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Appliqué Maker

Converter

PES to JEF converter

Turn a PES file (Brother, Baby Lock and older Bernina machines) into JEF (Janome, Elna and Kenmore machines). Drop the file, pick JEF 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

PES colours are matched to the nearest Janome thread chart entry, which is what the machine displays. Stitches longer than 12.7 mm are split, and jumps beyond the JEF range are broken into steps.

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 JEF file

  • Read by: Janome, Elna and Kenmore machines.
  • Colours: colours as indices into a fixed palette, so each thread becomes the nearest palette entry.
  • Trims: zero-length jumps.
  • Longest stitch per record: 12.7 mm; anything longer is written as two.
  • Colours are indices into the Janome thread chart, which is what the machine screen shows.

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 Janome, Elna and Kenmore models, it wants JEF. 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 JEF directly, without converting.

Reverse: JEF → PESPES → DSTDST → JEFPES → VP3PES → EXP

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 JEF

    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

    Open the result in the viewer to check the colours the JEF now stores against the design's colour sheet.

Questions

What changes when converting PES to JEF?

PES colours are matched to the nearest Janome thread chart entry, which is what the machine displays. Stitches longer than 12.7 mm are split, and jumps beyond the JEF range are broken into steps.

Which machines read JEF?

Janome, Elna and Kenmore machines. Colours are indices into the Janome thread chart, which is what the machine screen shows.

Will the JEF 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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