The Color Editor: Overview

It’s time to meet the Color Editor! This is a tool developed by Kris Bruland, creator of Handweaving.net, and which he has kindly made available to our students for use with the drafts for this class. 

On Handweaving.net, you can use the Color Editor with any draft you choose, with a low-cost subscription. You can subscribe here.

The Color Editor allows you to see how your yarn colors will interlace in the draft you plan to use.  It is NOT a substitute for weaving samples, but it’s a quick and easy way to test color combinations before you start winding a warp.

Click here to download a printable PDF of all of the Color Editor lessons: Color Editor Manual

This class shows how to:

• Control how the draft looks:
  • Change the size of the draft
  • Show/hide the lines that indicate interlacement
  • Show the opposite side of the cloth
• Select a Color Palette, manually and from an uploaded image
• Save your color palette
• Edit colors:
  • Change the color of single threads
  • Change the color of multiple threads
  • Replace all threads of the same color
  • Copy / Paste Colors
• Download your draft
• Upload WIF  (this only works with drafts used in class)
• Use the Overshot Simulator (only works with overshot drafts)
• Use the Gradients Editor
  • Set up the Gradients Editor
  • The Linear Gradient
  • The Fibonacci 1 Gradient
  • The Fibonacci 2 Gradient
  • The Curved Gradient
  • Alternating Stripes “Gradients”

Each of these options will be described in this class.

Please note:
You may see an “Upload WIF” button in the screenshots. You can ONLY upload the WIF files downloaded from this class. If you want to upload and edit your own designs, you’ll need to purchase a subscription to Handweaving.net and follow this link to use the Color Editor there.

A note:

Throughout this course, you will see a lot of screenshots of the Color Editor. You will also, in the Try It lessons, have the chance to try out the “live” Color Editor. Here’s how you can tell the difference between the screenshots and the “live” Color Editor. Before each instance of the “live” (usable) Color Editor, there will be the following wording, and the three red arrows pointing at the live Editor. That lets you know that the Editor below it is real software, not a screenshot, and that you’ll be able to click inside and use the software.

Color Editor

Note that the Color Editor is browser-based software: It works in your browser. There is nothing to download. It’s right below this sentence, in the box below the three red arrows – just start clicking. (That’s a live program, not a screenshot.)