Section Markers
What It Does
Section Markers let you divide your warp and weft into named sections — contiguous ranges of threads or picks that you label for organizational purposes. Marked sections become the building blocks for Section Assembly, where you can arrange them into a hierarchical structure and generate expanded drafts.
Think of sections as bookmarks on your design: "This group of threads is the border," "These picks are pattern repeat A," "These threads are the center motif." Once marked, you can reference, rearrange, and repeat these sections without manually counting threads.
Location
Ribbon: Design tab > Section Assembly group > Section Marker button
Keyboard: Press M to toggle Section Marker mode
How It Works
Section Marker is a toggle mode. When active, your cursor changes to a section-marking tool instead of the normal drawing tool.
Marking a Section
Enable the mode — Click the Section Marker button or press M
Click and drag on the warp header to mark a range of warp threads, or on the weft header to mark a range of weft picks
A semi-transparent highlight appears as you drag, showing the range being selected
Release the mouse — a naming dialog appears
Enter a name for the section (e.g., "Border," "Pattern A," "Center")
Click Apply — the section is created
Visual Indicators
Marked sections appear as color-coded indicators on the warp and weft headers. Each section gets an indigo-bordered highlight showing its range, making it easy to see at a glance where each section starts and ends.
After Marking
Once created, sections appear in the Available Sections list in the Section Assembly panel. From there, you can add them to your assembly tree, set repeat counts, and generate expanded drafts.
Editing a Section
There are two methods to bring up the edit panel for a section.
1) With the section marker selected, right click on the section in the warp or weft.
2) Right click on the Available section in the Section in the Section Assembly panel.
In the Edit Section, the section name, notes, start and end thread, variable density override and reed gap may all be changed.
How to Use It
Press M or click Section Marker in the Design tab
Click and drag on the warp header to mark a range of warp threads
Name the section in the dialog that appears
Repeat for additional warp sections
Click and drag on the weft header to mark weft sections
Press M again to exit Section Marker mode
Open Section Assembly to organize and use your marked sections
Step-by-Step Example: Marking Sections for a Table Runner
You have a draft for a table runner with a header border, main pattern, and footer border:
Press M to enter Section Marker mode
Warp sections:
Drag across threads 1–8 → name it "Selvedge"
Drag across threads 9–60 → name it "Pattern"
Drag across threads 61–68 → name it "Selvedge" (or "Selvedge Right")
Weft sections:
Drag across picks 1–20 → name it "Header Border"
Drag across picks 21–30 → name it "Pattern Unit"
Drag across picks 31–50 → name it "Footer Border"
Press M to exit
Open Section Assembly to arrange these sections with repeat counts
Variable Density (e.g. Cram and Dent)
By default every section uses the project's sett (warp) or beat (weft). For cram-and-dent cloth — or any structure that mixes densities, like a fine-sett pattern band between coarse-sett borders — each section can carry its own local EPI (warp) or PPI (weft) value.
Setting an Override
When the section naming dialog opens, look for the Variable Density Override checkbox below the name field.
Check Variable Density Override
Enter the local EPI (for warp sections) or PPI (for weft sections). Range: 1–200.
Click Apply
The section now carries that density independently of the project sett.
Editing an Existing Override
Click an existing section's name on the warp or weft header to reopen the dialog. The Variable Density Override checkbox shows the current state — uncheck it to remove the override, or change the value to re-cram or re-spread the section.
What Changes When an Override Is Active
As soon as any section has a local density:
View Fabric and Cloth Simulation render the override sections with proportional cell widths or heights — crammed sections look denser, spread sections look more open.
Project Info → Setup shows Calculated EPI and Calculated PPI values just below the project Sett/Beat. These are the weighted average across all threads: project sett for any thread outside an override, plus each override applied to its own section.
Project Info → Planning uses the calculated values for width-in-reed, woven length, and yarn calculations, so a draft with mixed densities plans to its real dimensions rather than to the nominal sett.
When no section has a local density, the project sett/beat is used everywhere and the Calculated panel stays hidden.
Overlapping Sections
If two sections overlap and both carry density overrides, the higher-index section wins for the overlapping threads. Sections are numbered in creation order, so the section you created most recently takes precedence in the overlap. If you want a specific section to win, delete and recreate it last.
WIF Interop
Local density values are stored in a TempoWeave-private WIF block ([WARP SECTIONMARKERS] / [WEFT SECTIONMARKERS]). Other weaving software ignores private blocks, so your overrides will not transfer when you hand the WIF to another program — but they round-trip safely through TempoWeave Studio and the bundled .twa.
Tips
Mark before assembling — You must mark sections before you can use them in Section Assembly. Plan your design's structure, then mark accordingly.
Sections can overlap — You can mark overlapping ranges if needed. Each section is an independent reference to a thread/pick range.
Descriptive names help — Use clear, meaningful names like "Border," "Pattern A," "Transition." You'll reference these names in the assembly tree.
Maximum 85 per axis — You can create up to 85 sections on the warp and 85 on the weft.
Sections don't modify data — Marking a section doesn't change your threading, treadling, or colors. It's purely organizational — a label on a range.
Toggle off when done — Remember to press M again or click the button to exit Section Marker mode and return to normal drawing tools.
Quick Reference
Enter Section Marker mode
Press M or click button
Mark a warp section
Click and drag on warp header
Mark a weft section
Click and drag on weft header
Name the section
Enter name in dialog, click Apply
Exit mode
Press M or click button again
View marked sections
Open Section Assembly panel
Maximum sections
85 per axis (warp / weft)
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