U01 File: Barudan Embroidery Format Explained

U01 embroidery file format

A U01 file is Barudan's machine embroidery format, used on Barudan's commercial multi-needle machines. Instead of thread colours it stores needle numbers: every colour change tells the machine which needle to use next, and the operator decides which thread sits on that needle. Together with trims, jumps and stitches, that is everything a production machine needs to sew a design without stopping.

Updated October 3, 2026

At a glance

Made for

Barudan commercial multi-needle embroidery machines

Thread colours

Not stored: each colour change selects a needle by number

Commands

Stitch, jump, trim, needle change and end, three bytes per record

Related formats

Barudan's DSB (a Tajima-layout variant) and the newer FDR family

Who needs it

Shops running Barudan heads; home machines don't read U01

On Embroidly

In every download, one needle per colour in sewing order

What a U01 file stores

U01 is a compact, command-driven format. Each record is three bytes: a command byte and a vertical and a horizontal move. The command says whether the record is a stitch, a jump, a trim, a needle change or the end of the design, and a needle change carries the needle number inside the command. Wilcom's format list sums this up as "includes needle addressing data".

What the file doesn't carry is just as telling: no colour values, no thread names, no preview picture and no hoop. On a multi-needle machine those are the operator's decisions, made at the control panel when the job is set up.

Who uses U01

U01 matters to shops running Barudan heads. For them, a file with the needle sequence already inside saves set-up time, especially for repeat jobs where each needle keeps the same thread cone. Barudan machines also use DSB, Barudan's variant of the Tajima layout, and the newer FDR family of formats. Wilcom's EmbroideryStudio reads Barudan's U-formats but doesn't write them.

Home embroidery machines generally don't read U01. If you own a Brother, Janome, BERNINA, Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff or Singer, look at PES, JEF, EXP, VP3 or XXX instead.

U01 or DST?

Both formats store the same stitches, trims and colour changes. DST is the one every commercial brand reads, which is why shops ask for it by default; it marks a colour change as a stop and leaves the needle choice to the machine. U01 records the needle choice. When you send a design to a Barudan shop, ask which one they prefer. Our DST format page explains the Tajima side.

How to open and convert a U01 file

The free embroidery file viewer opens U01 files and shows the size, the stitch count and one placeholder colour per needle change. The embroidery file converter turns a U01 into DST or any home format, keeping the stitches; converting to a home format adds palette colours chosen by the converter, which you then match to the thread chart. Converting into U01 is possible from any format the converter reads.

U01 files from Embroidly

Every library design includes a U01 file in each of its three sizes. Our files assign one needle per colour in sewing order: needle 1 for the first colour on the thread chart, needle 2 for the second and so on. Thread the machine in that order and the design sews as digitized. Like every format we ship, each U01 is read back after writing and checked against the design.