Brother Embroidery Software

Version 1.50
Release Notes

Nov, 1998

Thank you for purchasing Brother Embroidery Software (BE-100). BE-100 is an exciting step forward for embroidery design. Fast, easy, and powerful, you will find that BE-100 is more than capable of handling your embroidery needs.

What's New in Version 1.50

  • BE-100 now has the ability to open and output to the MELCO Expanded (.EXP) file format. When opening or outputting to MELCO Expanded files, the following points should be kept in mind.

    • When you open EXP files, the following Commands are not imported into BE-100;
      Chain Stitch, Moss Stitch, Chenille Height, Take up On/Off, Stuppfel In/Out, Blatt Stitch, Step Stitch, Cord In/Out, Faten In/Out, Clutch, Tension, Speed Minus/Plus and Sequin.

  • If you import a Melco Condensed File (.CND) that includes an undefined command, BE-100 will ask you whether you would like to skip the command or to stop importing the file.

  • If a Melco Simple Fill in a .CND file includes an improper outline for a BE-100 Polygon, it will be imported as a BE-100 Region instead of a Polygon.

  • Improvements were made to the existing features of the BAS-PG1 (.KWK) file import filter.

  • A problem in which some letters of some specific fonts contain a jump stitch going out of the letter outline has been fixed.
What's New in Version 1.40

  • Support has been added to the BAS-PG1 file import filter for .KWK files which contained merged stitch (.PCH) files. When importing .KWK files, the following points should be kept in mind.

    • Stitch parameters such as Max Stitch Length and Split Stitch Not Jump are not stored in .KWK files, so BE-100 will use the default values as set in Values For New Designs. This is also true for other global values such as cost and needle information.

    • Any parameters which are less than the corresponding minimum BE-100 value are increased to the minimum BE-100 value. Conversely, values in BAS-PG1 which exceed the BE-100 limits are reduced to the maximum.

    • The Blank, Rewind and Two Stops Commands are not imported into BE-100.

    • If the Start and Stop Position in a BAS-PG1 file is set to "Choose Different," BE-100 sets the Stop Position to be the same as the Start Position.

    • If the user does not specify a connection in BAS-PG1, when the file is imported into BE-100, the default connection will be used. The default connection in BE-100 may be changed by selecting a shape, bringing up the Properties dialog, going to the Commands page selecting the desired Connection, clicking the Save As Defaults check box, and clicking OK.

    • If a design contains a merged stitch (.PCH) file, immediately following the merged stitches there is a color change. In most cases this is correct, but in some cases this color change will be undesirable, and will have to be removed manually, by setting the shape immediately following the merged stitches to the same needle as is used by the last merged stitch.
  • Also new this version, support has been added to the MELCO Condensed (.CND) file import filter for additional parameters which were not previously supported, such as the ability to import MELCO designs which contain E-Stitch shapes, Stored Symbols, or Special Stitches. In addition, BE-100 now has the ability to export BE-100 design (.BDF) files to the MELCO Condensed file format. When importing from or exporting to MELCO Condensed files, the following points should be kept in mind.

    • Any parameters which are less than the corresponding minimum MELCO value when exporting to MELCO, or less than the corresponding minimum BE-100 value when importing from MELCO, are increased to the minimum value. Conversely, values in the .BDF files which exceed the MELCO limits when exporting to MELCO, or values in the .CND file which exceed the BE-100 limits when importing from MELCO, are reduced to the maximum. Sometimes when exporting BE-100 designs to MELCO, the command list in MELCO may display a value which appears to exceed its maximum. This occurs with stitch length, for example. But this is only a display problem; the value is actually set to the MELCO maximum. The one exception is when a BE-100 design is exported which contains a Region or Column with the maximum pull compensation, of 100%. In MELCO a user may only set pull up to 90%, but the application itself can handle a pull of 100%. Because the design sews out successfully, in this one instance the exported file is allowed to exceed the MELCO maximum.

    • MELCO running stitches are imported as BE-100 Path shapes. BE-100 Path shapes are exported as MELCO running stitches.

    • If a BE-100 design contains Path shapes with the Cut Corners option enabled, when the design is exported to MELCO the corners will not be cut because MELCO does not have a comparable feature. To simulate this effect, insert an additional punch point and place the punch points such that the corner is cut.

    • When Paths are exported to MELCO, curves and arcs are generated by placing a series of MK1's very close to each other. If the curved shape is a Programmable Path, depending on the distance between the MK1's, the pattern may appear smaller in the exported file. A work around for this is after exporting the design, replace the MK1's with MK3's.

    • MELCO Bean Stitches are imported as BE-100 Programmable Paths. BE-100 Bean Stitches are exported as MELCO Special or Digitized Stitches (as opposed to MELCO Bean Stitches).

    • BE-100 E-stitch shapes are exported as MELCO E-stitch shapes. MELCO E-stitch shapes are, by default, imported as BE-100 E-stitch shapes. However, because of the different way E-stitch shapes are created in the two applications, the contour of the imported shape may be different than the original, and strokes may overlap. If this is the case, there is a Registry key which may be altered, to allow the E-stitch shape to be imported as a BE-100 Region. The Registry key is located in My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Brother Industries, Ltd.\BES\Import Filter. Double click on Apply E-stitch, and change the Value Data from 1 to 0.

