We get this question a lot! So, today on the blog I’ll share the differences between Pro-Stitcher Premium and Pro-Stitcher Lite.
Why I’m qualified to compare Pro-Stitcher Premium and Pro-Stitcher Lite
Hi, I’m Mary Beth Krapil, Handi Quilter National Educator. I’ve been quilting with Pro-Stitcher since it first came out in 2003. We call that version “Pro-Stitcher Classic” now. I’ve been so excited with each and every update over the years bringing us to the amazing systems we have now. We’ve come a long way, baby! And now, we have Pro-Stitcher Lite, that is compatible with our smaller, lighter machines.
Pro-Stitcher is a computerized quilting system for longarm quilting machines. It integrates world-class longarm machines with the latest in computer technology that expands your quilting possibilities. You choose a design that you would like to quilt, modify the design as needed to perfectly fit your quilt, then Pro-Stitcher guides the machine to stitch the design using robotics, hands free! You can finish more quilts, and finish them beautifully.
Why are there 2 versions of Pro-Stitcher?
Handi Quilter offers a range of machines to cater to the diverse needs and preferences of quilters interested in finishing quilts. By offering a wide variety of machines, we ensure that there is something for everyone, no matter their specific quilting needs or desires. I tell you this because the answer to the question, “why are there 2 versions?” has to do with machine and frame compatibility.
Here is why we offer machine options:
1. Machine Sizes and Features
Some quilters need smaller machines for space constraints, while others might require larger machines for bigger projects. Additionally, machines come with various features such as different types of stitch options or customizable settings.
2. Budget Considerations
Handi Quilter provides options across a range of price points to accommodate different budgets. This way, more quilters can find a machine that fits their financial plan, while still meeting their quilting needs. We want to make finishing quilts with a longarm available to as many quilters as possible!
3. Varied Skill Levels
Quilters range from beginners to advanced, and different machines offer features that suit different levels of expertise. Beginners might benefit from simpler machines with fewer features, while advanced quilters might look for more sophisticated options.
4. Personal Preferences
Quilting is a very personal and creative activity. Different quilters have different preferences for how they want their machines to perform, from the ease of use, to the level of control over the quilting process. We survey thousands of quilters each year to learn about their needs and desires and we incorporate those things into our machines. Offering a range of models allows Handi Quilter to stay current with innovations and provide quilters with the latest tools and features.
So, depending on the machine and frame you choose, to meet your unique quilting needs and desires, that will determine which version of Pro-Stitcher you need. Another factor in choosing which version will work with your machine is the frame that it is on. Your Handi Quilter retailer can help you with the options available.
Let’s Compare!
PS Premium vs PS Lite let’s compare
Pro-Stitcher Lite
Pro-Stitcher Lite is a full-featured and simplified robotic quilting system for smaller and lighter longarm machines with a throat space of 15 to 18 inches. This version is designed to offer a more streamlined set of features at a lower price point. It includes essential functionalities for computerized quilting, such as built-in designs and basic editing tools. Pro-Stitcher Lite is ideal for quilters who want automation without the full range of advanced features and at a more accessible cost.
Why can’t I buy Pro-Stitcher Lite for my larger longarm machine?
We totally understand the desire to take advantage of the lower price point of PS Lite. But simply stated, it will not work with your machine. Larger machines require the more robust robotics and motors, as well as the larger carriages of PS Premium. The extra throat space of the larger machines is a definite advantage, especially when using Pro-Stitcher. And the extra features available with PS Premium are so worth it!
PS Lite Features
Interface
11-inch color touchscreen tablet computer that mounts directly to the machine. This touchscreen is super user friendly and easy to navigate.
Design Library
Includes 250 pre-loaded designs to choose from. They are organized into Block, Continuous Line, Triangle, and Corner designs to make it easy to find what you are looking for. The library shows icons of each design to help with the creative process.
A portion of the PS Lite Library
Horizontal and Vertical channel lock
Built-in Horizontal and Vertical channel lock allows you to stitch perfect straight lines at the touch of a button.
