emborado

Anyone who has looked into machine embroidery has likely stumbled over the sheer number of file formats: .pes, .dst, .exp, .jef, .vp3 and many more. But why are there so many different formats?

The history behind embroidery file formats

Every manufacturer did its own thing

The issue starts with machine manufacturers. Each major brand created its own proprietary format:

Brother: .pes, .pec
Janome: .jef, .sew
Pfaff: .vp3, .vip
Singer: .xxx, .svs
Husqvarna/Viking: .vp3, .hus
Tajima: .dst (the “original” classic)

Why not a single standard?

The answer is typical for tech: competition and technical differences.

Market lock-in: proprietary formats keep customers within a brand
Technical capabilities: machines differ in features and supported data
Historical evolution: formats were developed in parallel without coordination

What does this mean for you as an embroiderer?

Format chaos in everyday use

Buying a design? Hope it’s available for your machine
Sharing files? Conversion is often required (and can be lossy)
Organising your library? Different formats make oversight harder

Not all conversions are equal

Not all formats are equally “rich”:

Simple formats (like .dst): only stitch positions, no colours
Richer formats (like .pes): colours, fonts, even appliqué info

Note: Converting from a “rich” to a “simple” format loses information!

How emborado helps

Intelligent format handling

emborado automatically recognises all common embroidery formats and shows you:

Visual previews of every format
Available versions of a design
Automatic conversion suggestions

Metadata stays intact

Regardless of format, emborado extracts and stores all available information:

Stitch density and stitch count
Colour information
Design size
Original format

The future of embroidery file formats

Hope for (more) standards

There’s movement in the industry:

Open formats like .svg are gaining traction
Cloud-based workflows reduce format dependency
AI-assisted conversion keeps improving

What you can do today

Keep multiple formats when possible — download several versions
Prioritise quality — buy from creators who offer many formats
Use emborado to manage your format diversity efficiently

Conclusion

The variety of embroidery file formats is a historically grown challenge that will be with our community for a while. But with the right tools and a bit of knowledge, you can tame the chaos.

The good news: emborado makes you format-agnostic and shows at a glance what you have — and what you need.

Questions about file formats or want to try emborado? Get in touch.