Flatten

 When importing vector art from outside sources, it will be unlikely that the shapes are truly ready for use in embroidery. Often times in the creation of vector art it is expedient for the artist to layer one shape on top of another. In graphic arts, only the final visible items will have any impact on the result, so any shape or any part of a a shape may be hidden without consequence. In embroidery, those shapes, as they exist, will be used. This means there will be a tremendous amount of overlap. The Flatten command clips the shapes against each other so that only one top layer remains. Remember that registration issues will occur when you sew these objects, so you will likely need to do some editing.

On the left is a graphic created and saved as an SVG. The middle is the import of the SVG – notice the artist used three circles to create the design, which seems reasonable enough. If we make them all fills (and set colors, if needed) as we have on the right, it looks okay…

…But there is a problem. The design on the left is shown with 3D off so you can easily see the overlapping stitches. Once we use Flatten, as in the design on the right, we are closer to having something that will sew without damaging our needle or machine.