What is a VP3 file?
VP3 is the machine format of the Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff home and small-business embroidery machines. The two brands share their software, mySewnet, and its help pages list .vp3 with .vp4 and .vip under "Husqvarna Viking / Pfaff". When mySewnet exports a design for stitching, its help says VP3 is the preferred format because it preserves thread color information and notes.
A VP3 is a stitch file. It holds what the machine sews, not the objects and settings a digitizer worked with, so large edits and resizing belong in the working file. Our guide to embroidery file formats explains stitch files and working files side by side.
What does a VP3 file store?
The open-source pyembroidery library reads and writes VP3, and its code shows a design stored as a series of color blocks, each with its own thread record:
| Data | In a VP3 file? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stitches, jumps, color changes | Yes | Grouped into one block per thread color |
| Thread color | Yes | Stored as a color value, not just a palette number |
| Thread brand, number and name | Yes | For example the maker, catalog number and shade name |
| Notes | Yes | mySewnet keeps design notes in VP3 |
| Editable objects and settings | No | Underlay, density and compensation are already stitches |
That thread record is what sets VP3 apart from DST, which stores color stops but no colors at all. A VP3 from a digitizer can tell you which thread to load at each stop, as long as it was saved with the right thread chart.
What is the difference between VP3, VP4, VIP and HUS?
| Format | What it is |
|---|---|
| VP3 | The stitch format to send to Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff machines; mySewnet's preferred export |
| VP4 | mySewnet's working format: it keeps the separate parts of multipart designs, hoop, appliqué details, thread colors and notes |
| VIP | Another Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff stitch format that mySewnet opens and exports |
| HUS | The older Husqvarna Viking stitch format; see what a HUS file is |
If you are not sure which one your machine reads, check the embroidery section of its manual. For a current Husqvarna Viking or Pfaff machine, VP3 is the safe file to ask for.
How do I open a VP3 file?
- mySewnet software: the Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff software opens and exports VP3.
- Ink/Stitch (free): the Ink/Stitch file formats list shows VP3 as a format it can read and write.
- The machine: copy the VP3 to a USB stick and check the design and colors on screen before sewing.
Our free embroidery file converter works with DST, PES and EXP and does not read VP3 yet. If the design also came as a DST, the free DST file viewer shows its size, stitch count and color stops.
Why does my VP3 show different thread colors?
A VP3 stores the thread each color was created with, but the software or machine showing it may be set to another thread brand. mySewnet software help says files that hold color information, VP3 among them, are shown as the nearest match to their original colors in the thread range you have selected. So a design digitized with one brand's threads can show slightly different shade names on your screen.
- Check the thread range setting in your software before judging the colors.
- Use the color sheet from the digitizer as the reference, not the shade names on screen.
- Converted files lose detail. A VP3 made from a DST has no real colors to begin with, only default ones, because DST stores none.
Tell the digitizer your machine model, the hoop you plan to use and, if you want the file to show your own threads, the thread brand you stock. The model decides the largest design the machine can sew.
How do I convert a VP3 file to another format?
Open the VP3 in software that reads it and save it in the format your machine needs, for example PES for Brother or JEF for Janome. Three things to watch:
- Thread details can be lost. DST and EXP keep no colors. PES and JEF keep colors, but only as the nearest shade in their own thread lists, so the brand and number from the VP3 may not survive.
- Keep the size. Resizing a stitch file changes density; large size changes should go back to the working file.
- Check the field. A design sized for a large hoop will not fit a smaller machine, whatever the format.
When you order from us, tell us you sew on a Husqvarna Viking or Pfaff machine. Our hand-digitized embroidery digitizing service includes every machine format with each design, so you get a VP3 alongside DST and the others.
Rather have it digitized for you?
Hand-digitized files from $10 per design, back in 4–8 hours, in every machine format.
Get a free quote →Frequently asked questions
Sources
- mySewnet software help: export (VP3 as preferred format)
- mySewnet software help: embroidery file formats (VP4, VP3, VIP, HUS)
- Ink/Stitch: file formats
- pyembroidery: VP3 reader and writer (color blocks, thread records)
Sources checked 19 September 2026.