What is an EXP embroidery file?

Melco’s stitch format: needle points, jumps and colour changes, read by Melco machines and by Bernina’s embroidery machines.

Does an EXP file keep thread colours?

No. It holds the stitches and the colour changes; the threads are set on the machine. Motifab’s worksheet lists them for the operator.

Can Motifab write EXP for a Bernina?

Yes. Choose Bernina in the machine chip and Motifab writes EXP, sized for the Bernina hoops it knows.

Machine format · EXP

EXP embroidery files for Melco and Bernina machines.

EXP is the stitch format Melco and Bernina machines read. Turn any logo into an EXP with Motifab, read back and compared with the screen before it is saved.

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What is a EXP file?

EXP is Melco’s stitch format, and Bernina’s embroidery machines read it too. Like DST, it holds needle points, jumps and colour changes and no thread colours: the colours are set on the machine. Motifab writes it for both makers and checks every file before it is saved.

Motifab’s production worksheet lists the needles in stitch order with their threads, since an EXP can’t hold them.
Melco’s Summit reads DST as well; Motifab writes both.

Macro photo illustration of the Pine Ridge Outdoor sample’s stitches, made from Motifab’s file — 528 needle points from Motifab’s file of the Pine Ridge Outdoor sample, in 22 mm. A EXP keeps each one, in the order the machine stitches them. Photo illustration made from Motifab’s file.

How to make a EXP file from a logo

Open the logo
PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG, PDF or AI. Motifab grades the file first: Good file, OK file or Poor file, with the reason.
Pick the machine
Choose Melco in the machine chip, and Motifab uses its needles and hoops. EXP is the machine’s own file there, or one click away under Export.
Set the size, garment and colours
Left chest, cap front, sleeve, full back or your own size in millimetres; ten garments, each with its own underlay, density and pull compensation.
Digitize and check
The Auto Digitizer makes the stitches. Quality scores them against the artwork out of 100, and Fix all corrects what is safe to correct.
Export EXP
Motifab writes the file, reads it back and compares every needle point with the screen. A file that doesn’t match is never saved, and the old one stays.

Convert DST to EXP

Open the DST file, or one in any of the 40 formats Motifab opens: it opens stitched as the file has it, to recolour, move or add a name to. Export writes the EXP and checks it like any other file. A machine file has no shapes to stitch again, so resizing it by more than 10 % changes its density: for a new size, digitize from the logo.

What Motifab compares before a EXP is saved

Every needle point, each within 0.06 mm of the screen
Every thread change and needle
Every trim and stop
The header the machine reads: stitch count, colours, extents and label
The thread names, where the format keeps them

Machines Motifab writes EXP for

Also read by

The models named read EXP, as their makers’ own pages say; the maker pages list more, with sources.

Questions

What is an EXP embroidery file?: Melco’s stitch format: needle points, jumps and colour changes, read by Melco machines and by Bernina’s embroidery machines.
Does an EXP file keep thread colours?: No. It holds the stitches and the colour changes; the threads are set on the machine. Motifab’s worksheet lists them for the operator.
Can Motifab write EXP for a Bernina?: Yes. Choose Bernina in the machine chip and Motifab writes EXP, sized for the Bernina hoops it knows.

The other formats Motifab writes

How to digitize a logo, step by step

Your next EXP file, made and checked in Motifab.

Open a customer’s logo, export the EXP for your Melco and embroider it within the 15 free days, with export included and no card. Every file is read back before it is saved, and every file you make is yours.

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