Switch to free-motion at the touch of a button
Even though we love Pro-Stitcher, we still might want to do a little free-motion or ruler work from time to time. Or maybe add a little personal touch to a PS design with free-motion. Switching modes is so easy! Just touch the Gears button on the screen to disconnect or connect the Pro-Stitcher.
Frame space
This safety feature lets you set the usable space on your particular frame so that you won’t accidentally run off the fabric or run into the poles while stitching. The machine will not stitch unless the design is totally within the frame space. Peace of mind!
Your frame space shows on the workspace as a brown box.
Settings
Easily set the machine the way you want it to stitch. You have total control over things like stitch length, speed, acceleration, tie offs (on or off), etc.
Simulation
Pro-Stitcher offers the ability to put the tablet into simulation mode, which means you can remove the computer from the machine and play with all the tools and features. It is a great way to learn and also to audition designs and combinations of designs for your next quilt. You can also load Simulation onto a laptop or desktop computer and leave your Pro-Stitcher tablet in place on your machine.
PS Lite is compatible with Pro-Stitcher Designer™ software. The software is not included with the purchase of PS Lite. If you purchase a license, you can activate it on your PS Lite tablet to use right at your machine. And you can also use it on a separate computer.
PS Designer allows you to create your OWN custom designs
Design Formats
PS Lite reads most .hqf, .hqv, and .qli digital quilt patterns.
Editing Tools
On-screen Grid and Ruler
Used to measure designs or area on the quilt. The best part is, you can show or hide the grid and the ruler. So when you need to use them, they’re at your fingertips. But when you don’t, they are not in your way.
Position designs
By simply moving your finger across the screen or use the positioning tools for exact placement. Pro-Stitcher is accurate to 1/100th of an inch! So precise!
Resize, Rotate and Repeat
Make designs fit specific areas on your quilt. You have total control over where your design will stitch. There is no guess-work with Pro-Stitcher, you can see on-screen the exact placement of your design. You can also set up your entire quilt for an edge-to-edge design and get it to fit your quilt perfectly.
Skew or Align
Use these tools to fit designs in any area with three or more points. Skew is a one-button tool that positions and sizes designs like magic!
Area
Define and Fill an area with a design or a repeated design, using 2-corner (rectangles) or multi-point (any shape). This tells PS exactly where to quilt.
Crop
Get creative and crop designs. When you want to quilt behind an applique or embroidery and not OVER the applique, you can use the crop feature. It’s a game-changer!
Save
Save designs to continue editing or to stitch later. It is always a good idea to save a design before you start stitching too. That way, if something goes awry, you are able to re-open and re-position the design, exactly the way you had edited it, to carry on and finish the quilt.
Wrap
Use Wrap to align nesting designs and fill entire spaces. Also offset rows, think clamshells!
Every other row is offset by 1/2 clam
Pro-Stitcher Premium
Pro-Stitcher Premium is a complete robotic quilting system compatible with larger longarm machines. This version includes all the features of Pro-Stitcher Lite, plus additional advanced capabilities. PS Premium offers more design options, advanced editing tools, and enhanced functionality for creating more complex and customized quilting patterns. It’s aimed at quilters who require more sophisticated tools and greater flexibility in their quilting projects. It also has the added advantage of including Pro-Stitcher Designer software, a full-featured, vector-based editing and digitizing software to create your own digital quilting files, edit existing files or create printable designs and stencils.
Compatible machines
Please note that some of these machines are no longer available to purchase new. However, we recognize that some folks already own these machines, or some might be considering purchasing a pre-loved machine but want to upgrade to computerized quilting. That is why I have included all machines that are compatible with PS Premium.
Pro-Stitcher Premium has all of the features listed above for PS Lite with the following differences and additions.
Interface
12-inch color touchscreen computer that mounts directly to the machine. This touchscreen is super user friendly and easy to navigate and a little larger than the PS Lite screen. You can see that it looks almost identical!
