Some folks just want the short and sweet, so we’ll try to keep to that. What is happening?
The parent of Baby Lock sells both Embrilliance and Designer’s Gallery (DG) brands of software.
Several popular titles are made in the same place. This is just like Brother and Baby Lock embroidery machines being made in the same place.
Embrilliance outsells Designer’s Gallery, so they are going to sell only Embrilliance going forward. Carrying the Designer’s Gallery brand is not profitable anymore. It is more effective to support one brand instead of two.
Your programs will continue to work, as they do now.
Designer’s Gallery is still running their support for another year.
My Dealer is?
Your dealer will still be there for you.
Your dealer may even give you a deal on DG products in their inventory.
Your dealer may switch brands to Embrilliance, as that’s sold also by the parent of Baby Lock.
Your dealer can still teach the same features as before.
Your dealer might try to move you to another brand. That won’t be the same. Don’t do it.
What is not happening?
You are not being forced to stop using anything.
You are not being asked to switch to something new.
Your programs that you own will not stop working.
Designer’s Gallery (DG) is not discontinuing support until the end of 2020.
Even after support is closed, your programs will still work!
What products will carry forward into Embrilliance?
EmbroideryWorks (Everyday and Advanced)
Creator (all levels)
MonogramWorks
How will these carry forward?
The Embrilliance platform understands the serial numbers for those DG products. You download the Embrilliance platform for free from the embrilliance.com website. Enter the DG serial numbers you have. Run the program as before.
Is it free?
Yes.
I don’t get it.
You had a program called “Designer’s Gallery Platform” that you ran before. This had a green icon. There is an identical program called “Embrilliance Platform” that has a yellow icon. You will run that one instead.
How can they be the same?
They are made by the same company.
What about updates?
Embrilliance updates very frequently, and the DG titles will get the updates too, as those are part of the program.
If I have EmbroideryWorks Everyday, what do I get next?
If you want to get EmbroideryWorks Advanced, your dealer will make you a deal on it, or you can use the Contact Us link at embrilliance.com and send a message stating that you want EmbroideryWorks Advanced. Add your phone number. We’ll get back to you and help you make that purchase.
This is for a limited time only. After that, we’ll direct you as to which Embrilliance titles cover the feature set you want to have.
I have SizeWorks, Colorworks, HoopWorks and/or Densityworks.
Programs that have not been sold for many years will still run, but are not supported and have not been for years.
The newer platform has better versions of those features, all in one place.
I have Studio.
Studio is still popular and does run on Windows 10. Embrilliance is a brand that supports Mac and Windows, so we are determining what to do. Meanwhile, use your Studio. The catalog is visible in the Embrilliance Platform’s Merge Window (right-most button on the toolbar).
I have the original Designer’s Gallery on floppy discs.
Thank you for using our program for 20 years. We hope you’ve enjoyed it and gotten your money’s worth. We’ll see about creating an Embrilliance product for cataloging sometime soon. You understand we may not be able to provide that to you free of charge.
I have Customworks.
We didn’t make that, so we can’t give you an identical program. Our suggestion is that you please get Essentials and perhaps Enthusiast. CustomWorks has not been sold for years. It still works, and if you’re comfortable with it, that’s great. But going forward, you’ll eventually want some new features like Knockdown(tm) and want to switch. We’re here to help when you get there.
I have MasterWorks 1,2,3.
While we did not make those, they still work, dongles work and so do activations. The DG help desk can still support you with those products.
If you want to get more modern, StitchArtist is the Embrilliance product for you. Check out the various levels on the website.
What about new products?
Things that go with the Embrilliance platform will work with anything else in that platform, including the features activated by the DG products.
Here are some of the crazier questions we’ve seen asked, just for fun:
So, were you fired from Baby Lock?
No. No one here has ever worked for Baby Lock or their parent company.
Why did you decide to quit Designer’s Gallery?
We didn’t. It was a business move made by the parent of Baby Lock. Designer’s Gallery is their brand and they can do what they like with it.
Embrilliance is our brand, so we do what we like with that. We decided to allow all DG users to come onboard Embrilliance for free.
I went through this with Floriani and DiMe, right?
No.
That was a dispute between the maker of the product and the brand, so the brand switched everything over to a different maker.
This is simply a transition of the same software, made and sold by the same people, from having 2 brands down to having 1. It’s easier for everyone to have just one brand, when the 2 were identical except for minor differences.
Are updates free forever?
We think that’s a silly promise to make. It’s also been a lie when it’s been made before by others.
While we have never charged for an update, who can say? Apple just released a new OS, Catalina, that’s been a huge and expensive pain to work with. Microsoft changes their minds about Windows 10 almost nightly. We have to keep up and our folks have kids to feed too.
Again, we have never charged for an update. And we’ve made software for 20 years.
We will charge for new features, probably, from time to time. Certainly we’ll charge for new titles as we release them.