Stella, this is normal. You should always refer to the printed color chart, or look at the JPG of the design itself to choose your colors. There are so many brands of thread out there that the embroidery machine really can't be trusted to make the right choices. If a digitizer is using say Madiera Rayon colors to do the design, and you have a Brother machine with the Brother colors programmed in, the machine will choose what it thinks is closest. Since Madiera Rayon has over 200 colors, and Brother has 61, there's going to be a problem. Unless you are using designs from a Brother card in a Brother machine digitized using the Brother thread colors, there's going to be a color shift. This happens with all machines and all software, so the best thing to do is compare the colors you have to the color chart, and YOU choose the color you want to use for each section of the design, don't listen to your machine. Hope this helps, hugs, Marji

For me it is normal. My machines interpret each design differently. pes has at least 4 versions. The newest one is not compatable with my duetta. Also each manufacturer saves different information. Commercial formats do not include color information. Hus and Jef are the next "most generic" and therefore most easily convertable. I am not familiar with art and sew. Live Laugh Download Stitch!

sometimes the color chart does not match the color you see before you order, also a real pain since I struggle with colors.

Doesn't this just make you crazy? Sometimes if there isn't a color chart, I copy/paste the picture of the design with the design, especially if it is a realistic design like a bird.

You are not alone - most machines are "color-blind" (even expensive machines) - as other cuties point out formats vary and conversion varies. I never rely on the machine - always on a printout of the design so I can be sure I am putting the right color in the right place.

There are so many helpful articles on the Embroidery Library site - click on the blue Help tag - one of which gives a very clear explanation of why this happens.