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Appliqué Maker

Free tool

Embroidery file viewer

Drop a PES, DST, JEF, EXP, VP3, HUS, XXX, PEC, VIP, SEW or PCS file. It is decoded on your device; 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

About this tool

What the viewer reads

Eleven stitch formats are decoded on your device: Brother PES (versions 1 to 10) and PEC, Tajima DST, Melco EXP, Janome JEF, Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff VP3, VIP and HUS, Singer XXX, Janome SEW and Pfaff PCS. The readers were checked stitch for stitch against pyembroidery, the open-source reference library, on real files from Brother, Janome, Wilcom, Hatch, Embird and Ink/Stitch exports.

Object formats are not stitch files: Wilcom EMB, Bernina ART, Compucon CSD and Husqvarna VP4 hold shapes and settings that only the software that made them can open. 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; jumps and trims are listed separately. Run time assumes 650 stitches a minute plus 30 seconds per colour change, a realistic single-needle average. Colours are whatever the file stores: a Brother palette name for PES, a Janome chart number for JEF, thread names for VP3, and placeholders for DST and EXP, which store none.

Applique designs

An applique design shows as three or more colour blocks per piece: a running-stitch placement line, a tack-down and a satin border. The sew-out slider makes that order visible, and the cut-file tool can rebuild the fabric outline from the placement line if the design did not come with an SVG.

How to use it

  1. 1

    Drop the file

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

  2. 2

    Read the numbers

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

  3. 3

    Step through the stitches

    The sew-out slider follows the order the machine will use; click a colour block to highlight it.

  4. 4

    Export a preview

    Save a PNG or SVG of the design, or print the colour sheet with the blocks in order.

Questions

Which formats does the viewer open?

PES (all versions 1–10), PEC, DST, EXP, JEF, VP3, XXX, HUS, VIP, SEW and PCS. Formats we cannot read yet: ART, EMB, PHC, XXX variants from some Compucon versions.

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; use the thread matcher if you have a colour sheet.

Is the stitch count the same the machine shows?

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

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 your hooping.

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