KarenVA

Excellent overview. Great thoughts. I have asked many of these questions. I was luck got a real expert on Bernina Embroidery machine and software

It was funny, had to wait almost an hour to get time. But it was like the old EF Hutton ads. We had a group hanging on every word of the conversation

From my understanding the EXP format has been updated. And it has color info. As Artlink no longer creates the extra files you spoke about.

That was for the older windows based machines i spoke about. My Bernina 165e only uses the EXP file it does not use the INF and BMP files.

Yes Wilcom Hatch has quilt, applique, cross stitch and even photo stitch.

The only difference i can find is Hatch saves files as EMB and Bernina v8 saves as ART. And comes with Coral draw.

Hatch $1099 for everything.

I am still undecided. I am in no hurry been using a friend's v7 dongle.

Just a few thoughts to consider--
1) When you save a design as Bernina EXP, the format is saved differently than Melco EXP (the commercial format).
Melco EXP versus Bernina USB EXP

• Melco EXP is the commercial EXP format with NO thread colors - it pulls whatever default thread colors for the software you are using (possibly making your blue, green, red or yellow).

• Bernina USB EXP is the non-commercial (HOME machine) format that DOES have the thread colors that matches the color chart.
A Bernina USB EXP is actually THREE files for each design: the EXP file, the INF file and the BMP file.

1. EXP - the design itself
2. INF - the thread colors
3. BMP - the picture that shows in the 830 machine

If using a collection which offers the Bernina USB EXP format, copy all three files (EXP, INF, and BMP) to your Bernina Personal Design USB stick.

If you need the Bernina USB EXP format and it is not available, open the ART format in your Bernina software, and then save it to a Bernina USB EXP file. Once you have saved your ART format design to a Bernina USB EXP format, make sure you include the BMP and the INF with the EXP file when copying those designs from the hard drive to USB or a CD.

Saving a design to Melco EXP will save ONLY the EXP format, the commercial format, which will NOT include thread colors.

2) Does the Hatch software come with a quilting program and a cross stitch program?

Hello all the Bernina Software people.

I am currently spending the weekend at H+H Cologne Germany.

Spent over an hour with a wonderful lady from new Zeeland She knew the software in and out.

Bernina Designworks v8 is a modified copy of Wilcom Hatch.

I learned that the .Art files are the same vector image files as Wilcom EMB files. They are only used to store the design files and are easy to modify.

I also learned all Bernina embroidery machines except for the old Artists 200/730 or the windows machines use EXP stitch files.

Yes when you upload that file to your machine it is converted from ART to EXP via Artlink or what software you used to upload the file

However Hatch and Bernina v8 are similarly priced. Bernina v8 comes with Coral Draw and with Wilcom that is an option.

So if you have a older version of Bernina Designworks then invest in the upgrade it is a big one and the user interface is massively easier to navigate.

Hope this helps anyone.

It sure answered a great many questions.

Oh I spent time with the new B700 embroidery only machine. Oh oh oh my that is one sweet device

KarenVA wrote:
Thank you the link is wonderful

The issue is the dealers around me are small and do not have working copies or models of the more expensive products.

Even our Bernina Creative Center does not have embroidery. They are focused on Long Arm.

However i am leaving for a huge Sewing and Craft trade show in Cologne Germany tomorrow. Know Bernina has a big booth. Hope they have a B700 and software

I really enjoy wholecloth. But i also would like to digitize piecing in hoop and other things. I work with people with various mobility issues and trying to think of ways to keep them active.

Like quilting in the hoop. Etc.

I don't have any experience with Hatch software, but I've been using Bernina Designer Plus software since version 5. I really liked Version 7, but Version 8 is wonderful. Here is a link for you to view a table of contents for a workbook designed to act like you have a teacher at your side to learn everything about Version 8. The software comes with an online manual, but this is a great resource for learning this software easier and well-worth the price. www.creativesewing.com/shop/c/p/Version-8-Workbook-x24822964.htm

If you are buying the new Bernina embroidery only machine, I would definitely recommend the Bernina Designer Plus version 8 software (it also converts/works with other major design formats). It comes with Corel Draw, which is a great option for using clip art, scanned drawings, or photos to digitize. It's very user friendly--no big learning curve. You could draw out your quilt designs, scan them in to Corel Draw, and auto-digitize them into the embroidery part of the software for "tweaking".