    • MELCO Columns are imported as BE-100 Regions, and BE-100 Regions are exported as MELCO Columns.

    • Although MELCO Single-Line Columns are imported as BE-100 Columns, BE-100 Columns are exported as MELCO Columns (as opposed to MELCO Single-Line Columns).

    • Curved MELCO Columns make use of a single MK3 point to calculate the arc, whereas in BE-100 there are two arc points, one on either side of the shape. The determination as to which point appears on which side of the shape is based upon the placement of the MK3. On rare occasions it is possible that these points would need to be swapped. If you notice the contour of a curved MELCO Column (BE-100 Region) is incorrect after importing the design into BE-100, or the stitch direction is incorrect, try manually switching the placement of the two BE-100 arc points (i.e., drag the first point to the second point's position, and the second point to the first point's position).

    • If a BE-100 design contains a Region or Column with Jagged Edges, and the shapes have automatic underlays, by default when these shapes are exported the underlays will be removed. This is because many punch points must be used to create the jagged edge, which results in extremely dense underlays in MELCO. The recommendation is if an underlay is desired for one of these shapes, that the user manually punch one after exporting the design to MELCO. However, if this is undesirable, there is a Registry key which may be altered, to allow the underlays to be generated automatically. The Registry key is located in My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Brother Industries, Ltd.\BES\Export Filter. If you double click on Apply Jaged Edge Underlay, and change the Value Data from 0 to 1, underlays will be exported.

    • At the same location in the Registry, you will notice a Key for Apply Jagged Edge. By default, when you export BE-100 designs to the MELCO format, the jagged edges will be preserved. If you would rather remove the jagged edges, double click Apply Jagged Edge and change the Value Data from 1 to 0.

      - Although MELCO Simple Fills and Complex Fills are both imported as BE-100 Polygons, BE-100 Polygons are always exported as MELCO Complex Fills.

    • Fill patterns are not preserved because of the difference in the ways in which Fill patterns are created in MELCO versus BE-100. A default Fill pattern will be used both on import and on export.

    • If a BE-100 design contains a polygon and the shape has an automatic underlay, when this shape is exported,the underlay will be removed. This is because MELCO sometimes hangs when trying to open a .CND file exported from BE-100 containing polygons with automatic underlays. The recommendation is if an underlay is desired, that the user manually punch one after exporting the design to MELCO. However, if this is undesirable, there is a Registry key which may be altered, to allow the underlays to be generated automatically. The Registry key is located in My Computer \ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Brother Industries, Ltd.\BES\Export Filter. If you double click on Apply Polygon Underlay, and change the Value Data from 0 to 1, underlays will be exported.

    • Because MELCO has a lower limit in terms of the number and closeness of punch points in Fill shapes, occasionally exporting a BE-100 (.BDF) design will generate a message box telling the user that a polygon was excluded from the export. By opening the file in MELCO, the user will be able to determine which shape or shapes need to be less complex. The user may then edit the shape(s) in BE-100 and attempt the export again.

    • Because in MELCO stitch density is set on a shape by shape basis, as opposed to setting a stitch density and density adjustment for the entire design as is done in the Design Info dialog in BE-100, these values cannot be exported per se;however, the effect of these settings on shapes within the design is preserved.

    • During import, the design density is set to the most dense shape in the design; the Properties dialog is used to lower the density for individual shapes which are less dense. If you import a MELCO design and you want to add text or other shapes to the design, but you find the design density is too dense, you may either open the file in MELCO, find the most dense object(s) and lower their density before trying to import the file into BE-100 again, or you may leave the design density as is, and use the Properties Density Adjustment to lower the density of the shapes you added.

    • Pull compensation settings are preserved upon export for BE-100 Regions and Columns, but are not preserved for BE-100 Polygons, because in MELCO pull compensation cannot be applied to Complex Fills.

    • Because of limitations in the MELCO file format, automatic lock stitches are only preserved about half the time on import and export. On export the Lock Stitch command appears in the MELCO Condensed command list, but may not actually sew out. In BE-100 the default is to place an automatic lock stitch before and after trims. Therefore, if there is a trim because of the distance between shapes, because of a color change, or because a trim was specified as the connection, an automatic lock stitch will be generated even if the command is not successfully imported. On those occasions when there would not be a trim, and the automatic lock stitch failed to import, you may go into the Properties dialog and select the Automatic Lock Stitch control manually.

    • If a MELCO design contains a Maximum Stitch Length, the value will not be imported, but if the Maximum Stitch Length is less than the specified stitch length for any individual shape, the Maximum Stitch Length will be used as the individual shape's stitch length.

    • Unlike BE-100 which allows the user to set the Start and Stop position, in .CND files the Start and Stop position is always set to the coordinates 0,0. Therefore, all imported .CND files will have a Start and Stop position of 0,0 and all exported BE-100 designs will have the Start and Stop position set to 0,0.

