How to convert an embroidery file
- Open the file. Drag a .dst, .pes, .exp, .jef, .vp3 or .xxx file onto the drop area, or click "choose a file". A preview appears with the stitch count, size and number of colors.
- Check the preview. Make sure it is the design you expect and the size matches the job. If the size looks wrong, stop here: a converter copies the file, it does not resize it.
- Pick the output format. Click DST, PES, JEF or EXP. The button for the format you already have is greyed out.
- Save and sew a test. Your browser downloads the new file with the same name. Copy it to your machine and sew one test piece before a full run.
Which format does your machine need?
| Format | Machines that read it | What it stores |
|---|---|---|
| DST | Tajima, Barudan, Happy, SWF, Ricoma, Melco and most commercial multi-needle machines | Stitches, jumps and color stops, no thread colors |
| PES | Brother and Baby Lock | Stitches, trims, color stops and thread colors from the Brother chart |
| JEF | Janome | Stitches, jumps, color stops and thread colors from the Janome chart |
| EXP | Bernina and Melco | Stitches, jumps, trims and color stops, no thread colors |
The converter also reads VP3 files from Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff machines and XXX files from Singer, so you can move a design from those machines to another brand. Our embroidery file formats guide covers every format in more detail.
What stays the same and what changes
Converting between machine formats is a copy of the same stitch instructions in a different layout. The needle positions do not move, so the design sews the same way. A few details depend on what each format can store:
- Stitches and size. Every stitch is copied at its exact position, in 0.1 mm steps, so the width, height and stitch count stay the same. Each format has a longest single move (12.1 mm in DST, 12.7 mm in EXP and JEF). A longer stitch is split into shorter ones, which can add a few stitches to the count.
- Thread colors. DST and EXP files store color stops but no thread colors. When you convert them to PES or JEF, each thread block gets a placeholder color you can change on the machine. PES and JEF only store colors from the Brother or Janome thread chart, so a color from another file becomes the nearest chart color.
- Trims. DST has no trim command, so a trim is written as a short run of jump stitches, which most commercial machines are set to trim. PES and EXP files store trims directly. In JEF files, moves are written as jumps; sew a test to see whether your Janome trims them or leaves a thread to cut.
- Design name. The file name is used as the design name. PES files store up to 8 characters of it.
Before the file downloads, the converter reads the new file back and compares its size and number of colors with the original. If they do not match, it refuses to save the file instead of handing you something that could sew wrong.
DST to PES and PES to DST
These are the two conversions people ask for most. A DST from a digitizer or a shop's multi-needle machine often needs to go to a Brother or Baby Lock home machine as PES. Going the other way, a design bought for a Brother machine sometimes has to run on a commercial machine that only reads DST.
DST to PES keeps every stitch and adds Brother thread colors in the order of the color stops. Pick the real thread colors on the machine or in your design software before you sew. PES to DST keeps every stitch and color stop, but the thread colors are dropped because DST cannot hold them, so write down the color sequence from the preview first.
Tested on real files
We checked the converter on real designs from our own orders, including a 2 in patch, left chest logos, a 7 in motorcycle with 19 color stops and an 11 in jacket back with almost 100,000 stitches. Each file was converted to every output format, and each result was read back by pyembroidery, a widely used open-source embroidery library. The stitch count, width, height and number of colors matched pyembroidery's own conversions in every case.
What a file converter cannot do
A converter changes the file format. It does not change the design itself. For these jobs you need a digitizer:
- A picture to a stitch file. A JPG, PNG or PDF has no stitches to convert. It has to be digitized. See how JPG to DST conversion works.
- Resizing. Scaling a stitch file more than a little changes the stitch density and can cause gaps or puckering. Our embroidery file editing service resizes files properly.
- Working files. EMB, PXF and ART files are the digitizer's working files and need the software that made them.
- Fixing a bad file. If a design puckers, breaks thread or has gaps, converting it will copy the same problems into the new format.
Not sure the design fits your machine? The hoop size checker reads the size straight from the file and lists the hoops it fits. To look at the stitches first, open it in the DST viewer.
Is it safe to use?
Yes. The file is read and converted by your own browser. It is never uploaded to our server, so we cannot see, keep or share it. That makes the converter safe for customer logos, licensed designs and files under an agreement with a client.
Need a batch of files converted and checked by a person, or a file that needs fixing too? Our embroidery file conversion service is $5 per file.