Formats & machines
The file your machine reads.
PiperStitch writes native machine formats directly — no converter in between — and reads them back for review.
Export
| DST | Tajima and the de-facto commercial standard — read by nearly every commercial machine (Tajima, Barudan, SWF, ZSK, Ricoma, Happy…) and most home machines. Carries stitches, jumps, trims and colour-change stops; colours themselves are set on the machine. |
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| PES | Brother and Baby Lock home and semi-commercial machines (PE, SE, NQ, Innov-ís, Persona, Entrepreneur…). Includes the PEC stitch block plus the Brother thread palette, so the machine shows the right colours. |
| JEF | Janome (and Elna) machines. Written with the Janome thread palette and the hoop information Janome machines expect. |
| EXP | Melco and Bernina-compatible machines. Stitches, jumps and colour changes; colours are set on the machine. |
| .stitchpilot | PiperStitch's own project file: your artwork, every object with its settings, and the sew order. Reopen it to keep editing. |
Import
| PNG, JPEG | Any raster image. Colours are quantised to the number the design really uses; each colour becomes traced objects with their holes intact. |
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| SVG | Vector artwork comes in as exact paths — the best starting point if you have it. |
| DST, PES, JEF, EXP | Existing stitch files can be opened for preview and readiness review. |
Hoops
| Built-in sizes | 4″×4″, 5″×7″, 6″×10″, 8″×8″, 9″×9″, 10″×10″. The canvas shows the hoop boundary and warns when a design won't fit. |
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| Garment sizes | Standard left-chest, cap-front and full-front sizes are a click away when setting the finished size. |
Not yet: VP3 (Husqvarna Viking / Pfaff), XXX (Singer), HUS and ART. If your machine reads only one of these, most free converters handle DST → VP3/XXX well, and these formats are on the roadmap. Tell us which you need: contact@piperstitch.com.
Thread libraries
Real thread numbers, not RGB guesses.
PiperStitch ships the full color catalog for eight major thread makers — Isacord, Madeira (Polyneon & Rayon), Robison-Anton, Sulky, Hemingworth, Floriani, Marathon and Gunold. Pick your manufacturer and every shade they sell is right there, ready to search; add the handful you actually keep on the rack, or grab the whole line in one click and prune later. Nothing is ever locked in — add, remove or rebuild your library any time.
- 4,600+ real manufacturer colors, searchable by name or number
- One-click Add, or Add all to bring in an entire manufacturer's line at once
- Exported files carry your library's thread numbers — the exact spool to load, not just a color swatch
- Thread weight (standard 40wt or fine 60wt) sets the fill density to match, from your library or a one-off choice
Not sure it'll read your machine's format?
Start the free trial and export a test file — you'll know in five minutes.