Embird is a wonderful program to create your own words without having to import each letter and line up etc... You have to buy the "add in" alphabets (I think each one costs about $15 additional)and there are 27 different alphabet fonts. Also, another "add in" is "font engine" which will create words out of any font you currently have on your computer. You just type in the word and it is created as a file or can be added to an imported file. Embird is available for free trial download and compared to buying cards it seems relatively inexpensive. It is a little cheaper to buy from Secrets of Machine Embroidery. I dont know why, but even though the developers are not from the country I live in (USA), the support is exceptional. And as a side note..I LOVE the iconizer....it shows little pix of your file without having to open it...and even after the free download expires...the iconizer stays functional if you so desire. hth Here is a link that might be useful: Secrets of Machine Embroidery Embird download page

I have a Brother PC8500 combo machine. I got it at a show about 4 years ago for $1500, which was supposedly half price. I love it! The embroidery is so easy to do, that's what made me buy the machine. I had never even looked at an embroidery machine until I had a class at this show, and I came home with a finished project (and the machine - DH took it really well!) It goes from sewing to embroidery very easily. It comes w/ 3 hoops, but I don't think I've ever used the 2 x 2. They also gave me a multi-position hoop, but I have never been able to figure out how to use it. You can do on-screen editing and combining of designs, and then save the new design in its memory if you want to. It sews like a dream. It has a gazillion utility and decorative stitches, plus you can program your own if you want. The only "bad" thing is there are no Brother dealers anywhere near me, so I can't buy extra goodies or take any machine-specific classes. There is a shop about 45 minutes away that is an authorized service shop, so I take it there for its annual spa visit. Donna

...when it did previously? I bought a pretty script font that worked great for the last month. Yesterday I wanted to do some hand towels, and now it won't load on my machine via the memory stick. It's there on the memory stick....I've checked it out....but when I open my EMBF folder that my Janome machine uses, it's not there. I've tried everything I could thing of, but it is not available. If you had problems like this occur, what did you do to correct it? TYVM!

Ann The Gran (http://www.annthegran.com) has a large section of free designs, which includes an alphabet section. She also has fonts available for purchase with a few free samples. I use PE Design for most of my fonts, but have recently also purchased Monogram Magic, which has a text program with about 70 fonts.