Embroidery files: DST and EXP

What it reads

• DST and EXP, read and written
• Stitch count, stops and size from the file
• A preview drawn in your threads
• Files converted between DST and EXP

A DST file viewer inside your orders

A customer sends a DST file from their last embroiderer. Before you can quote it, you need to know the stitch count, the size and how many colour stops it has. Usually that means opening separate software on one computer in the office. In Dyenzo, the file opens right in the order, measured and previewed, for anyone on your team.

What Dyenzo reads from a stitch file

How a shop uses it, step by step

• Upload the DST or EXP file to the customer's design, or the customer uploads it with their order.
• Dyenzo checks the file. A damaged file is refused with a clear message, not half read.
• The stitch count and size appear on the artwork, ready for pricing by stitch count.
• Pick the thread colours for each stop and the preview is drawn again in those threads.
• The preview shows on mockups and proofs, so the customer approves what will be sewn.

Sewn at its true size

A stitch file sews at the size it was digitised. Dyenzo checks that size against the embroidery method's limits and warns if the placement on the order is a different size, before it gets to the machine. On the print run, the stitch check lists the count, stops, size and threads for the operator.

DST and EXP, both ways

Dyenzo reads and writes DST (Tajima) and EXP (Melco) files and converts between them. When the order is approved, each stitch file is added to the production files in the format your machines use, beside the customer's own file. DST is the default.

Pricing embroidery from the file

Embroidery price grids work by quantity and stitch count, with a digitising fee once per design and a colour limit per store if you need one. Because the stitch count comes from the file itself, the quote matches the work.

What it is not

Dyenzo does not digitise. It reads, measures, previews and converts stitch files your digitiser makes. Keep your digitising software or digitiser for new logos; use Dyenzo to quote, proof and run the work.

Thread colours that match your wall

Set up your own thread palette once, or import a thread chart from a text file. When a customer picks a colour, "Find nearest" suggests the closest thread you stock. A team store can cap how many thread colours a design may use, so a club cannot order a ten-colour crest at a three-colour price.

What happens next in production

An approved embroidery order makes its own embroidery job on the production board, apart from any printing on the same order. The job ticket goes to the machine with the stitch check, the operator scans it to move it on, and the stitch file is in the production files, ready to load.