. Our embroidery minimum is 3 pieces.
| Quantity | Polo + embroidery | Digitizing | Total | Real cost per polo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | $55.17 | $20.00 | $75.17 | $25.06 |
| 12 | $220.68 | $20.00 | $240.68 | $20.06 |
| 24 | $441.36 | $20.00 | $461.36 | $19.22 |
| 24 more, next year | $441.36 | $0.00 | $441.36 | $18.39 |
On 3 polos the digitizing is $6.67 a shirt and you feel it. On 24 it is 83 cents. On the reorder it is nothing. Groups that will embroider the same logo more than once should stop treating it as a per-order fee.
Garment prices above are live on each product page and move with the blank market.
What the stitch count does to your price
Nothing. Our embroidery is $7.00 a location whatever the stitch count, from a cap front or a simple left chest mark to a detailed crest.
The digitizing fee is separate and does not change with stitch count either. It is $20.00 either way. Full rates for every method are on the pricing guide.
When you do not pay a digitizing fee at all
Digitizing is an embroidery thing. Three of our four decoration methods never touch it.
- DTF printing has no setup charge of any kind. Order one piece if you want. This is usually the right answer for a small run of full-color art.
- Screen printing has a flat $50.00 screen setup per design instead, spread across the run and skipped on reorders of the same design, with a 25 piece minimum.
- Laser engraving has a per-order fee instead, from $8.00 and stepping up with quantity, with the current tiers on the pricing guide.
So if you were quoted digitizing on a screen printed t-shirt order, something is wrong with the quote. The decoration methods guide lays out which setup belongs to which method.
What to send us so it goes smoothly
Cleanest is a vector file, an AI, EPS, or PDF where the artwork is real shapes rather than pixels. A high resolution PNG with a transparent background works too. If all you have is a phone photo of a sign, send it anyway and we will tell you honestly whether it holds up in thread before you spend anything.
Two things worth knowing up front. Very small text under about a quarter inch tall does not survive being stitched, so we may suggest sizing it up or dropping a tagline. And you see the design before a needle moves: on a website order the live mockup you build is your proof, and on a custom quote nothing runs until you approve the digital proof we send. The whole sequence is on the turnaround guide.
Common questions
Do I pay the digitizing fee every time I order?
No. It is $20.00 once per logo. We keep the stitch file, so reorders of that logo never pay it again, this year or three years from now.
Is $20 a normal digitizing fee?
What matters more than the number is how it is structured. Ours is flat, so a complicated logo costs the same $20.00 as a simple one and you know the figure before the work starts. If you are comparing quotes, ask whether the other shop's digitizing is flat or priced by stitch count, and ask whether it gets charged again on your next order.
Can I bring a stitch file I already own?
Sometimes. If you have a DST or EMB file from a previous shop, send it over and we will check whether it runs clean on our machines and on your garment. If it does, there is nothing to digitize. Call 928-387-4348 and we will look at it.
What if I change my logo?
A new logo is a new stitch file, so it digitizes again at $20.00. Small changes to an existing one, like swapping a year on a crest, usually do not.
Why not just print instead of embroidering?
Plenty of people should. Printing on a polo costs less and has no digitizing step. Embroidery is what you want when the garment needs to look like a uniform rather than a giveaway, and it holds up longer because the logo is stitched into the fabric instead of sitting on top of it. Browse custom polos and custom caps to see both priced live.
Is there a minimum for embroidery?
Three pieces, which exists so a small crew can get uniformed without ordering a case of shirts they do not need. Every method has a different minimum, and they are all laid out in how many shirts you have to order.
Ready to go
Every product page prices your exact order live once you set the method and quantity, digitizing included, so you are not waiting on a quote. If you want a human to look at your logo first, call 928-387-4348.