Embroidery file formats explained: which format your machine uses

An embroidery file format is the stitch file your machine reads. Brother and Baby Lock use PES, Janome and Elna use JEF, BERNINA uses EXP, Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff use VP3, Singer uses XXX or VP3 depending on the model, and commercial machines widely share Tajima's DST. Use the format your model's manual lists.

What is an embroidery file?

An embroidery file is a list of instructions for the machine: where each stitch goes, where to jump, where to trim and when to change colour. Hatch's documentation calls these machine or stitch files, which "generally contain stitches and machine functions and are only suited to specific embroidery machines."

They are different from design files, the working files of embroidery software, which "usually contain digitized shapes and lines, selected stitch types and stitch values and effects" (Hatch). Wilcom's EMB and BERNINA's ART are design files. Everything you download to stitch, PES, DST, JEF and the rest, is a machine file.

That difference explains most format problems:

• A machine file has no shapes, only stitches. Software can't easily edit or rescale it; the resizing guide explains why a big size change sews badly.
• Each format stores different extras. Some keep thread colours and names, some keep a preview picture, some keep nothing but stitches.
• Every conversion is a rewrite. The open-source pyembroidery library, which many converters are built on, states that reading and writing embroidery files "is always lossy."

Which embroidery format does my machine use?

Each brand has a native format, and most current machines read a few others as well. The table summarises what the manufacturers' own manuals and product pages list for current models. Within one brand, support varies: an entry-level model may read a single format while the flagship reads fifteen.

Commercial machines are simpler, because DST is their shared format. Wilcom lists DST as the format for Tajima machines, Happy machines read TAP, DST, DSB and DSZ, ZSK's software accepts DST alongside its own Z00, Barudan's tools handle FDR and DST, and Melco calls DST one of the "industry-standard file types".

The main embroidery formats, one by one

PES and PEC (Brother, Baby Lock)

PES is Brother's format, also used by Baby Lock. According to the pyembroidery library's implementation, a PES file is a header followed by a PEC block. The PEC part holds the stitches, colour numbers from a fixed 64-colour Brother palette and small thumbnail pictures. Newer PES versions add design details, hoop size and a full thread table.

Machines set limits on what they will open. Brother's PE800 manual, for example, caps a combined design at 200,000 stitches or 125 colour changes. More on the PES format page and the PEC format page.

DST (Tajima)

DST is Tajima's format and the closest thing embroidery has to a common language. It is also the barest. Brother's PE800 manual explains what that means at home: "Since Tajima (.dst) data does not contain specific thread color information, it is displayed with our default thread color sequence." On older Brother models a DST doesn't even show a preview picture, only its file name.

DST also has no real trim command. A trim is written as a short burst of jump stitches, and the machine has to agree on how many jumps mean "cut". Brother's PR1055X manual warns that "if the jump number is not matched, either unexpected trim or no trimming at trim expected point will happen." Each stitch in a DST can be at most 12.1 mm long. More on the DST format page.

JEF (Janome, Elna)

Janome describes JEF as "the default format for all Janome/Elna embroidery machines" (Janome). It stores colours as numbers from a fixed Janome palette rather than as exact shades, so a converter snaps any colour to the nearest Janome thread. JEF also records which hoop the design was made for.

Janome's newer variants add features: JEF+ is an editable container that holds several JEF designs and knows larger hoops, and JPX adds a background picture used for cutwork, AcuFil and similar functions. More on the JEF format page.

EXP (BERNINA, Melco)

EXP started as Melco's expanded format and became BERNINA's machine format. The file itself holds only stitches. On BERNINA machines, the colours and the picture travel in two companion files. BERNINA's own blog reminds you to copy three files for every design to the USB stick: the EXP with the stitches, the INF with the thread colours and the BMP with the picture. Without the INF, the design shows in default colours. More on the EXP format page.

