The EMB file format
An EMB file is the working design file of Wilcom's EmbroideryStudio software, not a file an embroidery machine sews. It keeps everything needed to change the design later, and has to be exported to a machine format such as PES or DST before it can be sewn.
By Levente, who builds BobbinBot. Published .
What is inside a EMB file
Wilcom describes EMB as a format that “contains all information necessary both for stitching a design and for later modification.” It says only native EMB designs have the complete design information needed for perfect scaling.
A machine file is different. It holds finished stitches and nothing about the shapes behind them. Wilcom's help says machine files “are generally not suited to modification because stitches are not regenerated,” and advises scaling them by no more than 10% either way.
So an EMB is the master copy. A digitizer working in Wilcom keeps it to make changes, and exports a machine file to sew. If someone sends you only the EMB, they have sent the master, not the sewing file.
Who uses EMB
People who digitize in Wilcom's software: shops, professional digitizers and design sellers. None of the home machines on our list reads EMB; each reads a machine format such as PES, JEF, EXP or VP3.
Find your machine's format and hoopsHow to open a EMB file
Our free tools cannot open EMB, and we would rather say so than let you upload one and wonder. They read files through pyembroidery, an open-source library whose list of formats has no EMB. Ink/Stitch uses the same library, and its list of formats has no EMB either.
Wilcom's own software opens it: EmbroideryStudio, and Truesizer, Wilcom's browser app for viewing, preparing and converting designs. Wilcom says Truesizer comes as a standalone app or as part of a Wilcom Library subscription; check Wilcom's site for the current price.
How to convert a EMB file
Turning an EMB into PES, DST or another machine file needs Wilcom's software; Wilcom's help lists PES, DST, JEF, EXP and VP3 among the formats Truesizer exports. The simpler fix is to ask whoever sent the EMB for the format your machine reads. Once you have a machine file, the free converter can change it into any other.
Common problems with EMB files
The EMB will not open anywhere
Most programs outside Wilcom's cannot read it, ours and Ink/Stitch included. Ask the sender for a machine file.
I bought a design and only got an EMB
Ask the seller for your machine's format. Find it in the machine finder: Brother takes PES, Janome JEF, Bernina EXP, and Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff VP3.
An older Wilcom program will not open a new EMB
Wilcom's help says Truesizer can save an EMB in an earlier version for older Wilcom software, and that an earlier version may leave out newer features.
Questions
Can I open an EMB file for free?
Not with BobbinBot, Ink/Stitch or pyembroidery: none of them reads EMB. Wilcom's software does. Check Wilcom's site for Truesizer's current price.
Can my Brother machine read an EMB file?
No machine on our list reads EMB. A Brother machine reads PES, so ask for a PES or export one from Wilcom's software.
Is EMB better than DST?
For changing a design, yes, because it keeps the shapes behind the stitches. For sewing, a machine needs a machine file such as DST.
Why can't BobbinBot convert EMB?
The open-source library our tools use does not read it, and we will not guess at a format we cannot check.
Make a machine file from a picture
BobbinBot turns a logo, a drawing or a name into PES, DST, JEF, EXP, VP3 and four more formats in one download. You see the stitches and a green, yellow or red verdict before you pay, and the first design is free. Or do it yourself in free software, step by step.