Embroidery digitizing guides
Plain-English guides for anyone ordering or making embroidery files: what digitizing is, what it should cost, which file format your machine needs, why caps are different, and how to choose a digitizer. They’re written by the PlixaLabs digitizing team, with free tools to check your own files.
Ordering from the UK? See our UK digitising guides, with prices in GBP.
Start here
New to embroidery files? Begin with the basics.
Costs and buying
What to pay, and how to pick a digitizer you can rely on.
Files and formats
Get the right file, from the right artwork, and check it before you sew.
Embroidery file formats explained
DST, PES, JEF, EXP and VP3, with a brand-by-brand table of which format your machine needs.
5 min readArtwork requirements for embroidery digitizing
The checklist of artwork and order details a digitizer needs.
5 min readHow to check an embroidery file before sewing
A 9-step on-screen check with free tools, plus a test-sew checklist.
5 min readTechniques
Why some jobs need special handling.
AI and software
Doing it yourself, or deciding when not to.
How to digitize a logo for embroidery
Eight steps from artwork to test sew-out, with free and paid software options.
7 min readCan AI digitize embroidery?
What auto-digitizing and AI tools can and can’t do with a logo.
Read moreDigitizing software vs a digitizing service
When buying software makes sense and when paying per design is cheaper.
CompareLearn by topic
Formats, machines, techniques, fabrics and troubleshooting, one page per question.
Embroidery file formats
DST, PES, EMB and every other machine format: what each one stores and which machines read it.
ExploreEmbroidery machines and formats
Which file formats Tajima, Brother, Barudan, Ricoma and other machines read, and how files are set up for them.
ExploreEmbroidery file conversions
Converting between embroidery formats, and why an image cannot simply be converted into one.
ExploreDigitizing techniques
Underlay, density, pull compensation, stitch types and sequencing, explained by digitizers.
ExploreEmbroidery by fabric
How towels, fleece, leather, denim and performance knits change the way a design is digitized and sewn.
ExploreEmbroidery troubleshooting
Thread breaks, gaps, puckering and other sewing problems: whether the file or the setup is at fault, and how to fix it.
ExploreSpecialty embroidery
Coloreel gradients, chenille and sequins: how each works and what the file needs.
ExploreEmbroidery business
Pricing embroidery jobs, stitch count pricing, run time and contract work: the numbers behind a decorating business.
ExploreVector artwork
Raster and vector, the file formats artwork comes in, and what print and embroidery each need.
ExploreEmbroidery glossary
Embroidery and digitizing terms, defined in plain English.
ExploreFree tools
Check your own files and artwork
Browser-based tools. No signup.
DST file viewer
Open a DST file in your browser: size, stitch count, color stops and playback.
Open tool →Image-to-embroidery checker
Check whether a logo image is ready for embroidery before you order.
Open tool →Stitch count estimator
A rough stitch count from the design size, complexity and coverage.
Open tool →Embroidery run time calculator
Estimate how long a design takes to sew on your machine.
Open tool →Thread color matcher
Find the closest Madeira Polyneon, Isacord and Pantone shades for your logo.
Open tool →EPS and AI file viewer
Preview EPS and AI artwork files without design software.
Open tool →Written by the people who make the files.
Every guide is signed. These are the digitizers and the team behind them, with everything each one has written.
Get your first design digitized free
One free design per new registered business: Simple or Medium complexity, standard turnaround, embroidery digitizing or vector conversion. After that, each design has one flat price set by its complexity.