Embroidery file guides
Straight answers to the questions machine embroiderers ask most. Each guide does one job, and links to the tool or the File Doctor when that helps.
Logo to embroidery file
How to get from a logo to a file your machine reads: which artwork, which size, which format, and what to check before you sew.
Open a PES file
Open a PES embroidery file on a PC, Mac or phone with nothing to install: stitch count, size, colours and the stitch-out simulated.
Embroidery digitizing guide
What embroidery digitizing is, how hand and automatic digitizing differ, how to tell a good file, and what to ask before you order.
File format by machine
Brother: PES
Brother and Baby Lock embroidery machines read PES files. Hoop sizes, getting the file onto the machine, colours and common mistakes.
Janome: JEF
Janome and Elna embroidery machines read JEF files. The hoop code inside JEF, colours, transfer and what to watch for.
Tajima & commercial: DST
DST is the file of Tajima and almost every multi-needle commercial embroidery machine. It carries no colours: needle assignment, the sheet and what to watch.
Husqvarna, Pfaff: VP3
Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff embroidery machines read VP3 files. Colours, hoops, transfer and how VP3 differs from the older HUS/VIP formats.
Bernina: EXP
Bernina embroidery machines read EXP files. EXP carries no colours: colours, hoops, transfer and how it differs from ART.
See your own logo stitched
Free preview, real needle path, no signup. Download PES, DST, JEF, EXP or VP3.
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