stitch-peek
A CLI tool and Nautilus/GNOME thumbnailer for embroidery files. Generates PNG previews of embroidery designs directly in your file manager.
Supported formats: PES, DST, EXP, JEF, VP3
Part of the stitch-peek-rs project. Uses rustitch for parsing and rendering.
Installation
From .deb (Debian/Ubuntu)
Download the latest .deb from the Releases page:
sudo dpkg -i stitch-peek_*_amd64.deb
From crates.io
cargo install stitch-peek
Then install the thumbnailer and MIME type files manually:
sudo install -Dm644 data/stitch-peek.thumbnailer /usr/share/thumbnailers/stitch-peek.thumbnailer
sudo install -Dm644 data/pes.xml /usr/share/mime/packages/pes.xml
sudo update-mime-database /usr/share/mime
From source
git clone https://git.narl.io/nvrl/stitch-peek-rs.git
cd stitch-peek-rs
cargo install --path stitch-peek
After installing, restart Nautilus to pick up the thumbnailer:
nautilus -q
Usage
As a thumbnailer
Once installed with the .thumbnailer file in place, Nautilus automatically generates thumbnails for .pes, .dst, .exp, .jef, and .vp3 files. No manual action needed.
Standalone CLI
stitch-peek -i design.pes -o preview.png -s 256
stitch-peek -i pattern.dst -o preview.png
stitch-peek -i motif.jef -o preview.png -s 512
| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
-i |
Input embroidery file | required |
-o |
Output PNG path | required |
-s |
Thumbnail size (pixels) | 128 |
The format is detected automatically from the file extension.
How it works
The tool follows the freedesktop thumbnail specification. Nautilus calls it with an input file, output path, and requested size. It detects the embroidery format, parses the stitch data, renders the pattern as anti-aliased colored lines on a transparent background, and writes a PNG.
License
MIT