Stitch file (DST, PES).

The file an embroidery machine runs. Printful lists the machine formats as DST, PES, EXP, JEF, VP3 and others by machine, and keeps them apart from the digitiser's working files, native formats such as EMB, OFM or CND plus the AI, SVG or PSD source. A machine file holds stitch data and machine functions. Wilcom notes that its older T0? formats, Tajima DST among them, were made to carry stitch data that could be punched onto paper tapes. Open one without object recognition and Wilcom reads DST as Tajima, turns stop codes into colour changes or stops, and builds only manual objects wherever it finds colour changes or trims, so the fills, outlines and settings of the original design are gone. Minor edits and scaling are possible, but a stitch file scaled up or down keeps its old stitch density and pull compensation, so the result sews thin or packed. Keep the native file; send the stitch file in the format the shop's machine asks for.