Free tool
Convert PES to DST
Convert Brother and Baby Lock PES files to Tajima DST, the format embroidery shops and commercial multi-needle machines share. The stitches carry over exactly; the thread colours don’t, because DST has nowhere to 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 needle position, jump and colour change converts one to one, and the design keeps its exact size and sewing order. Trims become DST’s trim signal: three tiny jumps in place that machines read as “cut the thread here”. The design name moves into the DST header, which holds up to 16 characters.
What doesn’t
A PES carries a thread table and Brother palette numbers; DST stores none of it. A machine shows the DST in its own default colours and simply stops at each colour change. Write the colours down before you send the file: after converting, the tool lists the PES colours in sewing order, ready to copy into your order or email. PES thumbnails and the hoop setting are dropped as well.
Which machines read DST
DST is Tajima’s native format and the shared language of commercial machines from Tajima, Barudan, Happy, ZSK and SWF, which makes it the safest file to send to an embroidery shop. Many home machines read DST as a second format, current Brother models included. If you sew the design on your own Brother, keep using the PES: it shows colours and a preview on the screen.
Size, hoops and stitch length
Converting never resizes a design. DST limits a single stitch to 12.1 mm, while PES allows much longer ones, so the rare long stitch or satin in a PES is split into two shorter stitches. In normal designs that’s invisible. Commercial machines have large sewing fields, so the hoop is rarely the problem in this direction.
If the DST file doesn’t sew right
- Trims missing or in odd places: the machine’s trim setting expects a different number of jumps. Our DST uses three jumps per trim; ask the shop to match it or to look at the design in their software.
- Everything in one colour on the shop’s screen: expected, because DST has no colours. Send the colour list with the file; commercial machines assign threads to needles.
- The design looks shifted or cut off: check the original PES in the viewer first; a converter can’t fix a design that was already too big.
PES to DST: questions
Why is my converted DST all one colour?
DST stores no thread colours, so every program shows its own default colours. The colour changes are still there; you choose the threads at the machine.
Will my Brother machine read the DST?
Current Brother models list DST among their formats, so yes. On a Brother, though, the PES is the better file: it keeps the colours and shows a thumbnail.
Is anything lost in the stitches?
No. Stitches, jumps, trims and colour changes all carry over. Only the colour information and the PES extras are gone.