How to install BX fonts in Embrilliance

A machine embroidery font usually comes as one design per letter. Without help, you merge letters one by one and line them up by hand. BX fonts fix that: install the font once in Embrilliance, then type your text like in a word processor. This guide explains what BX fonts are, how to install them, and how to fix the usual problems.

What are BX fonts?

BX is the font format of Embrilliance, a popular embroidery program for Windows and Mac. A BX file holds every letter of an embroidery font together with a keyboard map, so Embrilliance knows that the A key places the stitched letter A, with the right spacing.

A few things to know before you start:

• You need a version of Embrilliance that does lettering, such as Embrilliance Essentials. The free Embrilliance Express doesn’t use BX fonts.
• A BX font is still a stitched font. The letters were digitized at a certain size, so it sews best close to that size (see below).
• BX fonts don’t go on your machine. Embrilliance uses them to build your lettering, then you save the result in your machine’s format, such as PES or JEF.

How to install a BX font, step by step

1. Unzip the download first. Fonts usually arrive as a ZIP file. On Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All. On a Mac, double-click it. You can’t install a BX file from inside a ZIP.
2. Find the .bx file in the unzipped folder. A font often comes with a PDF chart of its letters and sizes. Keep it: it shows which key types which character.
3. Open Embrilliance.
4. Drag the .bx file onto the Embrilliance window and drop it. Embrilliance asks whether to install the font. Confirm. This works the same on Windows and Mac.
5. Check that it’s there: create lettering (the lettering tool, with the A icon) and open the font list. The new font is listed by its name, which can differ from the file name.

Installing once is enough. The font stays available every time you open Embrilliance.

How to type with a BX font

1. Create a lettering object with the lettering tool.
2. Choose the BX font from the font list in the properties panel.
3. Type your text. Use the font’s chart for special characters: some fonts put extra shapes, such as hearts or flourishes, on keys you wouldn’t guess.
4. Set the size, then the spacing between letters and lines if needed.
5. Save it in your machine’s format (for example PES for Brother or JEF for Janome), and keep the Embrilliance working file too, so you can change the text later.

Before you stitch, open the saved file in the embroidery viewer to check its real size and whether it fits your hoop.

How big can you make BX letters?

Each font is digitized for a range of letter heights, usually given in its chart. Staying within that range keeps the stitches as dense as the designer intended. Making letters much bigger opens gaps between stitches; making them much smaller packs stitches together, which can break thread and needles. If you need very small or very large lettering, choose a font made for that size. The guide to stitch density explains why.

The font doesn’t show up: what to check

• It’s still zipped. Unzip the download and drag the .bx file itself, not the ZIP.
• You dragged the PDF or a letter file. Only the file ending in .bx installs a font.
• It’s listed under another name. Scroll through the whole font list: the font name can differ from the file name.
• Your Embrilliance version doesn’t do lettering. Embrilliance Express can’t use BX fonts.
• Embrilliance was open on another account. Fonts are installed for the user who installed them. Install again while signed in to the account you use.
• Still missing? Close Embrilliance, open it again and check the list once more.

Where to get BX fonts

Many embroidery font designers sell their fonts with a BX file included. Our 5 free embroidery fonts come with BX files for Embrilliance as well as PES, DST, JEF, EXP and VP3 files, so you can try BX lettering without buying anything first.