Open a PES file and watch it stitch out
Drop in a PES design from Brother and Baby Lock and see the order it sews in — every colour block, jump, trim and machine stop, plus its real size and stitch count. The file is read on your own computer and never uploaded.
What a PES file carries
A PES carries its thread colours, so the colours here are the ones the file actually specifies. They are stored as indexes into Brother's thread chart rather than as free RGB values, which is why they land on catalogue colours rather than arbitrary ones — the design was matched to the nearest thread Brother sells when it was saved.
A PES file is a wrapper. Inside it sits a PEC block holding the actual stitch data, kept for backward compatibility with older Brother machines, and the PES layer around it carries the colour list and hoop metadata. The version of that outer layer is why a newer PES sometimes will not load on an older machine even though the stitches inside are perfectly ordinary.
What to check before you sew a PES
- The colour sequence. PES names its colours, so you can read the thread order straight off the design and set your spools out before starting.
- Trim count. The PEC block leans on trim-jumps rather than uncut jumps when travelling between shapes, so PES files tend to carry more trims than the same design in DST. Every one is a thread end to clip.
- Extents against your hoop. Most Brother and Baby Lock home machines top out around 5×7 inches. Check the design's size here rather than at the machine.
- Whether the design is actually what you think. PES is the most-traded format in the hobby, which means it is also the one most often misnamed in a download folder.
Why people open PES files here
PES is what most home embroiderers own and trade, so the usual reason to open one is triage: you have a folder of downloads, you want to know which file is which, how many colours each needs and whether any of them will fit your hoop — without loading each one onto a USB stick and walking to the machine.
Common questions about PES files
My machine says the PES file is not supported — why?
Usually the PES version rather than the stitches. The outer PES layer has gone through many revisions, and an older Brother can refuse a newer one even though the PEC block inside is perfectly ordinary. Re-saving it as DST and back, or exporting an older PES, generally clears it.
Why does my PES have so many thread trims?
Because of how the format travels between shapes: the PEC block favours trim-jumps over uncut jumps, so the same design in PES carries more trims than in DST. The playback here shows you exactly where they fall.
Can I see the thread colour names?
Yes. PES stores its colours as entries in Brother's thread chart, so the viewer shows the palette the file specifies rather than a guess.
Is my PES uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read in your browser and never leaves your computer — the page works with the network disconnected.
Opening other formats
This page is set up for PES, but the viewer itself reads every format we support. For a different one, try the DST viewer, JEF viewer — or the stitch simulator, which takes PES, DST, JEF, SEW, EXP, VP3 and XXX and explains what the playback is showing you in more depth.
Need to change a file's format rather than look at it? That is a re-encode, not a re-digitize — the stitches are already decided and only the container changes. Use the embroidery file converter. Starting from artwork instead of a stitch file? The free converter digitizes an image and exports PES among every other format.
For what the formats actually differ on — which machines read them, and what happens to your thread colours in each — see PES vs DST vs JEF.