What happens to your DST file
This is the most common job: a digitiser or a marketplace sends a DST, and a Brother or Baby Lock home machine wants PES. The stitches move across exactly. The one thing to do first is set your thread colours under Colour stops, because a DST has none and the PES will otherwise carry stand-ins. Your machine will still show the nearest match from the Brother chart.
| Stitch positions | Identical, to 0.1 mm |
|---|---|
| Colour stops | Same number, same order |
| Thread colours | Choose them first |
| Size and density | Unchanged |
Thread colours
DST stores no colours, and PES needs one for each stop. Hoopbench starts with stand-in colours, so set your own under Colour stops before you download. Each becomes the nearest thread in the Brother and Baby Lock chart.
Long moves
PES can move 204.7 mm in one record and DST only 12.1 mm, so everything fits. Chains of jumps from the DST file stay as jumps.
Trims
PES marks moves with a trim flag, so each trimmed move carries across. Brother machines cut on these moves, depending on the machine's own settings.
Before you stitch
- Open the .dst file above and watch it sew, so you know the file is sound and in the order you expect.
- Choose your hoop under Hoop fit. The check uses the design's real size, not the file's header.
- Pick your thread colours under Colour stops, because DST doesn't hold them.
- Download the .pes file, and stitch a test piece on matching fabric and stabiliser.
Converting doesn't resize a design or change its density. If a design needs to be much bigger or smaller, use digitising software, as stretching stitches without recalculating them can leave gaps or heavy spots.
About DST
DST is the file most digitisers deliver, because almost every commercial machine can sew it. It starts with a 512 byte text header holding the design name, stitch count and extents, followed by three bytes for every stitch.
Thread colours and thread names. A DST only says "stop and change thread here".
About PES
PES is the Brother and Baby Lock format and probably the most common home embroidery file. Inside it is a PEC block, which is the part the machine actually sews, and in newer versions a list of exact thread colours for design software.
The PES file is for Brother and Baby Lock home machines, and many other machines and programs that accept it. Any Brother or Baby Lock machine. Hoopbench writes PES version 6, and version 1 if very old software needs it.
Brother machines only have a few hoop sizes, and a design that overhangs the hoop usually will not load. Check the size before you transfer it.