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Stitch Toolbox

Converter

DST to TBF converter

Turn a DST file (Tajima, Ricoma, Barudan, Happy, SWF and most commercial machines) into TBF (Tajima machines using the TBF format). Drop the file, TBF is preselected, download. Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

What this conversion keeps and changes

  • DST carries no colour information, only stops, so each block gets a placeholder colour in the TBF. Recolour the blocks in the viewer before downloading if the machine screen matters.
  • Trims: DST marks them as three consecutive jumps; TBF as explicit. They are translated, not dropped.
  • Maximum stitch length is 12.7 mm in TBF, which covers everything a DST can hold.
  • TBF keeps an RGB list and a needle order, so colours survive.

A DST file has no colours to bring across, so the TBF gets placeholder colours in block order. If you also have the design in a format with colours, convert from that one instead.

Inside a DST file

  • Read by: Tajima, Ricoma, Barudan, Happy, SWF and most commercial machines.
  • Colours: no colours at all, only stops between blocks, so the operator threads needles from a colour sheet.
  • Trims: three consecutive jumps.
  • Longest stitch per record: 12.1 mm; anything longer is written as two.
  • DST stores stops, not colours: the operator threads the needles from a colour sheet.

Inside a TBF file

  • Read by: Tajima machines using the TBF format.
  • Colours: colours as RGB values, which travel across conversions without a palette.
  • Trims: explicit.
  • Longest stitch per record: 12.7 mm; anything longer is written as two.
  • TBF keeps an RGB list and a needle order, so colours survive.

When you need this conversion

Designs are sold and shared in the format of the digitiser's software, and DST is common because Tajima use it. If your machine is one of the Tajima machines using the TBF format models, it wants TBF. The stitches are the same; only the container changes, and the notes above are the whole list of what the container cannot carry.

Before a paid job, run the result through the pre-flight check for density and hoop fit, and read the conversion guide for the traps that are specific to each pair.

Reverse: TBF → DSTDST → PESDST → JEFDST → EXPDST → U01DST → VP3DST → PECPES → TBF

How to use it

  1. 1

    Drop the DST file

    Drag it onto the page or click to choose it. The file is decoded on your device and drawn on a hoop grid with its size, stitch count and colour blocks.

  2. 2

    Check the preview

    Step through the sew-out order if you want to see how the machine will run it. Rotate or mirror here if the placement needs it; centring is on by default.

  3. 3

    Download the TBF

    TBF is already selected as the output. The file is written and read back on your device before the download starts.

  4. 4

    Copy the colours over

    Open the result in the viewer to see the colours the TBF now stores and check them against the design's colour sheet.

Questions

What changes when converting DST to TBF?

DST carries no colour information, only stops, so each block gets a placeholder colour in the TBF. Recolour the blocks in the viewer before downloading if the machine screen matters. Trims: DST marks them as three consecutive jumps; TBF as explicit. They are translated, not dropped. Maximum stitch length is 12.7 mm in TBF, which covers everything a DST can hold. TBF keeps an RGB list and a needle order, so colours survive.

Which machines read TBF?

Tajima machines using the TBF format. TBF keeps an RGB list and a needle order, so colours survive.

Will the TBF stitch identically?

Geometry, yes: every needle position is kept to 0.1 mm, and the writer was checked against pyembroidery. Colours, trims and stops follow what the target format can store, as described on this page.

Is the file uploaded?

No. Reading and writing happen in your browser; close the tab and nothing remains.

Can I resize it at the same time?

Not here. Scaling a stitch file changes its density; use the resize tool, which re-spaces satin, fill and running stitches, then convert the result.

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