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Appliqué Maker

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, pick EXP as the output, download. Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

Drop an embroidery file or click to choose
PES, PEC, DST, EXP, JEF, VP3, XXX, HUS, VIP, SEW, PCS · stays on your device

What this conversion keeps and changes

EXP keeps colour changes and trims; colours themselves are not stored in EXP, so keep a note of the thread order.

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 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. Applique designs built in the studio can be downloaded in EXP directly, without converting.

PES → DSTPES → JEFPES → VP3

How to use it

  1. 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. 2

    Choose EXP

    Pick the output format. Rotate or mirror here if the placement needs it; centring on the origin is what most machines expect.

  3. 3

    Download

    The file is written and read back on your device before the download starts.

  4. 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 keeps colour changes and trims; colours themselves are not stored in EXP, so keep a note of the thread order.

Which machines read EXP?

Melco and Bernina machines.

Will the EXP file stitch identically?

Yes for geometry: every needle position is kept to 0.1 mm. Colour and trim behaviour follow the target format's capabilities, described on this page.

Is the file uploaded?

No. Reading and writing happen in your browser; close the tab and nothing remains.

Does this work on applique designs?

Yes; placement, tack-down and satin blocks convert like any other stitches. If you need the cut file for an applique design you already own, use the cut-file tool after converting.

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