How to open a PES file

A PES file opens on an embroidery machine, not on a computer. If you double-click it on a computer, nothing useful happens unless you have embroidery software installed.

PES is an embroidery format used by Brother and Baby Lock machines. The file holds stitch instructions, not a picture, so photo viewers and word processors can't read it.

To use a PES file on your machine:

1.      Unzip the download if it came as a ZIP folder.

2.      Copy the .pes file to a USB drive.

3.      Plug the USB drive into your embroidery machine.

4.      Select the design from the machine's USB menu.

To look at a PES file on your computer, you need embroidery software. Free viewers are available, and most paid embroidery programs open PES files too.

If your machine doesn't use PES, choose the format it does use. Most design downloads include several formats in the same folder.