What happens to your JEF file
Sending a Janome design to a commercial machine or a shop. Colours are dropped, because DST holds none. Trims are written as the usual three jump signal, which most commercial machines honour. Check that yours is set to cut on jumps.
| Stitch positions | Identical, to 0.1 mm |
|---|---|
| Colour stops | Same number, same order |
| Thread colours | Dropped, as DST has none |
| Size and density | Unchanged |
Thread colours
JEF names a thread for each stop, but DST has nowhere to keep them. The stops survive and the colours do not. Print the run sheet and keep it with the file, because that is the only record of the colours.
Long moves
DST moves at most 12.1 mm per record, against 12.7 mm in JEF. Longer moves are split into a chain of jumps, and a stitch longer than 12.1 mm becomes jumps followed by one stitch. Every needle point stays in the same place.
Trims
DST has no trim command. Trims are written as three small jumps, the signal that commercial machines recognise.
Before you stitch
- Open the .jef file above and watch it sew, so you know the file is sound and in the order you expect.
- Choose your hoop under Hoop fit. The check uses the design's real size, not the file's header.
- Download the .dst file, and stitch a test piece on matching fabric and stabiliser.
Converting doesn't resize a design or change its density. If a design needs to be much bigger or smaller, use digitising software, as stretching stitches without recalculating them can leave gaps or heavy spots.
About JEF
JEF is the Janome format. Its header records the hoop it expects, the stitch count, and a colour for each stop as a slot in a fixed Janome thread list.
Exact colours, and explicit trims. JEF has no trim record, so the machine decides whether to cut from the length of each jump, usually about 3 mm or more.
About DST
DST is the file most digitisers deliver, because almost every commercial machine can sew it. It starts with a 512 byte text header holding the design name, stitch count and extents, followed by three bytes for every stitch.
The DST file is for commercial multi-needle machines from Tajima and most other makers, and some home machines. Sending a design to a shop, or keeping a master copy that any commercial machine can read.
Each record moves at most 12.1 mm, so a long move is written as a chain of jumps. Three or more jumps in a row is the usual signal for a trim, and many machines act on it.