I’ve released version 1.4.0 of Embroidery Reader which fixes a crash on Windows 7.
The crash was caused by saving the settings file in the installation folder which is a no-no on Windows 7. I suspect that the crash could occur on Windows Vista, but I’ve never seen it happen.
This version also includes a number of changes under the hood, so to speak, but the majority of them won’t be visible unless you look at the code. Please report any bugs using the contact form.

Visit the Embroidery Reader page to get the update.

I would like to say thanks to Bob Spradlin for sending me a detailed bug report so that I could find and fix this issue.

Trying to clean up the Embroidery Reader page a bit here… so I’m moving the previous version history stuff to posts. I suppose I could just remove it but I’m a pack rat.

Changes from 1.3.0-1.3.1:

• Fixed color number 15 – was lilac, it’s now brown/brass. Thanks to Ryan Lovett and Robert Heel for reporting this one.

Changes from 1.2.2-1.3.0:

• Changed code to use PEC section instead of PES data. It seems to be able to read all file types now. A big thanks goes to Michel Veerman for his help on this one.
• Added an option in the settings to ‘filter’ stitches based on length. Some designs look much better with it, others end up missing parts.
• Probably lots of small fixes, but I can’t think of them right now.

Changes from 1.2.1-1.2.2:

• This version fixes a crash caused by saving empty values in the settings file. It is otherwise the same as the previous version. (1.2.1)

Changes from older versions:

• Basic support for printing designs. Thanks to majorsnazz for the suggestion.
• Ability to copy design images to the clipboard, so you can paste the image into any image editor.
• A number of cosmetic bugfixes.
• A simple icon. (I got tired of the default one)

I guess I’m not the only one out there helping a loved one with an embroidery machine. According to Linus’ blog, his wife Tove received a Brother embroidery machine for Christmas and they went through the same thing I did trying to find decent software, or at least documentation, for PES files.
While Linus didn’t say he used it directly, he did gave a mention of Embroidery Reader and a link to my site. Sweet!