When picking an embroidery company for digitizing services there are a few things to consider.
The first thing you should do is look into the quality of embroidery that the embroidery company has done in the past. This is a no brainer. It shouldn't be a problem for an embroidery company to show its past work. This will assure you that you are going to get what you pay for.
Something people don't realize is that different embroidery machines and different brands of thread can make an enormous difference in the end quality of the embroidery design.
Tajima embroidery machines are the best there is on the market today. It's also an important idea to find out what quality of thread the embroidery company uses for their designs. The higher quality of thread the less likely it will break during stitching. If the embroidery needle has to be rethreaded in the middle of stitching the design the design will not turn out as well. A superior quality brand thread (Madeira is the best brand) will also keep its color for much longer, and have more vibrant colors.
The second thing you should consider is the how fast you can get your items digitized and embroidered. A good embroidery company will be able to offer digitizing services that will be able to get you a quote on the digitizing of picture file within 24-48 hours. Make sure you will be able to get the file digitized within 24 hours of getting the quote.
Once the file gets digitized the final turn around on the items you want embroidered will depend on how many items you have and the stitch count on each item. Most of the time if you are only have a few items embroidered you should be able to get your items back from the whole process within a week.There is no excuse for poor turn around times if everyone at the embroidery company is working diligently to get the work done.
Lastly, customer service is extremely important. Don't settle for an embroidery company that will not stay in touch with you. Also, the company should be keeping in contact with you to give you the digitizing quote, and tell you how long each step of the process will take. If you don't feel like a first rate customer from the company you choose something is wrong. It's just good business.
The rest of the materials come into play with the embroidery machine, of course. The cloth and the threads will be manipulated by the machine and transformed into the embroidery design you made with the digitizing software.