VP3 File: Husqvarna & Pfaff Embroidery Format

VP3 embroidery file format

A VP3 file is the current embroidery format of Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff machines, and of Singer's newer SVP-era models. It is one of the richest machine formats: next to the stitches, every colour block carries the thread's actual colour value, its brand, its catalogue number and a description. If your machine is a Husqvarna Viking, a Pfaff or a recent Singer, VP3 is the file to download.

Updated October 3, 2026

At a glance

Made for

Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff and newer Singer (SVP) embroidery machines

Thread colours

Each colour block carries its colour value, thread brand, catalogue number and description

Older formats

HUS (Husqvarna Viking) and VIP; the newest flagships also read VP4

VP3-only machines

DESIGNER JADE 35, Pfaff creative ambition 640, Singer SE9150 to SE9185

File signature

Starts with the text %vsm%

On Embroidly

In every download, with colour values and the names from our thread chart

What a VP3 file stores

A VP3 file opens with the text %vsm%, followed by information about the design and its extents. The design is then stored as a series of colour blocks. Each block starts with the thread: its colour as a red, green and blue value, the catalogue number, a description such as "Lemon", and the thread brand. The stitches of that block follow, as small moves relative to the block's starting point.

Because the colours are real values rather than numbers in a fixed palette, a VP3 shows on screen the shades the digitizer chose, and the thread names tell you what to load without looking anything up.

Which machines read VP3

Every current Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff embroidery machine reads VP3, and for some it is the only format:

Machine	Formats in the manual
Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER EPIC 3, TOPAZ 65	15 formats, including VP3, HUS, VIP, PES, JEF, EXP and DST
Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER RUBY 90	14 formats
Pfaff creative icon 2 and 3	The same 15-format list
Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER JADE 35	VP3 only
Pfaff creative ambition 640	VP3 only
Singer SE9150 to SE9185	VP3 only

Even the multi-format flagships warn that not every file version will work: the DESIGNER EPIC 3 manual notes that "some versions of the embroidery files are not fully supported by your machine." VP3 avoids that question. bernette's b70 DECO and b79 read VP3 too, and the newest flagships also read VP4, its successor.

HUS and VIP, the older formats

Before VP3, Husqvarna Viking machines used HUS, and Pfaff machines VIP. HUS stores its colours as numbers in a small Husqvarna palette rather than as real values, and both formats are still read by the flagships. Free tools can read HUS but not write it, and they can't read VIP at all. Commercial programs such as Hatch handle both, so an old HUS or VIP collection can be saved as VP3 once and used on any current machine.

How to open a VP3 file

The free embroidery file viewer opens VP3 files and shows the real colours and thread names, the size and the stitch count. On a computer, SVP's mySewnet software, which the machine manuals describe, opens VP3 files natively.

Converting to and from VP3

PES to VP3 keeps the colour values from the PES thread table; Brother palette colours become their nearest values.
VP3 to PES and VP3 to DST are the routes for machines of other brands. DST drops the colours.
DST to VP3 produces a valid VP3 for VP3-only machines, with colours chosen by the converter: correct them with the thread chart.

Conversions move the same stitches into another format and never change the design's size.

VP3 files from Embroidly

Every library design includes a VP3 file in each of its three sizes, with the colour value and the name of each thread from our thread chart, in sewing order. Each file is read back after writing and compared with the digitized design. For the VP3-only machines above, it is the download to pick.