Design Library
Includes 800+ designs, including a designer showcase of motifs from your favorite designers. They are organized into folders from each individual designer. Also the PS designs (found on PS Lite) organized by Block, Continuous Line, Triangle, and Corner designs are there as well. The library shows icons of each design to help with the creative process.
Just a small portion of the designer tabs that are filled with designs to choose from. (Look close, you might see a familiar name!)
Quilting Space
While PS Lite requires a Frame Space to be set up and will not quilt if any part of the design is outside of the Frame space, PS Premium allows (but does not require) you to set up a Quilting Space that gives you a visual representation (black box) of the space available on the screen. It makes you totally aware of the quiltable area available. If the design is outside of the Quilting space, it does not prevent you from quilting. This is useful when you might want to quilt only a portion of a design, even when you realize some of the design is outside of your Quilting space. It gives you more freedom in using designs in unique and advanced ways. But it is up to you to make sure you will not allow the machine to run outside of the Quilting space and perhaps hit the poles.
Design within Quilting space (black box) on PS Premium screen
One of the best examples of the usefulness of this feature is that you can quilt designs larger than your Quilting space by setting up the position of the design and quilting the top portion then pausing and advancing the quilt. Then continue quilting the remainder of the design.
Editing Tools
PS Premium includes additional editing tools that are not included on PS Lite.
Save
In addition to saving selected designs, you can save Workspaces in PS Premium. That means you can save EVERYTHING that is on your workspace; designs and areas to open again later to continue editing and playing. In the example below I have four designs (only one is selected), a duplicate of one of the designs, and one area. When I choose Save > Workspace (indicated by the arrow) PS will save all those things.
Pro-Stitcher Premium allows you to save Selected (design), Area, or Workspace
Reposition Zero
Some digitizers create complex designs with multiple pieces that come together to make the entire design. Think wholecloth. They create the pieces with a zero designation embedded in them. When you open each design and use the Reposition Zero function each piece is perfectly aligned with the others to create the whole look.
Transform, Xform
The Transform function button, labeled Xform, allows you to resize and rotate a design using the touch screen and your finger. Super easy and intuitive! You can see the function button in the pic below (blue arrow). Touch and move any of the blue boxes on the sides of the Xform box to alter the size (red arrow). Touch and move the blue circle in the upper right of the Xform box to rotate the design (yellow arrow).
Xform is a super easy and intuitive editing tool!
Wrap options
Infinite increments
In PS Lite you have wrap functions with set increments. PS Premium gives you infinite increments when wrapping.
Drag
You can move the design when wrapping with the 1/2 button, the arrows (small increments), or use Drag and use your finger to move the design to get the effect you desire.
Edges
You have the option of turning Edges on or off to control how PS Premium will behave when it encounters a jump (the edge).
View Options
View options allow you to show or hide things on your workspace. When the button is green it is showing that thing. If the button is beige it is hiding that thing. PS Lite has some, PS Premium has these extra ones:
Rubber Band
The Rubber Band tool will add a green line on your workspace that mimics as if you stretched a rubber band around a design. It touches all of the outer-most points of a design. It’s sometimes useful for setting up your quilting plan.
Design with Rubberband
Bounds
The Bounds box is a perfect rectangular box that perfectly encloses your design. It is blue on the workspace. Another good tool for aligning things.
The blue box is the Bounds boxThe pink box is the Area, the blue box is the Bounds
Design Points
The Design Points gives you a visual representation of the segments of a design separated by design points.
Design points
Transparency
This shows the portions of a design that are “under” the “borders” that surround your workspace and hold the tabs and buttons. It’s a little hard to see in the pic but look closely in the circled area. You can see the lines that complete that feather design under that beige and green border.
Rubber Band Area
You can also create an area the shape of the rubber band. Use this when you might want to crop an area of quilting then stitch your design into the cropped space.
