It is very easy to use your own designs to create a digi-image. Below, I will show two different ways that can be used to make a design.
The first method I have used involves basic freehand drawing. I have kept the design relatively simple for demonstration purposes. I wanted to use the design to demonstrate how to create and follow a basic embroidery pattern with just a few different kinds of stitches in the embroidery section of the site. You don't have to keep it this simple though. It can be fun to experiment with more complex patterns and see what you can create!
To begin, I started with a few lines as flower stalks.
Next, I added some flowers to the ends of the stalks.
I continued the design by adding a few leaves to the stalks.
I finished off the design by adding some ground and grass to the picture.
Finally, I went over the whole picture with a black fineliner pen. This step is not essential but I find that it makes it easier to scan and trace the picture when it is darker.
Another method that you can use to create your design is to trace over an existing photo rather than drawing freehand. The steps are virtually the same. You draw the key parts of your picture and then go over them with a fineliner pen. It can help to use a lightbox or lightpad to trace the picture as it makes it so much easier to see the picture beneath and you can use a plain sheet of thin paper to draw onto rather than needing to use tracing paper.
I started by printing out a black and white picture of a tree that I had taken from my bedroom window in winter. The bare branches looked like they would make an interesting design! I placed the picture onto my lightbox.
I put a piece of plain white printer paper on top of the printed picture and secured them both with bit of masking tape to stop the paper from sliding around while I was tracing my picture.
I used a normal HB pencil to trace the picture. It took a long time to trace this complex image but I was very happy with the results.
When the light was switched off I was left with this outline. I then went over the whole thing with a fineliner pen to make it stand out.
These examples show how to come up with a picture to use, depending on your confidence in your own drawing ability! Once your design is complete then you can use it as it is for some crafts, providing that it is the correct size for what you want it for. At this point though, it is not a 'digi-image', just a design. To make it into a digi-image you will need to 'digitise' it by scanning it into a computer. It is also possible to take a photo of it and use this on the computer if you don't have a scanner, but I find that this can lead to a blurred or distorted image.
Some crafts need the picture to be in digital form to be able to use effectively. For other crafts it can just be useful to have the picture in digital format. Once your picture is in digital form you can alter the size of the image, flip it, rotate it, duplicate parts of it, rub out any mistakes and generally alter the image to suit the craft that you want to use it for. This is limited only by your skills on the computer and the software that you are using.