Designing Woven Fabrics with ArahWeave
To take a fabric from concept to production file:
- Open ArahWeave, create a new design and set warp/weft counts, yarn colors, and repeat size.
- Choose a base weave structure (plain, twill, satin, dobby, jacquard) from the weave library or build a custom one in the weave editor.
- Assign yarns (color, material, twist) to warp and weft positions.
- Run Simulation to preview the rendered fabric; adjust sett (density) and yarn shading until the simulation matches the target look.
- Export to the loom-specific production format (dobby/jacquard control file).
No preamble needed when starting a design — pick the closest tutorial workflow below and adapt it.
Match the task to the correct construction-specific pipeline. Most follow this shape:
Progress:
- [ ] Define structure type (dobby / jacquard / damask / double weave / extra warp-weft / Gobelin / matelassé / etc.)
- [ ] Source or create the pattern (scan, cartoon import, cross-stitch conversion, drawn in ArahPaint)
- [ ] Set up yarns and colorways (incl. color-matching against libraries)
- [ ] Build/assign the weave (base weave, extra layers, selvages)
- [ ] Apply special effects if needed (creases/seersucker, dye simulation, wave filter, gradient)
- [ ] Simulate and review (fabric simulation, ArahDrape texture mapping for garment preview)
- [ ] Refine (armor generation/cracking for jacquard texture realism, satin arrangement, shade adjustments)
- [ ] Export production file (dobby/jacquard loom format, label file if applicable)
Structure-specific notes:
- Dobby/Jacquard: build base weave in the weave editor, then layer the design image; use armor generation to break up large color areas and avoid floats.
- Damask (shaft or jacquard): start from a scanned picture or hand-drawn motif, trace to a binary/weave-ready design, then assign satin ground + sateen pattern weaves.
- Double weave / extra warp-extra weft: define two (or more) independent weave layers and specify where they bind (stitch points) to avoid loose layers.
- Extra warp/weft effects (e.g., traditional Thai fabrics): add supplementary warp/weft sets on top of a ground weave; assign separate colorways to the extra set.
- Converting handloom → industrial dobby: map manual lift plan/treadling to shaft/dobby peg-plan equivalent, respecting shaft count limits of the industrial loom.
- Cross-stitch → jacquard image: rescale stitch grid to the target jacquard resolution, then map stitch colors to yarn colors.
- Old cartoon import: clean/scan the cartoon, align to grid, vectorize/pixelate to match current repeat and resolution.
Example 1: Input: Need to convert a scanned traditional damask motif into a production-ready shaft damask. Output: Import scan into ArahPaint → threshold/clean to binary image → set repeat to match loom capability → assign satin ground weave + contrasting sateen for pattern areas → simulate to check face/back contrast → export shaft control file.
Example 2: Input: Want a seersucker-like crease effect on a plain weave. Output: Set up base plain weave → apply the crease/seersucker simulation tool with chosen amplitude/frequency → simulate fabric to preview puckering → adjust tension/yarn parameters until crease spacing matches target → export.
Example 3: Input: Jacquard design has large flat color blocks causing long floats. Output: Apply armor (binding pattern) generation over the flat areas to break them into a fine textured weave → optionally "crack" the armor for a less uniform look → re-simulate to confirm floats are within loom tolerance.
- Always simulate before export — catch float, color, and density issues on screen, not on the loom.
- When matching colors across libraries, use the built-in closest-color search rather than eyeballing against screen RGB, since screen color ≠ yarn color.
- For multi-layer weaves (double weave, extra warp/weft), explicitly define stitch/binding points — unanchored layers will shift or balloon in simulation and real weaving.
- Keep repeat size aligned with actual loom shaft/hook count from the start; resizing after full design work wastes time.
- Use ArahDrape for garment-level texture mapping once the fabric design is finalized, to validate drape and visual scale on an actual garment shape.
- Don't skip the armor/binding step on large jacquard color fields — long floats are a weaving defect, not just a visual one.
- Don't import scans/cartoons without cleaning noise first — stray pixels become stray binding points in the weave file.
- Don't assign colorways before the weave structure is finalized — structure changes often require re-threading colors.
- Don't ignore loom-specific constraints (max shafts, max colors/hooks) when converting handloom designs to industrial dobby/jacquard — the design must degrade gracefully, not just resize.