Free tool
Convert JEF to DST
Turn a Janome or Elna JEF into a Tajima DST, the file embroidery shops and multi-needle machines expect. The stitches convert exactly; the colours stay behind, because DST doesn’t store them.
- Free, no account
- About 40 formats in, 8 out
- Files never stored
Your file is read in memory and discarded right away. We never store it.
What carries over
Every stitch, jump and colour change converts at the design’s exact size. JEF trims become DST’s trim signal: three tiny jumps in place that machines read as a cut.
What doesn’t
JEF’s Janome palette colours and its hoop information. A DST only knows that the colour changes, not which colour comes next, so send the colour list with the file: after converting, the tool shows the JEF’s colours in sewing order.
Which machines read DST
DST is Tajima’s format and the common language of commercial machines from Tajima, Barudan, Happy, ZSK and SWF. Many home machines read it too, including current Brother models and several Janome models (MB-4S, MB-7, Skyline S9). If the design stays on your Janome, keep the JEF.
Size, hoops and stitch length
The size is unchanged. DST limits a single stitch to 12.1 mm and JEF to 12.7 mm, so a stitch between the two lengths is split in two, which is rare and barely visible. Multi-needle machines have large sewing fields, so the hoop seldom matters in this direction.
If the DST file doesn’t sew right
- The shop’s machine trims too often or not at all: its trim setting counts jumps differently. Our DST uses three jumps per trim; ask them to match it.
- Wrong colours at the shop: send the colour list with the DST. Commercial machines assign threads to needles, not to colours stored in the file.
JEF to DST: questions
Why does my DST show strange colours in my software?
DST has no colours, so every program uses its own default sequence. The stitches are fine.
Is DST better than JEF?
Not better, just barer. DST is the format other machines and shops understand; on a Janome, JEF shows the colours and the hoop.