How to open embroidery files (PES, DST, JEF, VP3, EXP and more) on any computer or phone

An embroidery file is a list of needle positions, and no operating system ships a program that draws one. So the file arrives, the computer shrugs, and the question becomes: what opens it? Here are the options, with what each one can and cannot do.

In the browser, nothing installed

The viewer reads 22 formats on your device. Drop the file on the page or tap to choose it. It shows:

• the design drawn stitch by stitch, with a slider to step through the sew-out in order;
• size in millimetres and inches, stitch count, colour changes, trims and jumps;
• the colour blocks in order, with thread names and catalogue numbers when the file stores them;
• run time at your machine speed, thread and bobbin estimates;
• the hoops it fits, from 29 common hoop sizes;
• a printable colour sheet for the machine.

Nothing is uploaded. The file is decoded in the browser's memory and gone when you close the tab, which matters for designs you bought and for customer artwork.

It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, iPhone and Android, because it only needs a browser. On a phone, choose the file from Files, iCloud, Google Drive or a mail attachment when the picker opens.

Formats: PES (all versions), PEC, DST, EXP, JEF, JEF+, VP3, XXX, HUS, VIP, SEW, PCS, U01, TBF, DSB, DSZ, TAP, EXY, 10O, KSM, SHV, EMD, PHC, Z01 and STX.

Free desktop viewers

If you open dozens of files a day, a desktop program that registers the file type is convenient. The free ones worth knowing:

Embrilliance Express (Windows, Mac). Free mode of the Embrilliance suite: opens PES, DST, JEF, EXP, VP3, XXX, HUS, VIP and more, shows colours and stitch count, prints templates. Saving and editing need the paid Essentials.

Wilcom TrueSizer (Windows, Mac, and a web version). Free viewer and converter from the maker of Wilcom. Opens EMB (which nothing else does) and the common stitch formats, and can save to stitch formats. Requires an account.

My Editor (Windows). Free viewer and basic editor from Wings Systems; opens most stitch formats and its own NGS.

Ink/Stitch (Windows, Mac, Linux). An extension for Inkscape, free and open source. Imports stitch files as paths and can convert between formats; more digitiser than viewer.

Brother PE-Design Trial and machine-maker software generally only open their own formats.

What you can tell from a preview

A drawn preview answers "which design is this" and "what size is it". It does not answer "will it stitch well". For that, read the numbers: stitches under 0.3 mm break thread, stitches over 12.1 mm become jumps, and density above two stacked layers puckers. The pre-flight check computes all three from any file and draws a heatmap; it takes a second and it is the difference between a preview and an inspection.

Files that will not open anywhere

EMB, ART, BE, CND, PXF are native object formats from Wilcom, Bernina, Embrilliance, Melco and Pulse. They hold shapes and settings, not stitches, and only their own software reads them. Wilcom TrueSizer opens EMB. For the rest, ask whoever made the file for a stitch export. Native formats explained.

Zip files. Design shops ship a ZIP with one design in many formats. Unzip it first; the viewer reads files, not archives.

Renamed files. A DST renamed to .PES does not become a PES. The viewer detects PES, PEC, VP3 and DST by their content and the rest by extension; if a file will not open, check that the extension matches what it really is.

Damaged files. A file cut short by a failed download opens partially or not at all. Re-download it.

Opening a file to see the colour sequence

The colour block list in the viewer is the thread sequence the machine will ask for, in order, with stitch counts per block. For DST, EXP and U01 the colours are placeholders, so the sequence is right but the swatches are not; use the thread converter with the original file, or the colour sheet that came with the design. Colour sheets and run sheets covers what a good sheet contains.

Opening a file to check it fits the hoop

The viewer lists the hoops the design fits with 3 mm of clearance, sorted smallest first. If the smallest listed hoop is larger than yours, the design will not fit; rotating sometimes helps, and the hoop fit checker shows the full table with margins.