Embroidery file formats are not interchangeable. Each one was designed for a specific machine vendor and carries different information natively. If your buyer's machine is a Brother, you want PES; a Tajima, DST; a Janome, JEF; a Melco or Bernina, EXP. Cross-format export is supported but always loses something — this reference catalogs what.
Property
DST
PES
JEF
EXP
Vendor
Tajima
Brother
Janome
Melco / Bernina
Primary machines
Tajima TFMX/TMEX, Barudan
Brother PR-series, Babylock
Janome Memory Craft, Elna
Melco EMT, Bernina 590+
Stitch coordinates
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes (higher-precision)
Embedded thread palette
No
Yes (Brother)
Yes (Janome)
No
Companion color file
Optional .EDR / .CON
—
—
Optional .INF
Embedded thumbnail
No
Yes
No
No (companion .BMP)
Common stitch-count ceiling
Effectively unlimited
~500k (older) / unlimited (v10)
Machine-model dependent
Effectively unlimited
Trim command support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
File extension
.dst
.pes
.jef
.exp
Picking the right format for the buyer
- Buyer runs a Brother PE-series, NQ-series, or Babylock → ship PES. The embedded palette loads the named-thread sequence on the LCD.
- Buyer runs a Tajima multi-head or sells to other shops → ship DST plus a printed color sheet (or the companion .EDR).
- Buyer runs a Janome Memory Craft, Skyline, or Elna eXpressive → ship JEF. Confirm JEF vs JEF+ for older machines.
- Buyer runs a Melco EMT or Bernina 590/770/880 → ship EXP plus the companion .INF for color sequencing.
- Buyer doesn't know what machine they have → ask. Don't guess — the conversion loss costs more than the awkward question.