VP3, VIP and HUS (Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff)

VP3 is the current format of Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff, and of Singer's newer SVP-era models. It is one of the richest formats: each colour block can carry the colour value, the thread brand, catalogue number and description. The newest flagships also read a successor, VP4.

HUS (Husqvarna Viking) and VIP (Pfaff) are the older formats. HUS uses an unusual compression and stores colours as numbers from a fixed Husqvarna palette. Free tools can read HUS but not write it, and VIP isn't supported by them at all; commercial programs such as Hatch, Embird and Embrilliance can write both. Modern machines read VP3, so there is rarely a reason to create new HUS or VIP files. More on the VP3 and HUS format pages.

XXX (Singer)

XXX is Singer's traditional format and stores an actual colour value for each thread. Singer's current range is mixed: the Legacy SE300 reads XXX and DST, while the SE9150 to SE9185 family loads VP3 only. Check which generation your machine belongs to. More on the XXX format page.

U01 (Barudan)

U01 belongs to Barudan's commercial machines. Instead of colours, it addresses needles by number, plus commands for trims and speed: the machine operator decides which thread sits on which needle. Wilcom notes that Barudan's newer FDR-3 files (U03) can carry real thread colours. More on the U01 format page.

Other formats you may meet

What each format stores

The biggest practical difference between formats is how they handle thread colour. The technical details come from the pyembroidery library's implementation, which is reverse-engineered rather than an official specification, and from the manufacturers' manuals.

This is why a design's thread chart matters. Every design in our library comes with a thread list in sewing order, and the all-formats ZIP adds a colour sheet, so a DST or EXP never leaves you guessing.

PES vs DST: which should you use?

If you have a Brother or Baby Lock machine, use PES. Both formats contain the same stitches, but PES keeps the thread colours and shows a preview picture on the machine's screen, while DST appears in Brother's default colours and, on older models, with only its file name. DST is the right choice for commercial machines, for embroidery shops and for any machine whose manual lists DST but not PES.

The two directions of conversion are not equal. Going from PES to DST loses the colours. Going from DST to PES can't bring them back: the converter can only assign palette colours, so you still need the thread chart. Our converter handles both directions, for example PES to DST.

Which format should you download?

1. Look up your model in its manual. Use the format it lists first, which is usually the native one.
2. Prefer the native format (PES for Brother, JEF for Janome, VP3 for Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff, EXP for BERNINA) to keep colours and previews.
3. If your machine reads only one format, as the VP3-only models do, download exactly that one.
4. Use DST for commercial machines or when you send a file to an embroidery shop.
5. Not sure, or several machines? Download the ZIP. Our designs come in DST, PES, JEF, EXP, VP3, XXX, U01 and PEC, and the ZIP holds all of them plus the colour sheet. Unzip it before copying files to your machine.

Getting the file onto the machine is the next step: USB sticks, cables and Wi-Fi apps are covered in getting designs onto your machine.

Converting between formats: what you keep and what you lose

A converter rewrites the same stitches in another format. It does not redigitize the design, so it can't fix density, underlay or sewing order, and it can't resize a design well. What it can lose depends on the pair:

• Colours. Converting to DST, EXP or U01 drops them. Converting to JEF, PEC or HUS snaps them to the nearest colour in that brand's palette.
• Trims. DST writes trims as jump bursts. If the receiving machine expects a different number of jumps, trims go missing or appear in the wrong place.
• Extras. Hoop settings, thumbnails and notes rarely survive a round trip.
• Some formats can't be written at all. No tool we checked writes BERNINA's ART, and free tools can't write HUS or VIP. Export from the original software instead.

Open-source libraries such as pyembroidery read about 40 embroidery formats but write only about 10. Our converter uses pyembroidery too: it opens about 40 formats and writes the eight we ship. Check every converted file in the free embroidery file viewer before you stitch: it shows the stitch count, colours and real size.

When your machine won't take the file

The embroidery formats overview lists every format page, and if the file opens on your computer but not on the machine, the transfer guide's troubleshooting section covers USB sticks, folders and file names.