On the workshop floor
Check which design is loaded, confirm the size before hooping, and settle a question without walking back to a desk.
DST viewer
A DST viewer that runs on your iPhone and iPad
Stitch Viewer opens Tajima .dst embroidery files from a folder workspace, draws the stitch path on screen, and shows the numbers you check before a design goes to the machine. Everything is parsed on the device.
- Opens .dst files
- Parsed on device
- No account required
- iPhone and iPad
- PNG preview export
What a DST file is
A .dst file is an embroidery stitch file made by Tajima and widely used as an exchange format for commercial and industrial machines. It does not store a picture. It stores a list of stitch instructions: where the needle moves, when it stitches, when it jumps, when it trims, and when the machine stops for a colour change.
The first 512 bytes of a DST file are a fixed header. That header carries the design name, the stitch count, the number of colour changes, and the design extents in millimetres. The rest of the file is a stream of three-byte stitch records.
Because there is no image inside the file, a photo viewer or a normal file preview cannot show you anything useful. You need something that reads the stitch list and draws it, which is what a DST viewer does.
How to open a DST file on iPhone or iPad
Stitch Viewer works from a folder, not a single file, so the first step is giving it a workspace.
- Put the design in a folder you can reach from FilesCopy the .dst files into a folder in iCloud Drive, On My iPhone, or a shared folder that appears in the Files app. Subfolders are fine.
- Add that folder as a workspaceOpen Stitch Viewer, tap Add Workspace, and pick the folder. iOS asks you to confirm access once, and the app remembers the choice for next time.
- Browse thumbnails and open a designThe workspace opens as a folder tree with thumbnails. Tap a design to open the detail view, where the stitch path is drawn at the correct proportions.
- Zoom, pan, or go fullscreenPinch to zoom and drag to pan. Fullscreen removes the interface so you can look at a dense lace border or a small motif without the UI in the way.
What Stitch Viewer reads from a DST file
These are the fields the app reads and displays for each design.
| Field | What you see | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Design name | The label stored in the file, for example XL096-22 | DST header |
| Design size | Width and height in millimetres | DST header extents |
| Stitch count | Total stitches in the design | DST header |
| Colour changes | How many machine stops the design expects | DST header |
| Folder | Which folder in the workspace the file sits in | Your workspace |
| Stitch path | The drawn design, zoomable and pannable | Decoded stitch records |
When a phone-sized DST viewer helps
Customer approval away from the office
Open the design in front of the customer, confirm the count and size, then export a PNG preview and send it before you leave.
Handing work to a supplier
Send the design plus its specifications in one image, so the other side is looking at the same numbers you are.
Why a local viewer is different from an online one
Most search results for “DST viewer” are browser tools. They are convenient, but they work by uploading your design to a server, rendering it there, and sending an image back. For a customer's unpublished design, that is a decision you should make on purpose rather than by default.
Stitch Viewer does the opposite. The .dst file stays in the folder you chose. Parsing and rendering happen on the device, there is no account, and there is no server holding a copy of the design.
The trade-off is that Stitch Viewer only runs on iPhone and iPad. If you need to review a design on a Windows desktop, a browser tool or a desktop application is still the right answer.
On-device app compared with a browser-based viewer
| Stitch Viewer (iOS) | Typical browser-based viewer | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the file goes | Stays on your device | Uploaded to a server |
| Account | Not required | Usually not required, sometimes needed |
| Offline use | Works offline once installed | Needs a connection |
| Interaction | Built for touch, iPhone and iPad | Built for a desktop browser |
| Cost | One-time App Store purchase | Usually free, often with limits |
| Platform | iOS and iPadOS only | Any browser, any desktop |
DST viewer questions
Can Stitch Viewer open DST files on an iPhone?
Yes. Stitch Viewer is an iPhone and iPad app. You add a folder from the Files app as a workspace, and every .dst file inside it becomes browsable.
Does Stitch Viewer upload my designs?
No. File parsing and preview rendering happen on the device. There is no account system and no server-side copy of the design.
Can it open PES, JEF, EXP or VP3 files?
Not today. Stitch Viewer currently reads .dst files only. Other embroidery formats have their own binary specifications and would need to be added deliberately.
Can I edit or digitize a design in Stitch Viewer?
No. Stitch Viewer is a viewer. It does not digitize artwork, edit stitches, or write machine files. It is built for checking and sharing.
Does it show the stitch count and the design size?
Yes. Both come from the DST header, along with the number of colour changes and the design name stored in the file.
How do I get my DST files onto the iPhone?
Save them into iCloud Drive, On My iPhone, or any folder that shows up in the Files app, then choose that folder as the workspace inside Stitch Viewer.
Can I send a design to a customer from the app?
Yes. Export a PNG preview, which includes the design and the specification block, and pass it to the iOS share sheet.
Is Stitch Viewer free?
No, it is a paid app with a one-time purchase and no subscription. The App Store shows local pricing for your region.
What Stitch Viewer deliberately does not do
It does not digitize artwork into stitches. It does not edit or re-order a stitch list. It does not convert DST into PES, JEF, EXP or VP3. It does not run stitch-density or quality scoring, and it does not claim to replace production software.
Being clear about that matters more than padding a feature list. A viewer that does one job reliably is more useful on a workshop floor than a tool that half-does five.
Keep reading
Embroidery file viewer
Which embroidery files Stitch Viewer opens today, and what it checks inside them.
Open pageExport a DST preview to PNG
Put the design and its specifications on one image you can send to a customer.
Open pageHow to open a DST file
A plain guide to the format and to opening it on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows.
Open pageOpen your next DST file on the phone in your pocket
Stitch Viewer is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. The app ships with a sample workspace, so you can look around before importing anything.
Download on the App Store