STITCH Converter

Extract text from Lithography and microscopy files (STITCH)

Select File
Drop or upload your .STITCH file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your STITCH file

Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your STITCH file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.

Convert STITCH to another file type

To convert STITCH Data files to another format, you need SmartPrint or other Data software.

Convert a file to STITCH

To convert other file formats to the "Manufacturing Data File" file type, you need software like SmartPrint or a similar tool.

About STITCH files

The .stitch extension refers to two distinct proprietary formats used in high-precision imaging and manufacturing.

1. Heidelberg Instruments Lithography File (52%):
This is a compressed container used by Heidelberg Instruments for maskless laser lithography (SmartPrint). These files contain vector design data (often DXF or .GDSII) that has been sliced into "write fields" for the laser system.

Critical User Friction:

Proprietary Lock-in: The file is designed solely for Heidelberg hardware (like the MLA 150), making it impossible to preview in standard CAD software like AutoCAD or KLayout.
Hidden Contents: Users often receive this file and cannot verify the pattern data inside without the original generation software.

Pragmatic Workaround: Since the internal structure is often ZIP, you can sometimes rename the file extension from .stitch to zip to extract the source vector files.

2. Molecular Devices Microscopy Data (42%):
Generated by Molecular Devices MetaXpress software, this file acts as a "map" for high-content screening. It tells the software how to align (stitch) multiple individual TIF or STK image tiles into a single, high-resolution mosaic.

Conversion Friction:

Not an Image: A common misconception is that the .stitch file contains the image itself. It is merely a metadata text/binary file. You cannot convert it to JPG or PNG without the accompanying raw image tiles.
Software Dependency: Opening it requires MetaXpress or Bio-Formats plugins for ImageJ.

Convert.Guru analyzes your STITCH file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.

Users also converted STITCHLY, PNG, PDF and PNZ files.

FAQ

If you want to convert STITCH file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use SmartPrint or similar software from the "Lithography Pattern Design" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to STITCH, try SmartPrint or another comparable tool in the "Lithography Pattern Design" category.

The STITCH Converter Story

The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our STITCH converter.