In my experience and as related to me by other skilled, hobby and professional digitizers, Digitizer 10000 seems to be plagued with problems that show up with greater frequency as you learn to take advantage of the more advanced features it promises. In my experience my Janome MC10k machine, for which this software was specifically designed, will sew out almost any design that has been digitized with another brand of digitizing software. With Digitizer 10000, however, I must consistently go in and make manual corrections, test sewing again and again, so as not to have gaps in the finished product. Any time you design and create patterns with a digitizer program you must test sew to see IF an error has occurred ...with this software you must always assume it has. It is very disappointing.

Following steps to avoid common mistakes in home machine embroidery; proper design and allowances for material types and threads, proper hooping, proper material stabilization, machine tension allowances, etc. are always followed and yet Digitizer fails this user again and again.

The primary faults I have experienced with Janome Digitizer 10000 are as follows:

* With all of the normal corrections for material type, stitch/underlay type, stabilization and 'pull' being made, gaps in stitched areas is still a major issue.

* The option in the program to choose what type of material/garment you are going to be embroidering on while creating a design does not work at all and, according to the mfr., should 'just be ignored'.

* The software designs in .jan format then you must save/convert them as .jef files to be loaded onto the machine. Re-opening .jef files and making any changes may cause erratic errors when you try to sew them out. If you are unable to make such corrections in .jef format then why does this software allow you to do so?

* If you save designs in Digitizer you must be sure that all user defined default settings are the same at ALL 'save' locations within the program. You can access these at several locations within the program. Changing settings at one location does NOT necessarily change them at all locations! The saved design then may be set to your specifications OR those from another location.

* 'Ramp up' time, the time and effort needed to learn this software on your own, is in my opinion, very excessive given all the 'quirks' you must contend with. The program is used to tie together other aspects of the Janome Embroidery software but for digitizing I would look to another product and then convert it to the proper format for your Janome machine.

The Janome dealers I have met, through no fault of their own, are poorly trained in the advanced use of this software. Support seems to be available from Janome unless you cannot resolve an issue, their most common excuse being 'user ignorance' or 'user error', after which time you become an 'annoyance client' and they may choose to ignore any and all further correspondence. This is does not seem to be a reflection of all their support personnel, just those in upper managerial positions who take control of 'persistent' problems.

The Digitizer 10000 software, after many 'patches', has not yet been replaced. The only major upgrade available, which is included with their newer model machine, the MC10001 (which is no more than a new color scheme for the same machine)is a firmware upgrade. That will cost the MC10000 owner another ~$300 (depending on your dealer!). The new MC10001 comes with the same Digitizer software, according to Janome. The promised and rumored Digitizer upgrade, as of this date, has yet to be released. Newer patched versions of the Digitizer program is available on disk from Janome but how they discriminate between those who 'need' it on a disk and those who must download patches is not clear. It seems that exceptions for a consumer with a history of documented software problems, even those blamed on bad downloads, does not seem to always a reasonable justification. They still usually suggest downloading the patches from their website. Users are not notified of these patches as they are released.

If the reason for the difficulties users have with the Digitizer 10k software, as is the case according to Janome, that it is 'professional based embroidery software' then maybe considerations should be made to make available a more user friendly version of the program for this home machine...


UPDATE: 4/2005

I had quite a bit experience with a Pfaff 7570 machine and PC Designer so I was not new to digitizing when I purchased the Janome and it's software.
I have, in the past year, purchased Origins, an after-market digitizing program. What a joy it is to work with! With it my Janome has finally become 'productive'. Several 'serious' (pro) digitizers recommended the Origins software to me. A few of them I have spoken with have even had a Janome and experienced the exact same problems as I did.

There are a few things I would keep in mind when considering the purchase of a new machine:

1) Will I be happy with the OEM digitizer? If not can I use an after-market program that will allow me to do designs in their format? (the new Bernina at last check would not)

2) Will the machine, if you use an after-market piece of software, allow you to import designs without their OEM software? The Janome will not ... you must have their software to load designs directly onto a memory card since it adds 'hidden' files that allow the machine to sew the stitch base files you have created. So, basically, I had to buy Janome's over priced digitizer programs anyway.

**Update!** 4/ 2006

Deleting Digitizer and all other Janome software and then loading ONLY Customizer and EZ Edit (and all the silly patches Janome has to offer for these programs) will allow you to eliminate the need for Janome's Digitizer Program!

I have just received an offer from Origins/BabyLock Tech (creators of 'Origins' and BabyLock's Palette Digitizer software) to trade my Janome Digitizer in part for the new MasterWorks program!!! The new program is as close to a professional digitizer as most people will ever need. It utilizes Vector Graphics for design rendering. So the old Janome Digitizer is in a box packed with a big red bow to be shipped off in trade for a REAL Program that is actually usable!! 'Bye Bye Bye crappy Digitizer 10000 / 10001 !'

So what does all this boil down to? If I was shopping for a machine I would consider it's software with as much concern as I did the machine itself. I would want one that allowed me the freedom to choose a digitizer I was comfortable with. I cannot afford to buy a new digitizer when the expensive OEM one does not work out. Without usable digitizing software you are stuck with buying someone else's expensive designs.
I would be much more careful with my next purchase for sure.

Recommended: No