Digitising is the step where a picture becomes a set of instructions for the machine: the order of every stitch, which way it runs, how tightly the stitches sit and what goes underneath them. Your machine does exactly what the file tells it, so every choice made at the digitising stage ends up on the polo, jumper or cap.
On screen, a rushed file and a careful one can look almost the same. The difference turns up at the machine: snapped threads, a rippled front on a polo, outlines sitting a millimetre away from their fills, and blanks you have already paid for going in the bin.
Those problems usually come from software that auto-converts a JPG with the same settings for every fabric, or from files bought cheaply online with nobody to fix them when they fail. If you already have a file that stitches badly, send it for a free check and repair quote before you run the job again.
Every PlixaLabs file is built by hand by an employed digitiser and then checked by a second digitiser before it reaches you. Complex designs and first orders from new customers are sometimes test-sewn as well. Auto-conversion plays no part at any stage.