What is a DSB file? The Barudan stitch format explained

What is a DSB file?

DSB is one of the stitch formats written for Barudan commercial embroidery machines. Wilcom's Barudan page lists it beside Barudan's other formats, the U-series files (such as U03 for FDR-3 machines) and T03. Wilcom's Ricoma page lists two formats for Ricoma machines: Tajima DST and Barudan DSB.

A DSB is a stitch file: what the machine sews, not the objects and settings a digitizer worked with. Resizing and heavy edits belong in the working file, for example a Wilcom EMB file. Our guide to embroidery file formats explains stitch files and working files side by side.

What does a DSB file store?

The open-source pyembroidery library reads DSB with the same header reader it uses for DST, then decodes each stitch as a three-byte record: a control byte followed by the Y and X movement.

So, like DST, a DSB tells the machine when to change color but not which color to use. Keep a color sheet with the file. The difference from DST is in how each stitch is written, not in what the file can hold, which is why a DSB and a DST of the same design should show the same size, stitch count and stops when you open them side by side.

Should I use DSB or DST?

Use the format your machine's manual lists. Whether a Barudan model also reads DST depends on the model, so check before you standardize on one. If your machine reads both, pick one and use it for every job, so the crew never has two versions of the same design on the machine.

How do I open a DSB file?

• Wilcom EmbroideryStudio: lists Barudan DSB among its supported machine formats.
• Ink/Stitch (free): the Ink/Stitch file formats list shows DSB as read only, so you can view the design and save it as another format.
• The machine: load it the way your machine takes designs, then check the design and color stops before you sew.

Our free embroidery file converter works with DST, PES and EXP and does not read DSB. If you have the same design as a DST, the free DST file viewer shows its size, stitch count and color stops, and the two files should match.

How do needle numbers in a DSB file relate to thread colors?

A DSB can say which needle to switch to at each change, but it cannot say what thread is on that needle. That is decided on the machine, where the operator assigns needles to colors for the job. In practice:

• Keep a color sheet with every file. It should list each stop in order with the thread color and, if your shop uses fixed needle setups, the needle.
• Check the needle sequence on the machine before the first run, especially for a design that came from another shop with a different thread setup.
• Keep the same color order when a design is re-sent in DST, so the two files can be used interchangeably.

How do I convert a DSB file to DST or PES?

Open the DSB in software that reads it and save it as DST, PES or your machine's format. Going the other way, to DSB, needs software that writes it, such as Wilcom EmbroideryStudio; the free tools we know of only read DSB. If you only need to look at a design, opening it in Ink/Stitch is enough and nothing has to be converted. Before sewing a converted file:

• Assign colors. DSB carries none, so a PES made from it shows default colors until you set them.
• Keep the size. Scaling a stitch file changes its density; large size changes go back to the working file.
• Check trims and stops. Make sure color stops and trims landed where they should before the first run.

If you order from us, tell us your machine brand and model. Our hand-digitized embroidery digitizing service includes every machine format with each design, so a Barudan or Ricoma shop can have DSB and DST from the same working file.

Sources

• Wilcom: Barudan machine formats
• Wilcom: Ricoma machine formats
• Ink/Stitch: file formats
• pyembroidery: DSB reader (DST-style header, stitch records)
• EduTech Wiki: embroidery format (DSB)

Sources checked 19 September 2026.