Converter
PES to EXP converter
Turn a PES file (Brother, Baby Lock and older Bernina machines) into EXP (Melco and Bernina machines). Drop the file, EXP is preselected, download. Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
What this conversion keeps and changes
- EXP stores no colour information, only stops. The PES's colours are dropped; download a colour sheet from the viewer so the operator can thread the needles.
- Trims: PES marks them as implicit (jump flags); EXP as explicit. They are translated, not dropped.
- Maximum stitch length is 12.7 mm in EXP, which covers everything a PES can hold.
Keep the PES as well as the EXP. Colours that are dropped on the way to EXP cannot be recovered from the EXP later; the colour sheet from the viewer records them.
Inside a PES file
- Read by: Brother, Baby Lock and older Bernina machines.
- Colours: colours as indices into a fixed palette, so each thread becomes the nearest palette entry.
- Trims: implicit (jump flags).
- Longest stitch per record: 12.7 mm; anything longer is written as two.
- Written as version 1 with an embedded PEC block, which every Brother machine since the 1990s reads.
Inside a EXP file
- Read by: Melco and Bernina machines.
- Colours: no colours at all, only stops between blocks, so the operator threads needles from a colour sheet.
- Trims: explicit.
- Longest stitch per record: 12.7 mm; anything longer is written as two.
When you need this conversion
Designs are sold and shared in the format of the digitiser's software, and PES is common because Brother use it. If your machine is one of the Melco and Bernina models, it wants EXP. The stitches are the same; only the container changes, and the notes above are the whole list of what the container cannot carry.
Before a paid job, run the result through the pre-flight check for density and hoop fit, and read the conversion guide for the traps that are specific to each pair.
How to use it
- 1
Drop the PES file
Drag it onto the page or click to choose it. The file is decoded on your device and drawn on a hoop grid with its size, stitch count and colour blocks.
- 2
Check the preview
Step through the sew-out order if you want to see how the machine will run it. Rotate or mirror here if the placement needs it; centring is on by default.
- 3
Download the EXP
EXP is already selected as the output. The file is written and read back on your device before the download starts.
- 4
Copy the colours over
EXP stores no colours, so print the colour sheet from the viewer and set the needles from it on the machine.
Questions
What changes when converting PES to EXP?
EXP stores no colour information, only stops. The PES's colours are dropped; download a colour sheet from the viewer so the operator can thread the needles. Trims: PES marks them as implicit (jump flags); EXP as explicit. They are translated, not dropped. Maximum stitch length is 12.7 mm in EXP, which covers everything a PES can hold.
Which machines read EXP?
Melco and Bernina machines.
Will the EXP stitch identically?
Geometry, yes: every needle position is kept to 0.1 mm, and the writer was checked against pyembroidery. Colours, trims and stops follow what the target format can store, as described on this page.
Is the file uploaded?
No. Reading and writing happen in your browser; close the tab and nothing remains.
Can I resize it at the same time?
Not here. Scaling a stitch file changes its density; use the resize tool, which re-spaces satin, fill and running stitches, then convert the result.
More tools
- Embroidery file viewer · Open PES, DST, JEF, EXP, VP3, HUS, XXX and 15 more
- Pre-flight check · Density heatmap, short and long stitches, jumps, trims, hoop fit
- Stitch count & price calculator · Stitches, run time, thread use and a quote
- Resize with density correction · Scale a stitch file and keep the stitching sane