PES file what it is and how to open it

What a PES file is

A PES file is a machine embroidery design in Brother's format. Baby Lock machines, which share much of their technology with Brother, read it too. If you have a Brother or Baby Lock embroidery machine, PES is the file to download.

A PES file has two parts:

• The PEC block, which is what the machine reads: the stitches, the colour changes, each colour as a number in Brother's thread chart, and a small black-and-white preview picture for the machine's screen.
• The PES block, which is for software like Brother's PE-Design. In newer versions of the format it keeps each thread's exact colour, name and brand, plus the hoop the design was made for.

Like other machine formats, a PES file holds finished stitches, not the shapes they came from. It's fine to rotate, mirror or resize it slightly on the machine, but large size changes need the original working file.

There are several versions of PES. Machines read the PEC block, which hasn't changed, so the version rarely matters to the machine. It can matter to older software that doesn't understand newer versions. Our converter writes version 6, which PE-Design 6 and every later version open.

How to open a PES file

On Windows or Mac

Drag the file onto the viewer above, or click Choose a file. You'll see it in its thread colours with its size in millimetres and inches, stitch count, colour changes and an estimated stitch time. Neither Windows nor macOS can show PES files on their own.

On an iPad or iPhone

Save the file to the Files app (from Mail, tap the attachment, then Save to Files). Open this page in Safari, tap Choose a file and pick it.

On an Android phone or tablet

Download the file, open this page in Chrome, tap Choose a file and pick it from Downloads.

On your Brother or Baby Lock machine

Copy the PES file to a USB stick and plug it in, or send it with the machine's own app or Wi-Fi transfer if it has one. Check it fits your hoop first: pick your machine and hoop under Hoop fit in the viewer.

Common problems and how to fix them

The machine doesn't show the design

• It's still zipped. Unzip the download on a computer and copy only the .pes file.
• The USB stick. Many Brother machines only read FAT32 sticks, and older ones only small sticks. Try an 8 to 32 GB stick with the file at the top level, not in a folder.
• The design is bigger than the machine's largest hoop. Machines hide or refuse designs they can't sew. A 4×4 inch machine like the SE600 can't use a 5×7 design.
• The file is damaged. If the viewer above can't open it, download it again.

The colours on the machine don't match the picture

The machine shows the nearest colour from Brother's thread chart, not the designer's exact colour. Go by the design's thread list, or by the colours in the viewer above, which come from the exact colours stored in the file when it has them.

The design is too big for my hoop

Pick your hoop under Hoop fit to see by how much. Buy or download the version made for your hoop rather than shrinking it a lot: the stitch count doesn't drop, so a shrunk design gets dense and stiff. See Brother hoop sizes.

My machine needs a different format

Got a PES file but a Janome, Pfaff or commercial machine? Convert it to JEF, VP3, DST or whatever your machine reads.

Machines and the files they need

Last updated October 31, 2026