diff --git a/PesFile/PesFile.cs b/PesFile/PesFile.cs
index d50cdee..e5ad734 100644
--- a/PesFile/PesFile.cs
+++ b/PesFile/PesFile.cs
@@ -29,20 +29,21 @@ using System.IO;
 
 namespace PesFile
 {
-    public enum statusEnum { NotOpen, IOError, ParseError, Ready };
+    public class PECFormatException : System.Exception
+    {
+        public PECFormatException(string message) : base(message) { }
+    }
 
     public class PesFile
     {
-        int imageWidth;
-        int imageHeight;
-        string _filename;
+        private int imageWidth;
+        private int imageHeight;
+        private string _filename;
         public List<StitchBlock> blocks = new List<StitchBlock>();
         public List<Tuple<int, int>> colorTable = new List<Tuple<int, int>>();
-        private statusEnum readyStatus = statusEnum.NotOpen;
-        Int64 startStitches = 0;
-        string lastError = "";
-        Point translateStart;
-        UInt16 pesVersion;
+        private Int64 startStitches = 0;
+        private Point translateStart;
+        private UInt16 pesVersion;
 
 
         // If set to true, this variable means we couldn't figure out some or
@@ -132,9 +133,7 @@ namespace PesFile
                     if (startFileSig != "#PES")
                     {
                         // This is not a file that we can read
-                        readyStatus = statusEnum.ParseError;
-                        lastError = "Missing #PES at beginning of file";
-                        return;
+                        throw new PECFormatException("Missing #PES at beginning of file");
                     }
 
                     // PES version
@@ -146,8 +145,7 @@ namespace PesFile
                     if (!UInt16.TryParse(versionString, out pesVersion))
                     {
                         // This is not a file that we can read
-                        readyStatus = statusEnum.ParseError;
-                        lastError = "PES version is not the correct format";
+                        throw new PECFormatException("PES version is not the correct format");
                         return;
                     }
 
@@ -156,8 +154,7 @@ namespace PesFile
                     if (fileIn.BaseStream.Length < (pecstart + 532))
                     {
                         // This file is probably truncated
-                        readyStatus = statusEnum.ParseError;
-                        lastError = "File appears to be truncated (PEC section is beyond end of file)";
+                        throw new PECFormatException("File appears to be truncated (PEC section is beyond end of file)");
                         return;
                     }
 
@@ -325,7 +322,6 @@ namespace PesFile
                     imageHeight = maxY - minY;
                     translateStart.X = -minX;
                     translateStart.Y = -minY;
-                    readyStatus = statusEnum.Ready;
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -407,16 +403,6 @@ namespace PesFile
             return outfile.ToString();
         }
 
-        public statusEnum getStatus()
-        {
-            return readyStatus;
-        }
-
-        public string getLastError()
-        {
-            return lastError;
-        }
-
         public bool getColorWarning()
         {
             return colorWarning;
diff --git a/embroideryReader/frmMain.cs b/embroideryReader/frmMain.cs
index 335ea4e..d03fdc1 100644
--- a/embroideryReader/frmMain.cs
+++ b/embroideryReader/frmMain.cs
@@ -289,19 +289,30 @@ namespace embroideryReader
         {
             if (!System.IO.File.Exists(filename))
             {
-                MessageBox.Show("File \"" + filename + "\" does not exist", "File not found", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation);
+                // "An error occured while reading the file:"
+                MessageBox.Show(Translation.StringID.ERROR_FILE + Environment.NewLine + "File \"" + filename + "\" does not exist", "File not found", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation);
                 return;
             }
+
             try
             {
                 design = new PesFile.PesFile(filename);
             }
             catch(System.IO.IOException ioex)
             {
-                MessageBox.Show("IOException while reading file \"" + filename + "\":" + Environment.NewLine + ioex.Message);
+                // "An error occured while reading the file:"
+                MessageBox.Show(Translation.StringID.ERROR_FILE + Environment.NewLine + filename + ":" + Environment.NewLine + ioex.Message, "IOException", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation);
+                design = null;
             }
+            catch(PesFile.PECFormatException pecex)
+            {
+                // "This file is either corrupt or not a valid PES file."
+                MessageBox.Show(Translation.StringID.ERROR_FILE + Environment.NewLine + filename + ":" + Environment.NewLine + pecex.Message, "PECFormatException", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation);
+                design = null;
+            }
+
             loadedFileName = filename;
-            if (design.getStatus() == PesFile.statusEnum.Ready)
+            if (design != null)
             {
                 updateDesignImage();
 
@@ -317,6 +328,7 @@ namespace embroideryReader
                 {
                     toolStripStatusLabel1.Text = "";
                 }
+
                 copyToolStripMenuItem.Enabled = true;
                 saveDebugInfoToolStripMenuItem.Enabled = true;
                 printPreviewToolStripMenuItem.Enabled = true;
@@ -331,14 +343,6 @@ namespace embroideryReader
             }
             else
             {
-                string message = translation.GetTranslatedString(Translation.StringID.ERROR_FILE) + // "An error occured while reading the file:"
-                    Environment.NewLine + design.GetFileName() +
-                    Environment.NewLine + design.getLastError();
-                if (design.getStatus() == PesFile.statusEnum.ParseError)
-                {
-                    message += Environment.NewLine + translation.GetTranslatedString(Translation.StringID.CORRUPT_FILE); // "This file is either corrupt or not a valid PES file."
-                }
-                MessageBox.Show(message);
                 copyToolStripMenuItem.Enabled = false;
                 saveDebugInfoToolStripMenuItem.Enabled = false;
                 printPreviewToolStripMenuItem.Enabled = false;