Reads the stitches
The file is decoded into individual needle moves, with jumps, trims and colour changes. PES files from any Brother software version are read through the stitch block every PES file contains.
Embroidery File Converter
Bought a design in the wrong format? This free embroidery file converter opens DST, PES, JEF, EXP and VP3 files, draws every stitch in its thread colour and saves the same design for Brother, Tajima, Janome, Melco and Bernina, or Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff machines. You can also set the thread colours and download a picture of the stitches as SVG or PNG. Everything happens in your browser.
Drop an embroidery file
DST, PES, JEF, EXP or VP3 · up to 10 MB
Opened and converted in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
What Does an Embroidery File Converter Do?
Each machine brand reads its own stitch format. The stitches are the same idea everywhere, a list of needle moves, jumps, trims and colour stops, so they can be carried from one format to another.
Writes another format
The same moves are written in the target format. Moves longer than a format allows, such as 12.1 mm in DST, are split into equal steps, and the design keeps its size and position.
Keeps the design as digitized
Nothing is re-digitized: density, angles and order stay exactly as the original digitizer made them. To create a new file from a picture instead, use the image to embroidery tool.
Image to embroidery →Why Use This Embroidery File Converter?
Desktop embroidery software can convert formats, but it costs money, needs installing and often runs on Windows only. For a quick format change this page is enough.
Free and private
No account and no limits. The file is read and written on your own device, so purchased designs and client logos are never uploaded anywhere.
See it before you sew
The preview shows every stitch in its thread colour, with the stitch count, size in millimetres and estimated sewing time, so you can check the design before it goes on a USB stick.
Choose the thread colours
DST and EXP files carry no colours. Pick a colour for each thread change and it is saved exactly into VP3, matched to the closest Brother or Janome thread in PES and JEF, and used in the SVG and PNG pictures.
How to Convert an Embroidery File in 3 Steps
Converting a design takes a few seconds.
Open the file
Drop a DST, PES, JEF, EXP or VP3 file into the box above or choose it from your device. You can also try the example DST first.
Check the preview
Look at the stitches, size and stitch count, and set a colour for each thread if the file has none or they look wrong.
Save in the new format
Click the format your machine reads. You can save as many formats as you like from the same file, plus an SVG or PNG picture for a catalogue or listing.
Which Format Does My Machine Read?
Check your manual to be sure, but these are the usual formats. Many home machines also read DST.
Brother and Baby Lock: PES
PES stores the stitches, Brother thread colours and a small preview. This converter writes PES version 1, which old and new Brother and Baby Lock machines all accept.
Tajima and commercial machines: DST
DST is the closest thing embroidery has to a universal format. It has stitches, jumps, trims and colour stops but no colours, so you assign the threads at the machine.
Janome: JEF, Bernina: EXP, Husqvarna and Pfaff: VP3
JEF carries Janome thread numbers and a hoop size. EXP is the plain stitch format used by Melco and by Bernina machines. VP3, used by Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff, stores exact thread colours. Older HUS, VIP and XXX files are not supported yet.
Embroidery File Converter FAQ
Open the file in an embroidery file converter such as this one, check the preview and save it in the format your machine reads. The stitches are copied as they are, so the design sews the same way.
Drop the DST file above, set the thread colours you want, because DST has none, then click PES. The new file opens on any Brother or Baby Lock machine.
Open the JEF file here and click PES. The Janome thread colours are carried over to the nearest Brother colours, which you can change before saving.
There is no single one: each brand has its own. PES is used by Brother and Baby Lock, DST by Tajima and commercial machines, JEF by Janome, EXP by Melco and Bernina and VP3 by Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff.
DST is the Tajima format: a list of stitch moves with jumps, trims and colour stops, in steps of 0.1 mm. It has no thread colours, which is why it works on almost every machine.
PES is Brother's format, also used by Baby Lock. Besides the stitches it stores the thread colours and preview pictures that the machine shows on its screen.
PES. Most Brother embroidery machines also read DST, and older models use PHC or PEC in addition. Save as PES here to keep the thread colours.
JEF, and older models SEW. Many Janome machines also read DST. This converter writes JEF with Janome thread numbers.
Bernina machines read EXP, and many current models also read DST and PES. ART is the format of Bernina's own software and is not supported here.
Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff machines use VP3, which this converter reads and writes. Older models use HUS or VIP, which are not supported yet; many of them also read DST, so check your manual.
Older Singer Futura machines use XXX, which this tool does not write. Many newer Singer machines read PES or DST, so try those first.
Open the file here and click SVG. Each thread colour becomes a path that follows the stitches, sized in millimetres. It is a picture of the stitches, useful for previews and listings.
Not usefully: stitches are thousands of short back-and-forth lines, not outlines. For a cut file, start from the original artwork and trace it into shapes with our converter.
Most machines need FAT32, and many only read small sticks of 32 GB or less. Format it on a computer, copy the converted file to it and select the design on the machine.
Yes. There is no sign-up, watermark or limit on the number of files, and nothing is uploaded.
No. The stitches keep their size, because scaling a stitch file by more than about 20% makes it too thin or too dense. Make a new file at the right size from the original artwork instead.
No. Every needle move is kept. Only moves longer than the new format allows are split into equal steps, and a PES file adds a needle drop where a jump lands, as Brother machines expect.
DST and EXP store no colours, and PES and JEF can only refer to their own thread charts, so colours are matched to the nearest thread. Set each colour in the thread list before saving.
Yes. Every PES version contains the same stitch block that machines read, and that is what the converter uses. Custom thread colours from newer versions are shown as the nearest Brother colour.
No. The file is opened, previewed and converted in your browser and never leaves your device.