Free tool
Convert JEF to PES
Move a Janome or Elna design to a Brother or Baby Lock machine. JEF and PES both keep stitches, trims and colour changes, so this conversion is clean; only the colours move from one brand’s thread palette to the other’s.
- 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
Stitches, colour changes and trims convert one to one: both formats have real trim commands, so nothing has to be guessed. The design keeps its exact size and sewing order, and the PES gets fresh thumbnails for the machine’s screen.
What doesn’t
JEF stores each colour as a number in Janome’s thread palette, PES as a number in Brother’s 64-colour palette. The PES records the colours, and your machine shows each one as the nearest Brother thread, so two close shades can look alike or slightly different on screen. The hoop the JEF was made for isn’t part of a PES.
Which machines read PES
PES is read by every Brother home embroidery machine and by Baby Lock. If you sew on both brands, keep the JEF for the Janome and use the PES for the Brother: no single file is native to both.
Size, hoops and stitch length
The size stays the same, but the hoops differ. Janome’s standard hoops include 126 × 110 mm and 140 × 200 mm; Brother’s common home hoops are 100 × 100 mm (4×4″) and 130 × 180 mm (5×7″). A design made for the 140 × 200 mm Janome hoop is too wide for a 5×7″ Brother hoop, so check the size in the viewer first.
If the PES file doesn’t sew right
- A colour looks off: Brother’s palette has no exact match for that Janome shade. Thread the colour you want anyway; the file only tells the machine when to stop.
- The machine doesn’t list the file: make sure it’s a .pes file, not still inside a ZIP, and that the design fits your largest hoop.
JEF to PES: questions
Do I lose stitch quality converting JEF to PES?
No. Converting copies the same stitches into another format; density, underlay and sewing order stay as digitized. Only resizing changes stitch quality.
Which PES version do I get?
Version 6, read by current Brother machines and software. Like every PES it carries a PEC block with the stitches, palette colours and thumbnails.