> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tempoweave.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tempoweave.com/help-by-menu-tabs/design-menu/scale-and-compress.md).

# Scale and Compress

### What It Does

Scale magnifies a design: every warp thread and every pick becomes 2, 3, or more, carrying its shaft, color, and thickness along. The motif grows while the structure stays exactly the same — the tie-up, shaft count, and treadle count never change. Compress is its exact inverse: keep 1 of every N threads or picks.

Use Scale to blow a fine motif up to a bolder gauge, to turn a sampler-sized study into a full design, or to prepare a design for thicker yarn at a more open sett. Use Compress to bring a scaled draft back down, or to sample every Nth thread of a large design.

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### Location

* **Ribbon**: Tools tab > Repeats group > Scale button

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### The Dialog

**Scale / Compress** — Choose the direction of the operation:

* **Scale** — every thread or pick becomes N
* **Compress** — keep 1 of every N threads or picks (the inverse of Scale)

**Scale Warp** and **Scale Weft** — The factor for each direction. With **Proportional** checked (the default), both move together so the design magnifies evenly; uncheck it to scale one direction differently from the other, or leave one factor at 1 to scale only warp or only weft.

**Apply** performs the operation as a single undoable step.

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### Working on a Selection

If you have threads, picks, or a region selected when you open Scale, the dialog offers to scale just the selection — the note tells you exactly which threads and picks are affected. The rest of the draft shifts to make room (or closes up, for Compress). This is the quickest way to magnify one motif inside a larger draft.

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### How It Works

Scaling duplicates each thread in place with its shaft, color, and thickness, so a 100-thread draft scaled by 2 becomes 200 threads weaving the same cloth at twice the size. Compress keeps the first thread of every group and removes the rest — a draft scaled by 2 compresses by 2 back to the original, thread for thread.

A few things to know:

* **Floats grow with the pattern.** A 3-thread float scaled by 2 becomes a 6-thread float. Run **Float Check** (Ctrl/Cmd+F) after scaling.
* **Compress on a never-scaled draft samples.** It keeps every Nth thread, which is useful for extracting a coarse version of a fine design — but it is only a true inverse when the draft was actually scaled first.
* **Capacity is checked first.** If the result would exceed the maximum draft size, TempoWeave tells you the direction and the numbers instead of applying a partial scale.
* **Everything is one undo step.**

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### Step-by-Step Example: Doubling a Motif

1. Open a draft with a fine 60-thread motif
2. Go to **Tools tab > Scale**
3. Leave **Scale** selected and **Proportional** checked, set the factor to **2**
4. Click **Apply** — the draft becomes 120 threads and twice the picks, same cloth, twice the size
5. Run **Float Check** to make sure the doubled floats are still acceptable

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### Quick Reference

| Setting          | Effect                             |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Scale mode       | Every thread/pick becomes N        |
| Compress mode    | Keep 1 of every N threads/picks    |
| Proportional     | Warp and weft use the same factor  |
| Selection active | Offers to scale just the selection |