The PES embroidery file format
A PES file is the embroidery format of Brother home machines, and Baby Lock machines read it too. It holds every needle move of a design, a Brother thread color for each part, and small black-and-white thumbnails of the design.
By Levente, who builds BobbinBot. Published .
What is inside a PES file
A PES file is two files in one. The first part is Brother's own layout of the design: its size, its color blocks and the stitches in each block. The second part is a complete PEC file, Brother's older format, with the stitches written out again, the list of thread colors, and 48 × 38 pixel thumbnails, one of the whole design and one for each color.
Because the stitches are stored twice, PES is the largest of the common formats. The table below shows the same design saved five ways.
Colors are not stored as free colors. Each one is a number in Brother's fixed thread chart, so a design drawn in other colors is saved with the nearest Brother thread for each, and the names on the machine's screen can differ from the threads you planned.
The file starts with its version, such as #PES0001 for version 1. Ink/Stitch 3.3.0 writes version 1, and so does BobbinBot, whose machine files come from Ink/Stitch.
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 PES
Brother's home embroidery machines read PES, usually from a USB stick. Baby Lock machines read it too, and some Bernina models read it next to their own EXP. If you are not sure what your model takes, the machine finder lists the format and hoops from each maker's published specs.
On our list, from the makers' or dealers' published specs:
- Brother PE800
- Brother SE700
- Brother PE535
- Baby Lock Meridian 2
- Bernina 500 E
How to open a PES file
In a browser, drop the file into the free PES viewer. It shows every stitch, the Brother thread colors in sewing order and the size in millimetres, and it keeps nothing.
On a computer, Inkscape with the free Ink/Stitch extension opens PES with File › Open. The stitches come in as points you can move one by one, which is fine for a small repair but not for redesigning.
On the machine, copy the file to a USB stick and pick it on the screen. The viewer page has those steps.
Open a PES file in the free viewerHow to convert a PES file
Converting a PES keeps every stitch where it is. What changes is the color information. To DST or EXP, the colors are dropped, because those formats only mark where the thread changes. To JEF, each Brother thread becomes the nearest Janome thread, so the names change. To VP3, the colors and their names carry over.
Convert PES to another format, freeCommon problems with PES files
The machine does not list the file
Check the size in the viewer first: a design bigger than the largest hoop the machine takes is often left off the list. Then check that the file really ends in .pes and is not still inside a zip.
The colors on the screen are not my threads
PES can only name Brother threads. The machine shows the nearest one from its chart. Sew in the order of the color list and use whichever spools you like.
It went wrong after resizing
A PES holds finished stitches, not shapes. Wilcom's own help advises scaling machine files by no more than 10% either way, because the stitches are not worked out again and areas end up too thick or too thin.
An older machine asks for PEC
Some older Brother machines read PEC on its own. A PES already carries a PEC inside it, and the free converter writes it out as a separate .pec file.
Questions
Is PES the same as PEC?
No, but they are related. PEC is Brother's older format. Every PES file has a full PEC file inside it, with the same stitches and colors.
Can I edit a PES file?
Only a little. Ink/Stitch opens it as individual stitch points. To change the design itself, go back to the picture or the design file it was made from.
Which PES version does my machine need?
BobbinBot writes version 1, as Ink/Stitch does. We have not yet checked on each Brother model which versions it accepts. If your machine refuses one of our files, tell us the model.
How do I open a PES file on a Mac?
The free viewer runs in any browser, Mac included. For editing, Ink/Stitch has a macOS version, installed into Inkscape.
Make a PES 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.