Embroidery Knowledge Base

DST is the most universally compatible embroidery format and works on virtually every commercial machine. However, the best format depends on your machine brand: PES for Brother, JEF for Janome, VP3 for Husqvarna Viking, HUS for older Husqvarna, and EXP for Melco. When you order from Sassy Digitizing, you receive all formats at no extra charge, so you always have the right file for your machine.

Thread breaks have several common causes: upper thread tension set too tight, a dull or incorrectly sized needle, thread caught on the spool or path, incorrect bobbin tension, and design issues like excessive density or sharp direction changes. Start by rethreading the machine completely, replacing the needle, and checking tension settings. If breaks persist on a specific design element, the digitizing density may need adjustment.

Stitch density is the distance between parallel rows of stitches, measured in millimeters. Standard fill density is 0.40–0.45mm for most fabrics. Lower values (denser stitches) add weight and can cause puckering or needle breaks on lightweight fabrics. Higher values (sparser stitches) reduce stitch count but may show gaps in the fill. Correct density varies by fabric type: caps need denser stitching than T-shirts due to the structured front panel.

Raster images (JPG, PNG, BMP) are made of pixels and lose quality when scaled up. Vector images (AI, EPS, SVG) are made of mathematical Bézier paths and scale to any size without quality loss. For embroidery digitizing, a clean vector file produces the most accurate result because the digitizer can trace exact shapes. For screen printing and vinyl cutting, vector files are required. If you only have a raster image, our team can manually redraw it as a clean vector.

Stitch counts vary significantly by design size and complexity. A standard left chest logo runs 5,000–12,000 stitches. Cap front designs typically fall between 6,000–15,000 stitches. A full jacket back can range from 20,000 to 80,000+ stitches. Small text or monograms may be as low as 1,000–3,000 stitches. Stitch count directly affects machine run time and, with commercial pricing models, often determines the cost of production.

DST (Tajima) is a universal stitch file that contains only stitch coordinates, speed commands, and color stops; it carries no color data. The machine operator manually selects thread colors based on a separate color sheet. PES (Brother) is a machine-specific format that includes color metadata, thread palette references, and design thumbnails that display on the machine's screen. DST works on almost any commercial machine; PES is specific to Brother home and commercial embroidery machines.