Converter
PES to TBF converter
Turn a PES file (Brother, Baby Lock and older Bernina 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
- PES stores colours as indices into the machine's built-in palette; TBF stores RGB colour values. Threads are matched to the closest entry, and the original names are kept where the target has room for them.
- Trims: PES marks them as implicit (jump flags); TBF as explicit. They are translated, not dropped.
- Maximum stitch length is 12.7 mm in TBF, which covers everything a PES can hold.
- TBF keeps an RGB list and a needle order, so colours survive.
Inside a PES file
- Read by: Brother, Baby Lock and older Bernina machines.
- Colours: colours as indices into a fixed palette, so each thread becomes the nearest palette entry.
- Trims: implicit (jump flags).
- Longest stitch per record: 12.7 mm; anything longer is written as two.
- Written as version 1 with an embedded PEC block, which every Brother machine since the 1990s reads.
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 PES is common because Brother 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.
How to use it
- 1
Drop the PES 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
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
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
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 PES to TBF?
PES stores colours as indices into the machine's built-in palette; TBF stores RGB colour values. Threads are matched to the closest entry, and the original names are kept where the target has room for them. Trims: PES marks them as implicit (jump flags); TBF as explicit. They are translated, not dropped. Maximum stitch length is 12.7 mm in TBF, which covers everything a PES 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.
More tools
- Embroidery file viewer · Open PES, DST, JEF, EXP, VP3, HUS, XXX and 15 more
- Pre-flight check · Density heatmap, short and long stitches, jumps, trims, hoop fit
- Stitch count & price calculator · Stitches, run time, thread use and a quote
- Resize with density correction · Scale a stitch file and keep the stitching sane