How do you convert PES to DST (and DST to PES) without ruining the design?

Why would you need to convert PES to DST?

The two common cases: you bought or made a design in PES (the Brother and Baby Lock format) and it is going to a commercial machine (Tajima, Barudan, Ricoma, SWF, Happy and similar) that reads DST; or a customer or digitizer sent you a DST and you want to stitch it on your Brother, which prefers PES.

It also comes up when selling designs: buyers own different machines and expect the three main formats, PES, DST and JEF. Ideally each format is exported from the native project file, but when only the stitch file exists, conversion gets the job done.

The good news: under the hood, PES, DST and JEF store the same thing, the stitch sequence with coordinates in tenths of a millimeter, jumps, trims and color-change stops. Converting means reading that list and writing it in another format. There is no loss in the stitches themselves. The details are in DST vs PES vs JEF.

How do you convert PES to DST in 2 minutes?

1. Log in to Meus Bordados and open the Viewer from the menu. Click Open file or drag the .pes onto the screen. The file is read on your own computer and is not uploaded anywhere.
2. Check the side panel: Size in millimeters, Stitches, Colors and Stops. Note the color sequence shown under Threads, in stitching order: DST will not keep it.
3. Optionally click Simulate to watch the stitching order and catch anything odd (long jumps, blocks out of order).
4. Under Save as, click DST. The file lands in your downloads folder with the same name and a .dst extension.
5. Also click SVG to generate a color image of the design. Send that SVG (or a screenshot) along with the DST to whoever is stitching it: it is the only way they will know the color sequence.
6. Copy the .dst to a FAT32 USB stick, in the root folder, with a short name and no special characters, and test-stitch on a scrap before the real item.

Tip: If you need to edit before converting (merge with a name, change a color, move a block), open the PES in the editor with Open instead of the viewer. Blocks come in as ready stitches, one per color, and Export writes DST, PES or JEF. See DST, PES, JEF and .bordado formats.

How do you convert DST to PES (and why do the colors come out wrong)?

The way back has one extra step, because of colors. DST only records "stop here to change thread"; when you open a DST, any program shows the stops in generic colors, which are rarely right. Before writing the PES, you define the color of each block.

1. Open the .dst in the Meus Bordados Viewer (or in the editor with Open).
2. Under Threads, in stitching order, click each spool and pick the correct color, following the image or thread list that came with the file. If nothing came with it, use Simulate to see which part of the design each block stitches and work the colors out.
3. Change the Fabric color to the garment color: it helps you judge contrast.
4. Under Save as, click PES. Your Brother will display the design in the colors you set and prompt the thread changes in the right order.

Watch out: Older Brother machines can reject a recent PES version with a "file not supported" error. If that happens, try the DST directly on the machine (many Brothers read DST) and check the manufacturer's site for a firmware update for your model.

What changes in each direction?

Can you resize while converting?

A little. A stitch file has a fixed number of stitches calculated for one size. Scale it up 30% and every stitch gets 30% longer and coverage drops: fabric shows between satin stitches. Scale it down 30% and stitches pile up, the design turns stiff and the needle breaks thread.

The safe range is 10% to 20% either way. Need 2.5" and the file is 4"? Do not convert: rebuild. If the design is a name or a simple logo, the Meus Bordados editor regenerates it at the right size in minutes, from text and fonts or from the logo image. If it is a complex purchased design, ask the seller for the correct size.

In the viewer, the size shows next to the stitch count. Compare it with your hoop field, remembering the 1/2" clearance, before taking the file to the machine. See hoop sizes explained.

Online converter or installed software?

There are free online converters that take your file and return it in another format. They work, with three limitations: you upload the design to an unknown server (and a customer's design is the customer's property), you do not see the design before converting and you cannot set colors. Installed programs such as Wilcom TrueSizer, Embrilliance and Brother PE-Design convert well but live on one computer and, in some cases, require a paid license.

The Meus Bordados viewer sits in between: it runs in the browser with nothing to install, shows the design in 3D before converting, lets you set colors and does not upload the file: reading and writing happen on your computer. It is included in every plan and in the free trial. For everything the software does, see features and the comparison of online vs installed embroidery software.

Errors that show up after converting, and the fix

• The machine does not recognize the file. Name with special characters or too long, USB stick formatted exFAT or NTFS (use FAT32), file inside a subfolder on a machine that only reads the root, or a PES version newer than the machine.
• All colors are the same or random. Normal when opening DST: set each color before saving as PES or JEF.
• The design is mirrored or rotated. Some programs write orientation differently. Open in the viewer, rotate or mirror in the editor and export again.
• Long jumps appear mid-design. They were in the original; DST just makes them visible on machines without automatic trims. In the machine settings, set the jump length that triggers a trim.
• The machine says the design does not fit. The file carries the design size; pick a bigger hoop or go back to the project and generate it smaller. Do not shrink more than 20%.