    • When importing .CND files, the user may control how many needles will be used via a Registry key. The key is located at My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Brother Industries, Ltd.\BES\Import Filter. Double click on Max Needle Count, then set the Value Data to be any value from 1 (in which case color changes will be lost) to any value up to the BE-100 maximum (255 needles). However, be aware that if you set the value to be greater than the default number of needles, as set in Values For New Designs, the application will automatically change this setting to be equal to the default number of needles.

    • If a design is imported which contains specialized shapes which were created for Chenille machines, such as Chain Stitch and Moss Stitch shapes, those shapes will be imported as BE-100 Path shapes.

    • Because there is no BE-100 equivalent, the Sequin command, which is one of MELCO's Multi-head Functions, will not be preserved on import.

    • Finally, there are some MELCO designs which contain commands which BE-100 cannot recognize. If you try to import one of these designs, a message box will be displayed telling you the file cannot be imported. Likewise, it is possible to punch a design in BE-100 which if you export to a .CND file, will hang MELCO.


  • The read/write function for ZSK disk has been added.

  • When you input a filename for FDR, FMC, or ZSK disk, this version will check if each character is suitable for the filename or not.

    FDR: A filename must be composed of 8 alphanumeric characters or less. The characters that can be used for the filename are letters 'A' to 'Z' (not case sensitive) and numbers '1' to '0', however, the first character cannot be a number.
    FMC: A filename must be composed of 3 alphanumeric characters starting with A. The first character is always the letter 'A' (not case sensitive) and the second and the third characters always expressed using a 2 digit number from "01" to "99".
    ZSK: A filename must be composed of 8 alphanumeric characters or less. The characters that can be used for the filename are letters 'A' to 'Z' (not case sensitive) and numbers '1' to '0', however, the first character cannot be a number.


  • Graphics interchange format (GIF) and tagged image file format (TIFF) files cannot be read. Previously they were able to be chosen but with this version, they can not.

  • "L" and "Z" of California Script fonts have been modified because they looked the same.

  • "o" and "a" of California Script fonts have been modified because they looked the same.

  • The minimum legal range for Density Adjustment as set on the Stitches page of the Properties dialog has been raised from 1% to 2%.

  • The minimum legal range for design Density Adjustment as set on the Fabric Settings page of the Design Info dialog has been raised from 1% to 25%.

  • Improvements were made to the existing features of the MELCO Condensed (.CND) file import filter.

  • Contour has been removed from the Stitch Direction drop-down list box on the Stitches page of the Properties dialog for polygons when the Type is set to Fill, as this property can only be applied to satin polygons.

  • A problem in which sometimes polygons would contain extremely long stitches has been fixed.

  • A problem in which the Glyph Overrides as set on the Stitches page of the Text Properties dialog were not affecting Decorations in Monogram text shapes has been fixed.

  • A problem in which the height-to-width aspect ratio of text shapes was being lost when text shapes were sized too small has been fixed.

  • The accuracy of the Stitch Count, as displayed in the Status Bar and on the Summary page of the Design Info dialog has been improved. However, when importing from and exporting to other file formats, one should be aware that the stitch count may still appear different, because of differences in the Minimum and Maximum Stitch Lengths.

  • A problem in which the application would crash when printing with PCL drivers has been fixed.

  • A problem in which the Recall drop-down list box in the main window Ribbon Bar, would sometimes be enabled but blank, or would sometimes display the wrong memorized items, if the Memorize button was used during the creation of a text shape and then the text shape was cancelled, has been fixed.

  • A problem in which setting the E-stitch Stroke Limit to 10% caused the Stroke Limit to behave as if it were set to 100% has been fixed.


Finally, you should be aware of the following when you run BE-100.

    • BE-100 is a Windows 95-only application. It will not run in Windows 3.1 and some features will not be functioning properly in Windows NT and Windows 98.

    • Notes when handling NON-DOS disks
      1. While the access lamp of the FD drive is flashing, do no remove disk.
      2. Do not save any DOS file onto a NON-DOS disk.

    • The library database BES.MDB should not be kept on a network server.

    • BE-100 can be uninstalled by clicking Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel.

    • Most display errors can be traced to problems with video drivers. If you see problems with what is being displayed, ask your vendor if there are newer video drivers available.

    • With multicolored text shapes, the Color Sequence dialog only displays the text shape's default color. To display all of the individual colors in the Color Sequence dialog, first deconstruct the text shape.

    • If a text shape follows a shape which uses a different needle, make sure the first glyph in the text shape uses the text shape's default needle. Otherwise the color change information as displayed on the Summary page of the Design Info dialog and on the printouts will be incorrect. (Also, if no glyph in the text shape uses the default needle, the number of needles used will also be incorrect-neither of these problems will affect the sewout, however.)

    • If a design contains shapes which were created with intermediate colors, the shapes may not print out with certain color printers.

    • Depending on the amount of memory to load particular image files, sometimes an image file may fail to load. If this occurs, try setting the color depth down to 256 colors.
11/1/1998