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Stitch Toolbox

Free tool

Embroidery file viewer

Drop a file in any of 24 formats. It is decoded on your device; nothing is uploaded. Step through the sew-out, read the colour sequence, print a colour sheet for the machine.

About this tool

What the viewer reads

The viewer decodes 22 stitch formats on your device: Brother PES (versions 1 to 10) and PEC, Tajima DST, Melco EXP, Janome JEF and JEF+, Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff VP3, VIP and HUS, Singer XXX, Barudan U01, Tajima TBF, DSB and DSZ, plus SEW, PCS, TAP, EXY, 10O, KSM, SHV, EMD, PHC, ZXY and STX. Each reader was run against pyembroidery, the open-source reference library, on 226 real files; where the two disagreed, the same design saved in other formats settled which was right.

What it cannot open are object formats: Wilcom EMB, Bernina ART, Compucon CSD and Husqvarna VP4 hold shapes and settings, not stitches, and only the software that made them can read them. Export a stitch format from that software first.

What the numbers mean

Size is the extent of the needle penetrations, not the hoop. Stitch count is needle-downs only; jumps and trims are listed separately because machines count them differently. Run time uses 650 stitches a minute plus 30 seconds per colour change, which is a realistic single-needle average; change the speed for your machine. Thread use assumes 40-weight thread with 1.25 times the sewn length on top and half of it in the bobbin.

Colours are whatever the file stores: a Brother palette name for PES, a Janome chart number for JEF, thread names for VP3, RGB for XXX, and nothing at all for DST and EXP, which show placeholder colours in block order.

Limits

  • Files over about 50 MB or a million stitches will be slow in the browser tab; nothing is sent to a server, so there is no timeout, only patience.
  • A file whose extension does not match its contents is opened by its contents. If both readers fail, the file is probably an object format or corrupted; the error says which.

How to use it

  1. 1

    Drop the file

    Drag any embroidery file onto the page, or click to choose one. The extension does not matter: the format is detected from the file's own signature.

  2. 2

    Read the numbers

    Size in mm, stitch count, colour blocks, jumps, trims, estimated run time and thread use appear at once, with the design drawn on a hoop grid.

  3. 3

    Step through the stitches

    Use the sew-out slider to watch the order the machine will follow, toggle jumps, and click a colour block to highlight it.

  4. 4

    Print the colour sheet

    Open the colour sheet for a printable list of blocks in order with stitch counts and the thread each block stores.

Questions

Which formats does the viewer open?

PES, PEC, DST, EXP, JEF, VP3, XXX, HUS, VIP, SEW, PCS, U01, TBF, DSB, DSZ, TAP, EXY, 10O, KSM, SHV, EMD, PHC, Z01, STX. Formats it cannot open: EMB (Wilcom), ART (Bernina), CSD and VP4, which are object formats; export a stitch file from that software first.

Why does the thread list show generic colours for my DST?

DST files store colour-change stops but no colours or thread names. The viewer assigns placeholder colours so blocks are distinguishable; the colour sheet lists them in order so you can write the real threads next to each.

Is the stitch count the same the machine shows?

Usually within a few stitches. Machines count lock stitches and jump landings differently, and DST readers fold trim jumps. The number here counts needle-downs.

How is run time estimated?

Stitches divided by your machine speed, plus 30 seconds per colour change and a few seconds per trim. Real time depends on jumps, thread breaks and hooping.

What is the colour sheet?

A printable page with the design preview, size, stitch count, and the thread sequence with swatches and stitch counts per block. Choose Save as PDF in the print dialog to keep it with the job.

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