Input the height or width of the final design when digitizing.

The proportions are locked, and size includes any border of transparency or background color.

Tip: Use the edit photo trim tool to remove any extra border, and the eraser tools can remove some backgrounds.

Note: The system fits the design to the hoop if the actual photo size at 254.5 DPI  [100 PPC] is larger than the hoop sew area. The system does not increase the photo size unless specified. 

Check that the photo is what you want the design to look like.

The recommendation is you digitize a photo multiple times to give you a selection. Every design produced is different, even with the same settings.

1. Press the Digitize Photo button on the photo you want digitized  

2. Set the digitizing settings

• The Hoop is the maximum design size.
• Size of design height and width have locked proportions and set the design’s size, including any transparent pixels.
• Thread Palettes ​​​​​​are the colors the system can pick.
• Maximum colors are the number of colors the system can select from the thread palette.
• Maximum cuts per color: The number of times a thread color can be cut.

3.  Press "Start Digitizing."

Fully transparent pixels do not get filled. Semi-transparent pixels get filled at a lower density.

Remove the photo parts you don't want to be in your design by making them transparent in your photo.

How do I make parts of the photo I don't want transparent?

This site has simple editing tools, and If the parts of your photo you want to remove are a solid color, you can use a flood eraser or color eraser tools to remove areas. If the area is more complex, you would need to use a photo editor like GIMP(free), Photoshop(subscription), or Pixlr(free) to remove the parts you don’t want 

A web search will provide more programs and instructions on removing backgrounds from images and saving them as transparent png files.

Resources:

removebg - Remove Image Backgrounds automatically

GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program

Pixlr - Online Photo Editor