JPG to DST
Turn JPG into a stitch-ready DST file for Tajima and most industrial multi-needle machines — free, in the browser, nothing to install.
Convert now — no account neededWhat to know about starting from JPG
JPEG throws away detail to save space, and it does it worst exactly where embroidery cares most: hard edges. Zoom into a JPEG logo and the boundary between two flat colours is a fringe of in-between pixels.
JPG to DST specifically
The JPEG edge fringing matters here, but not in the way it does for a colour-carrying format. DST discards colour entirely, so the fringe pixels do not cost you thread accuracy — they cost you geometry, by becoming narrow stitched slivers between your real shapes. Reduce the colours until those slivers disappear from the preview and the DST will be clean.
How to convert JPG to DST
- Upload your JPG. Those fringe pixels read as extra colours, so cut the colour count down hard — a two-colour logo should convert as two colours, not eleven. If you can get the original PNG, SVG or PDF from whoever made the logo, use that instead; it is the single biggest quality difference available to you.
- Set the finished size. Work in millimetres and set it before you judge anything else — every decision about detail depends on how big the design will be. Detail that survives at 150mm disappears at 60mm.
- Reduce the colours. Each colour is a thread change on the machine. Pick the fewest that still read as your artwork.
- Check the preview, then export as DST. The stitch preview plays the design in the order the machine will sew it, so you can catch problems before there is thread in the hoop.
About the DST format
DST is the native format for Tajima and most industrial multi-needle machines. DST is the universal format — if you are sending a design to a shop and do not know their machine, send DST. The trade-off is that it stores no thread colours at all, only the stops between them, so the operator sets the threads. We write a thread sequence list alongside the file so you can pass the colour order on.
What makes the difference to the result
Digitizing is not tracing. The converter decides how each region gets filled, which direction the stitches run, where the underlay goes and how much to compensate for the fabric pulling the design in as it sews. Those decisions are what separate a design that stitches cleanly from one that puckers, gaps at the edges or takes twice as long as it should.
- Size before everything. A shape narrower than about 1.2mm cannot be stitched as its own satin column; it has to be widened or dropped.
- Fewer colours, better result. Every extra colour is a thread change, a trim and a chance for registration to drift.
- Flat beats subtle. Gradients, glows and soft shadows have no equivalent in thread and become banding.
- Check the stitch order. The simulator plays it back so you can see the sequence before you sew it.
Already have the vector?
If whoever designed the artwork can send you the SVG, AI, EPS or PDF, use that instead. Converting from vector skips the whole business of inferring edges from pixels, and the difference is visible in the finished stitch-out. See SVG to embroidery.
Common questions
Why did my JPG convert with more colours than it has?
JPEG compression leaves a fringe of blended pixels along every hard edge, and those fringe pixels read as extra colours. It is why a two-colour logo can offer eleven. Reduce the colour count manually, or get the original PNG, SVG or PDF from whoever made the artwork.
Does DST keep my thread colours?
No, and no converter can change that — the format has nowhere to put them. A DST records stitches and the stops between them, so the operator loads the threads. Every DST exported here comes with a thread sequence list naming the colours in stitching order.
Why do embroidery shops ask for DST?
Because it loads on almost anything. DST carries nothing brand-specific, which is exactly why nearly every machine reads it, and shops assign thread from their own stock regardless of what a file claims.
What is actually inside a DST file?
A fixed 512-byte header holding the design name, the stitch and colour-change counts and the design's extents, then three bytes per stitch. That is the whole format, which is both why it is so portable and why it has nowhere to record a colour.
Is it free?
Yes, to start. A free account converts up to three designs a day at up to three thread colours and three inches, with every export format available. Premium lifts the colour and size limits and raises the daily allowance.
Related converters
Already have an embroidery file in the wrong format? That is a different job — no digitizing needed, just a re-encode. Use the embroidery file converter. Working with text rather than artwork? Browse the embroidery fonts.