Convert between machine formats

stitch convert reads a PES, PEC or DST file and writes it as PES or DST. The output file’s extension picks the format, or --format names it. Each format records some things the other cannot, and the command says what changed.

PES to DST

DST is the format most commercial machines read. Here test sheet TS-02 is converted and the new file read back:

$ stitch convert TS-02.pes -o TS-02.dst
TS-02.pes · PES (#PES0001) → DST
  file      TS-02.dst (DST, 1085 bytes)
  sha256    88d453b2512bb535f9dd2205cbb0be753a5eb9b1700ae9abf2e88062fabff927
  size      120.0 × 70.0 mm
  stitches  93 stitches, 46 jumps, 14 trims, 3 colour changes, 0 stops
  threads   1. Red (#ed171f)
            2. Blue (#0a55a3)
            3. Emerald Green (#00673e)
            4. Emerald Green (#00673e) — a stop: keep the same thread
$ stitch inspect TS-02.dst
TS-02.dst · DST · "TS-02"
  sha256    88d453b2512bb535f9dd2205cbb0be753a5eb9b1700ae9abf2e88062fabff927
  size      120.0 × 70.0 mm
  stitches  93 stitches, 46 jumps, 14 trims, 3 colour changes, 0 stops
  extent    x -60.0 to 60.0 mm, y -35.0 to 35.0 mm from where the machine starts
  lengths   stitches from 2.50 to 2.50 mm
  threads   1. thread 1 (#000000)
            2. thread 2 (#000000)
            3. thread 3 (#000000)
            4. thread 4 (#000000)
            (DST stores no colours: each block is a pause for the next thread)

• Colours. A DST file records where the colour changes are, without the colours. The machine pauses at each colour change, and you load the next thread yourself. Note the thread list before you convert.
• Stops. DST has one pause command, for colour changes and stops alike. The stop in TS-02 reads back as a third colour change.
• Trims. DST has no trim command either. StitchCraft writes a trim as 3 short jumps that end where they started, and a machine set to cut at 3 jumps in a row cuts there.
• Long jumps. A DST record moves the frame at most 12.1 mm, and a longer jump takes several records. A jump longer than 24.2 mm takes 3 or more, and a machine set to 3 cuts the thread there too. SC-I0605 counts these extra cuts. After a tie-off they save you cutting the jump thread by hand. Without one, the end of the stitching can pull out.
• Jumps in a PES file. StitchCraft flags every jump in a PES file as a trim, as Ink/Stitch does, so TS-02 reads back with a trim before each of them, and its DST file cuts there. Only a PES file with plain jumps, as some other programs write, gets the extra cuts that SC-I0605 counts.

DST to PES

A PES file needs a colour for each thread, and a DST file has none to give. Each thread becomes a black placeholder, and SC-W0604 says so. The PES file gives each a Brother colour of its own, the nearest to black still free, from Black to Dark Gray, Dark Brown and on. The machine shows a new colour at each thread change, and pauses there as the DST file did. The colours it shows mean nothing. Load the threads the design’s author gives.

The machine formats design describes how each format is written and read.