Free EXP File Viewer & Reader
Open a Melco EXP embroidery file in your browser to see what it will stitch before you hoop a garment.
Your file never leaves your device. It is read and rendered entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored or sent anywhere.
This free EXP viewer shows the design, width and height, stitch count, color stops, jump stitches, thread length and estimated run time, and plays the stitch-out step by step. The file is read on your device and never uploaded.
Wrong size, too dense, messy jumps or an auto-digitized file that sews badly? We fix or rebuild broken, auto-digitized or third-party files, quoted after a free file check.
* Dimensions and stitch counts are read directly from the EXP file. Run time is estimated at 800 stitches per minute and will vary by machine, fabric and design. Thread length is an approximation of the stitch path.
What is a EXP file?
EXP is the Melco Expanded format. It is the plainest of the common stitch formats: the file is nothing but stitch data from the very first byte, with no header at all. There is no design name, no stitch count and no design size recorded anywhere, because the format simply does not have a place to put them.
An EXP file stores no thread colors and no header. Everything this page reports, including the size and the stitch count, is worked out by walking the stitches themselves. Color changes appear as stop commands with no indication of which thread to load, so the viewer shows placeholder colors that you can change. Melco software traditionally pairs an EXP with a separate companion file to carry the color list, and that companion is rarely passed on.
How to open and view a EXP file
- Add your file. Drag a .exp file onto the drop zone, or click to browse (up to 20MB). It opens in your browser.
- Check the preview. The design renders instantly. Use + and − or Fit to zoom, and drag to pan.
- Read the design details. The panel shows width and height, total stitches, color stops, jump stitches, thread length and run time.
- Play the stitch-out. Press Play to watch the machine sequence, or drag the slider to any stitch. Change speed from 0.5× to 8×.
- Set the thread colors. Tap a thread swatch to recolor it so the preview matches your job.
- Share or export. Toggle Jumps to see travel lines, then save a PNG to send to your customer.
What an EXP file leaves out and what that means
| What it holds | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| No header | Nothing records the design name, size or stitch count. Every figure on this page is measured from the stitches. |
| No thread colors | Color changes are bare stops. Which thread goes on the needle has to come from a worksheet or the person who sent the file. |
| Smallest file size | With no header and two bytes per stitch, an EXP is usually the smallest file of any format holding the same design. |
EXP is read by Melco and Bernina commercial machines. For a comparison across every format, read our guide to embroidery file formats, and to read every field this format holds, open it in the embroidery file info reader.