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Lemon wiki

Project files

Lemon Studio saves your work in .lemon files, its own project format. Everything Lemon Studio can do is saved in them, down to icons, slot names and colours, and track locks.

Opening and saving

Section titled “Opening and saving”
  • Ctrl+O opens a project, and you can also drop a project file onto the window.
  • Ctrl+S saves. The first save of a new project opens a Save as form, which can also create a data folder for the project.
  • The FILE menu lists your ten most recent projects (Alt+1 to Alt+0), and More lists the older ones.

Saves are all or nothing. Lemon Studio writes the new file beside the old one and only then swaps them, so an interrupted save leaves your last good file in place.

Opening .flp projects

Section titled “Opening .flp projects”

Lemon Studio can open .flp projects saved by FL Studio 10 and later, up to version 26, and convert them to .lemon.

  1. Open the .flp file as you would any project.
  2. Its samples load behind a progress panel.
  3. Press Ctrl+S. Lemon Studio asks for a name, offering the same name ending in .lemon.

From then on you’re working on the .lemon file. Saving doesn’t touch the original .flp.

Good to know:

  • Anything in the file that Lemon Studio doesn’t understand yet is kept and carried along, so nothing is thrown away when you save.
  • Projects from versions before 24.2 are converted to the current layout as they open.
  • A .lemon file is Lemon Studio’s own. Don’t expect other software to open it.
  • Choosing a name that already exists asks before replacing it.
  • If a project uses factory samples from an FL Studio installation, Lemon Studio looks for them in that installation. If it has been moved, set its folder in Settings ▸ File.

Backups and versions

Section titled “Backups and versions”
  • Autosave backs up a changed project at the interval you choose in Settings ▸ File ▸ Backup, and keeps the newest copies, 100 unless you change it.
  • Saving over a file keeps a copy of the old one with the backups.
  • FILE ▸ Restore backup… opens the project’s newest backup. It asks about unsaved changes first.
  • FILE ▸ Save as template… keeps a copy you can start new projects from with New from template.

Data folders

Section titled “Data folders”

A project can have its own folder for backups, recordings, renders and copied samples, set up in the Save as form or on the Project page in Settings. FILE ▸ Clean up and save removes the samples, recordings and renders in it that the project no longer uses, after asking, then saves.

Other formats

Section titled “Other formats”
Format What you can do
.lemon Lemon Studio’s own project format: open and save
.flp Open and convert, as above
MIDI files Import into a new project, the open one or a piano roll; export a pattern or the song’s patterns
.flstheme Colour themes: see Custom themes
WAV, FLAC, MP3, OGG Export: see Exporting audio
WAV, FLAC, MP3, OGG, M4A and more Load as samples and audio clips
.vstpreset, .fxp, .fxb Import plugin presets: see Your plugins

FL Studio is a trademark of Image-Line Software. Lemon Studio is an independent project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Image-Line Software. FL Studio and its .flp file format are referred to solely to describe interoperability.