This software would be very helpful for your whole cloth quilting designs, because it also comes with a quilting program to design and calculate quilt blocks/sashing/borders, etc.

I would suggest that you stop in a Bernina store and play with the software--you'll be "hooked" for sure.

Would enjoy hearing your experience with v8. I do not have software yet. But have narrowed my choice down to v8 and Wilcom Hatch.

Hatch is less expensive. But it does not offer writing .art files. I currently have a older 165e which uses .exp. I also have a Husqvarna which uses .vp3.

I am thinking of upgrading my Husqvarna to the new Bernina b700 embroidery only unit

Advice do I need .art files?

I read that v8 is made by Wilcom. What I have seen v8 and Hatch are very similar

I use my embroidery unit to stitch wholecloth designs

Advice would be appreciated

Hi Karen, I never did remove the Corel Draw 4 before installing the V8 software. Oops, I never noticed the info about removing Corel Draw 4 before installing the new software...but to answer your question, V8 did not automatically remove Corel Draw 4 though it did supersede the previous Bernina embroidery software. I just went into my Program Files and confirmed that I still have both Corel Draw 4 and X6 sitting on my machine right now. If you want to be sure, you could send an inquiry to the help desk (info should be on your V8 software) and get your question answered with certainty. I contacted them while uploading my Software V8 and they were responsive and timely.

Renata--I just bought the update for Version 8, but waited to install it on my desktop computer because we just got a new laptop, too. I saw the info about removing Corel Draw 4 before installing this new software, but I was wondering if it will remove old copies of the Bernina software for me--or did you do that after you installed the new update?

Thank you for your advice. I think what I'm going to end up doing is to wait to upgrade. I can play with the V8 all the information out there as well as the free trial version as you have suggested. Not sure if such advance technology is something that I really need, (or can afford)!

I started with V6 so I don't know what kind of transition you will experience going from V5 directly to V8. I also previously upgraded from V6 to V7 before moving on to V8.

Out of all of the versions, I like V8 the best. Not sure whether it's because I understood V6 and V7 and gave them a pretty good workout before moving on to V8, but it seems to me that V8 is not only more user-friendly but also has several enhanced features that make digitizing even easier than before. No sense me pointing out those to you because Bernina has done an excellent job of that in its release notes that you can download from their website www.bernina.com/Bernina/media/Support_Filebase/Software/Embroidery%20V8%20Trial%20Download/English/ReleaseNotes.pdf and read through.

Also, you can go to YouTube and type in "Bernina Software 8" and you will find that Bernina is doing YouTube tutorials on the various aspect of Software 8 so you can watch them to get a sense of how it works and if you think it is something you'd like to be using.

Finally, Bernina is making available a 30-day trial version of the software. After reading through the Release Notes and watching as many videos as they had posted at the time, I downloaded the 30-day trial version and gave it a good workout (I used the release notes as my guide and then just played with each feature) before I made the decision to upgrade. I did set aside a bit of time EVERY DAY to play with the software to see whether I really liked it or not.

I think Bernina Software 8 has many more features than V6 ever had and has made digitizing a lot easier for me, so if you like the format (what you see on the screen), you may very well consider the upgrade. I like to make my own designs from scratch but I can imagine Software 8 also to be quite useful if you purchase designs and want to adapt them to your needs. Knowing what I know about both V6 (in my case) and Software 8, there's no doubt in my mind that I would make the leap, at least from the perspective of ease of use. But try it yourself before you commit. Like anything, though, it takes practice to become proficient! But then the sky is the limit--you could even design an applique block completely in Software 8 and watch it stitch out on your embroidery module!

Hope this helps.

So I just came back from a Quilt & sewing Expo in Tucson, & my local Bernina Dealer has the V8 software. I can upgrade from my V5 software, which I'm thinking about doing. Anybody out there check out the V8 yet?