Good question, Linda. And you know what they say about the dumb ones being the ones you *didn't* ask!
Colours in 4D (and 3D and 5D for that matter) are only saved in vp3 format, otherwise only the limited range of default colours is used. Therefor I always safe in vp3 even when I don't need that (I also have a Brother 190D which needs pes) that way I can find the colours in the vp3 file.
I have a Designer 1, if I save to the vip file, can I use it to sew out my designs? Thanks for all your help, I saved my last design in vip.. colors are great.. thank you so very much