Janome embroidery machines read JEF files. The free digitizer creates a JEF from your image in the browser, with colors matched to the 78-color Janome thread chart, and records the smallest standard Janome hoop the design fits.
Upload a PNG, JPG or SVG and download a JEF file. There's nothing to install, no signup, and the image stays on your device.
Which file format Janome machines use
JEF is Janome's embroidery format, used across the Memory Craft and Skyline lines and by Elna machines built on the same platform. It stores the stitches, the thread colors as Janome palette numbers, and a code for the hoop size.
Janome also has newer formats, JEF+ and JPX, created with Janome's own software. Current models such as the Memory Craft 550E list .JEF, .JEF+ and .JPX, so a plain JEF works on them. Most Janome home machines don't list DST, though some multi-needle models such as the MB-7 do, so JEF is the safe choice.
How to get a JEF file onto a Janome machine
- Download the .jef file from the digitizer.
- Copy it to a USB stick. A small stick formatted as FAT32 is the safest choice.
- Plug the stick into the machine and open the design from the embroidery screen.
- Attach the hoop the machine asks for, then start stitching.
Wireless-capable Janome machines can also receive designs from Janome's apps, such as AcuDesign for iOS, or from Artistic Digitizer, Janome's desktop software for Windows and Mac. The device and the machine need to be on the same network. Check which apps support your model.
Janome hoop sizes and embroidery fields
Janome names its hoops with codes such as SQ14 (140 × 140 mm) and SQ20 (200 × 200 mm). Maximum fields for a few current machines:
| Model | Type | Maximum field |
|---|---|---|
| Memory Craft 400E | Embroidery only | 200 × 200 mm (7.9 × 7.9 in) |
| Memory Craft 500E | Embroidery only | 200 × 280 mm (7.9 × 11 in) |
| MB-7 | 7-needle | 240 × 200 mm (9.4 × 7.9 in) |
The digitizer tags each JEF with the smallest standard Janome hoop it fits (50 × 50, 126 × 110, 140 × 200 or 200 × 200 mm). If you want the design to fit a particular hoop, set its size before downloading, and check it with the hoop size calculator.
Tips for Janome embroidery
- Pick the Janome thread chart. The file stores Janome palette colors, so matching to that chart keeps the screen colors close to your threads. Browse it in the thread color chart.
- Leave a margin. Janome machines check the design against the hoop, and a design that fills the field edge to edge is harder to place.
- Rotate when it helps. If the design fits the hoop better sideways, rotate it 90° in the digitizer.
- Choose the fabric preset for the garment, so the density and underlay suit it.
- Test-stitch first on matching fabric and stabilizer.
Convert other formats to JEF
Most design shops sell JEF, but if you have a file for another machine, convert it in your browser:
- PES to JEF for Brother and Baby Lock designs
- DST to JEF for commercial-machine designs
- VP3 to JEF for Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff designs
- EXP to JEF and XXX to JEF for Bernina, Melco and Singer files
From artwork, use PNG to JEF or image to JEF.