Machine embroidery is a fascinating practice. It is all about creativity and craft. However, machine embroidery can also be quite technical. You will need to manipulate the digital machine embroidery files the machine reads. To stitch any design, load it onto your embroidery machine. What file format should you use for machine embroidery?
What is a MACHINE EMBROIDERY FILE?
An embroidery file is a set or instructions that the machine must follow to stitch a particular design. They contain many different pieces of information. It tells the machine which colors to use and when. It also knows where to stitch each color of thread, what the stitch pattern is, and how long and dense the stitches are.
It should be obvious that machine embroidery files differ from other graphic files such as JPGs, PDFs, and SVGs. These files do not contain information about stitch patterns and color stops. However, graphic files can be used as a starting point for creating an embroidery file. This is a post I made where I created an embroidery folder from a JPG with Sewart.
Check out the blog: How to PNG to PES converter
WHERE DO YOU GET MACHINE EMBROIDERY FILES?
There are three options to get a machine embroidery file.
- Make it yourself
- buy a pre-made design
- Have the design digitalized for you
It’s unlikely that you will want to go the DIY route if you’re new to machine embroidery. digitizing software is required to create an embroidery design. You must also know how to use it. There are many machine embroidery digitizing programs that cost less than $100 or more than $1000. Each one has different features. While how to digitize can be useful, you should also get to know your embroidery machine.
Machine embroidery designs
There are many machine embroidery designs that you can choose from, and they come in a variety of price points. In the beginning of machine embroidery digitizing software was very expensive so only a handful of companies sold machine embroidery designs. A set of designs would be purchased on CD-ROM. Then, the CD-ROM would be loaded onto your computer. Finally, the design would then be transferred to the embroidery machine. Online purchasing of machine embroidery designs is commonplace. After you have paid for the designs, you will immediately be able to access them. You can then download the files and load them onto your embroidery machine. Many people are now selling machine embroidery designs online.
Check out the blog: How to convert an image to an embroidery file for free in 2022
Designs for digitizing machine embroidery
There are many pre-made embroidery designs that can be used for machine embroidery. However, sometimes you will need to digitize a design. What if someone asks you if you can embroider shirts with their logo on them? You will need to digitize the logo as it is proprietary and cannot be purchased off the shelf. You will need to hire a digitizing company if you don’t have the skills to digitize it yourself. The cost of digitizing a design can vary depending on its complexity.
FIND THE CORRECT EMBROIDERY DESIGN FORMAT
The first step to stitching an embroidery design is finding, making, or outsourcing the embroidery design. It is important to ensure that the design is in the correct format. Different embroidery machines can read different files.
It would be great if all embroidery machines understood the same file format for embroidery, but unfortunately, they don’t. You need to be aware of the format that your machine can read. This information can be found in the manual or consulted by your dealer. You can also purchase a file and load it onto a flash drive. Then you can stick it into your machine. Which one does it load?
Check out the blog: Used embroidery machines: where to buy and should you?
What are the most common MACHINE EMBROIDERY FILE FORMATS?
When I first started making machine embroidery designs, it was clear to me that I would need to offer them in many formats. I began to look at the other shops that sell machine embroidery designs. Although there were some differences in the file formats offered by sellers, I found that most offered ART, PEES, DST and HUS.
I also inquired in my embroidery groups as to what file format everyone used for their embroidery machines. Here is what I discovered. Most respondents used PES files. PES files were the most requested format. Many people mentioned HUS and VIP, VP3, DT, DST, ART, but not much else. This was a great question as I learned a lot about the file formats for machine embroidery, including their origins.
One of the group members, for example, explained the VP3 format.
VP3 is what current Viking & Pfaff machines use. It is specifically the format that 5D Embroidery software created. VIP is the version that was created by 4D software. Top-of-the-line Vikings – Diamonds & Rubys – can use any Viking format – HUS, VIP, or VP3. Topaz machines cannot read VP3. However, they do come with software that allows you to convert designs from one format into another.
Each machine embroidery file format was created differently by different embroidery machine companies, which is why there are so few of them. Sometimes, the file format for a particular brand of machine has changed, such as the VIP to VP3. Here’s a list listing all embroidery file types that SewWhat_Pro allows you to save.
Check out the blog: What is the best machine embroidery thread
Embroidery machine type and associated file format
| Embroidery Machine Type | File Format |
| Bernina | ART, ART42, ART50, ART60 |
| Melco | CND, EXP |
| POEM | CSD |
| GNC | DEM |
| Tajima | DSB, DST, DSZ |
| Wilcom | EMB |
| Elna | EMD |
| Great Notions | GNC |
| Husqvarna | HUS |
| Janome | JAN, JEF, JEF+ |
| Pfaff | KSM, PCD, PCM, PCQ, PCS |
| Brother | PEC, PES, PHB, PHC |
| Kenmore | SEW |
| Sunstar | SST |
| DataStitch | STX |
| Happy | TAP |
| Tajima | T01, TBF, TCF |
| New Pfaff | VIP |
| Viking SE | VP3 |
| Singer | XXX |
The companies and individuals that sell machine embroidery designs don’t usually offer their designs in all of the aforementioned formats. It would just be a little ridiculous to create so many different versions. Most offer them int he most common 6-10 file formats and then state that they can convert to other embroidery file formats if needed.
Machine embroidery designs are not usually offered by all the companies or individuals. It would be absurd to offer so many versions. They are usually available in the most popular 6-10 file formats, and they state that they can be converted to other embroidery file format if necessary.
HOW DO YOU TRANSFORM ONE EMBROIDERY FILE FORMAT INTO ANOTHER?
There are many great tools that can convert machine embroidery files from one format to the next. See my previous post to learn how to convert machine embroidery designs into other formats
Now you should have a better understanding about machine embroidery file formats.
We wish you all the best and happy stitching!
USA Embroidery Services 