The JEF embroidery file format
A JEF file is the embroidery format of Janome machines; Wilcom lists Elna and Kenmore with it too. It stores the stitches, each color as a Janome thread, and a code for the hoop the design is meant for.
By Levente, who builds BobbinBot. Published .
What is inside a JEF file
The header names a hoop. pyembroidery, which Ink/Stitch and BobbinBot use to write JEF, picks the first of four Janome hoops the design fits inside: 50 × 50, 126 × 110, 140 × 200, then 200 × 200 mm. A design too big for all four is marked 110 × 110.
The header also records how far the design sits from the edges of several hoops, so the machine can place it. After that, each stitch is two bytes, with a move of up to 12.7 mm.
Colors are numbers in Janome's thread chart. When a design colored with Brother threads is saved as JEF, each color becomes the nearest Janome thread, and the names change. Compare the PES and JEF rows in the table below: the same four colors, different names.
One design, five formats
Our own 69.6 × 69.6 mm test design, 5,822 stitches, saved in five formats and read back. Every file has the same stitches; what differs is the size of the file and what it says about color.
| Format | File size | Thread colors in the file |
|---|---|---|
| EXP | 11,692 bytes | None, only the color stops |
| JEF | 11,842 bytes | Gray, Green, Sola Blue, Honey Dew |
| VP3 | 12,143 bytes | Gray, Emerald Green, Blue, Tangerine |
| DST | 18,017 bytes | None, only the color stops |
| PES | 36,850 bytes | Gray, Emerald Green, Blue, Tangerine |
Who uses JEF
Janome's home embroidery machines read JEF, and some Bernina models read it next to their own EXP. Janome also has a second format, SEW, which our free tools do not open; Ink/Stitch does.
On our list, from the makers' or dealers' published specs:
- Janome Memory Craft 400E
- Janome Memory Craft 500E
- Bernina 500 E
How to open a JEF file
In a browser, drop the file into the free JEF viewer for the stitches, the Janome colors and the size.
On a computer, Inkscape with Ink/Stitch opens JEF with File › Open, and Wilcom's Truesizer lists JEF among the formats it reads and writes.
To check the hoop, compare the size in the viewer with your hoop list in the machine finder.
Open a JEF file in the free viewerHow to convert a JEF file
The stitches carry over to any format. To PES, each Janome thread becomes the nearest Brother thread; to VP3, the color is kept; to DST or EXP, colors are dropped. The hoop code is a JEF thing and does not travel.
Convert JEF to another format, freeCommon problems with JEF files
The machine says the design does not fit
Check the size in the viewer against your hoop. A design marked for the 200 × 200 hoop will not open on a machine whose biggest hoop is smaller.
The thread names are not what I expected
JEF can only name Janome threads. A design colored in another brand is saved with the nearest Janome thread for each color.
The file is SEW, not JEF
SEW is another Janome format. Our free tools do not read it; Ink/Stitch opens it and saves it again as JEF.
Questions
What hoop does a JEF file ask for?
The one written in its header. Files made with pyembroidery ask for the first of 50 × 50, 126 × 110, 140 × 200 or 200 × 200 mm that the design fits.
Can a Brother machine sew a JEF?
Not directly. Convert it to PES first with the free converter; the colors become the nearest Brother threads.
Can I make a JEF from a picture?
Yes. BobbinBot turns a picture into a JEF, along with every other format, and shows the stitches before you pay.
Make a JEF 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.