Rubberband Area
Baste
PS Premium has a Baste button, so you can easily switch from your normal quilting stitch length to a basting stitch length and back again. You set the desired basting stitch length in your settings. It is fabulous when advancing the quilt and you want to baste down the side edges. Even better, there is a baste warning that pops up and lets you know you are still in baste mode if you forget to turn it off and try to start quilting a design. This has saved me more times than I can count! I love it.
Baste Mode showing warning before stitching
Trace Bounds
Because we have a bounds feature, we also have a Trace Bounds feature that lets me stitch the bounds box if I desire. PS Lite users have the Trace Area function but not the Trace Bounds function.
Tie Off Tack
PS Premium adds another tie-off option and that is Tack. Take takes stitches forward and back (like a backstitch) at the beginning and/or end of the line of quilting. Tack is super-secure. It is great for kids quilts and baby quilts that will get lots of use and washing. It is more visible than Micro tie-offs. Like I always say, it’s nice to have options.
Settings Options
Speaking of options, PS Premium gives you the ability to set preferences for settings like tie-off number of stitches, size of tie-off stitches, type of tie-off stitches, pull-up references, pause delay time and distance, wrap options, etc. PS Lite offers set increments.
Stitch Stats
PS Premium calculates stitch statistics for designs using your particular settings such as stiches per inch and speed. I love knowing the time it will take to stitch a design! I’m also getting better at estimating the number of bobbins I’ll need according to the length of thread stat.
Stitch stats
Advanced Settings
In the pic below you can see these settings that are available only on PS Premium:
Thread Break Sensor
Most of the machines that are compatible with PS Premium have a thread break sensor that will sense when stitches are not being formed and will sound an alarm and pause Pro-Stitcher. I love that I can do other things (in the same room) while my machine stitches and I don’t have to worry if the thread breaks or the bobbin runs out.
Keep motors locked
This option (when activated) will lock the motors so the machine does not move when PS finishes stitching a design. This can be helpful if you want to position another design’s start point right at that spot. Or if you want to add some free motion to what was just stitched with PS. Simply touch the lock button in the upper right and disengage your gears to add that personal touch of free motion!
Choose how new designs will load to the workspace
When you open a new design you can have it open so the start point is at your crosshairs. Or you can choose point to point. This means the start point of the 2nd design you open will be directly on top of the end point of the 1st design. Imagine you want to make a continuous design using two (or more) designs from the library. This option makes it super easy. Load the 1st design, load the 2nd design and then baseline. The 2 designs will now be connected into one. You can save it to use over and over just like any other continuous line design!
Advanced Settings in Pro-Stitcher Premium
Pro-Stitcher Designer
PS Designer is a digitizing/editing software that allows you to create designs, alter existing designs, and even create printable patterns and stencils.
PS Designer allows you to create your OWN custom designs
It’s easy to learn and easy to use. And it’s included with Pro-Stitcher Premium.
Here’s an example of something I created with PS Designer. I made a simple baby quilt with a solid fabric and a printed border.
Quick and easy baby quilt by Mary Beth Krapil
It had a very cute fabric for the backing.
I loved the lion and the monkey.
So I created a cute edge to edge design mimicking those 2 animals using PS Designer.
It was a quick and easy baby gift! PS Designer is fun and helpful.
Although PS Designer is not included with PS Lite, you can purchase it separately. Check it out HERE.
Next steps
I hope this post helped you to understand more about the similarities and differences between Pro-Stitcher Lite and Pro-Stitcher Premium. If you have further questions you can post them here in the comments. OR visit your local retailer. OR give Pro-Stitcher a call at 855-777-5257.
You can also see Pro-Stitcher in action at the Pro-Stitcher YouTube channel. HERE.
We get this question a lot! So, today on the blog I’ll share the differences between Pro-Stitcher Premium and Pro-Stitcher Lite. Why I’m qualified to compare Pro-Stitcher Premium and Pro-Stitcher […]
Find a Retailer
Contact Us
Sign In 
