Warp Options
What It Does
The Warp menu provides operations for manipulating the threading — the pattern of which shaft each warp thread passes through. These operations let you clear, invert, reverse, mirror, shift, and randomize your threading. Most operations work on a selected region of the warp, letting you transform part of the threading while leaving the rest unchanged.
Location
Ribbon: Design tab > Warp dropdown menu
Right-click: The warp header area also offers these operations in a context menu
Making a Selection in the Warp Header
Most operations on this page need an active warp selection. A few mechanics make selecting cleanly easier:
Drag in the warp header to mark a thread range. Region vs Full Shaft/Treadle mode is controlled by Settings → Default Selection Mode, and Shift+drag inverts whichever mode is the default for that one selection.
Drag past the visible edge to extend off-screen. The canvas auto-scrolls to follow the pointer so you can select threads that aren't currently in view. Speed ramps up the further past the edge you drag.
Shift+click an existing same-canvas selection to extend it to the clicked point — standard macOS convention. The original anchor and the Full/Region character are preserved; only the end of the selection moves. Useful when you want to select a long range: drag the start, scroll manually to find the end, then Shift+click it.
Operations
Clear
Removes all shaft assignments in the selected warp region. Every thread in the selection becomes unthreaded — no shaft assigned.
Requires an active warp selection. If no selection exists, a notification reminds you to select a region first.
Invert
Flips the shaft assignments vertically within the selection. The highest shaft swaps with the lowest, the second-highest with the second-lowest, and so on. On a 4-shaft draft, shaft 1 becomes shaft 4, shaft 2 becomes shaft 3, and vice versa.
This is useful for creating mirror-image threading patterns across the shaft axis — for example, turning a rising diagonal into a falling one.
Requires an active warp selection.
Reverse
Reverses the order of threads in the selection from left to right. The leftmost thread moves to the rightmost position and vice versa. Both the shaft assignments and the thread colors are reversed together, keeping each thread's color paired with its shaft.
This creates a mirror image of the threading sequence — useful for point threading patterns or creating symmetrical designs.
Requires an active warp selection.
Mirror Selection
Appends a reversed copy of the selected threads immediately after the selection. The last thread of the selection serves as the pivot of the reflection — it appears once in the result, not twice. If your selection contains threads A-B-C, the result is A-B-C-B-A. Both threading and colors are mirrored.
This is the quickest way to create a symmetrical threading — select the first half of your pattern and mirror it. The warp automatically extends to accommodate the new threads.
Requires an active warp selection.
Mirror All
Mirrors the entire threaded warp, regardless of any selection. Takes all threads from the first to the last threaded position and appends a reversed copy. The warp extends to hold the mirrored threads.
Use this when you want to mirror your complete threading without having to select everything first. Requires at least some threaded warp data.
Shift Right
Moves all thread positions in the selection one column to the right. By default, the thread at the rightmost edge wraps around to the leftmost position. Hold Shift when clicking to prevent wrapping — the rightmost thread is lost instead.
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Right Arrow (Cmd+Right Arrow on Mac) for wrap mode, Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow (Cmd+Shift+Right Arrow on Mac) for no-wrap mode.
Requires an active warp selection.
Shift Left
Moves all thread positions in the selection one column to the left. By default, the leftmost thread wraps around to the rightmost position. Hold Shift for no-wrap mode.
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Left Arrow (Cmd+Left Arrow on Mac) for wrap mode, Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow (Cmd+Shift+Left Arrow on Mac) for no-wrap mode.
Requires an active warp selection.
Shift Up
Shifts shaft assignments upward within the selection — each thread moves to the next higher shaft. By default, threads on the highest shaft wrap around to the lowest shaft. Hold Shift to prevent wrapping — threads at the top shaft are cleared instead.
Only threads within the selected shaft range are affected. Colors stay in place — only the shaft numbers change.
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Up Arrow (Cmd+Up Arrow on Mac) for wrap mode, Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow (Cmd+Shift+Up Arrow on Mac) for no-wrap mode.
Requires an active warp selection.
Shift Down
Shifts shaft assignments downward within the selection — each thread moves to the next lower shaft. By default, threads on the lowest shaft wrap around to the highest. Hold Shift for no-wrap mode.
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Down Arrow (Cmd+Down Arrow on Mac) for wrap mode, Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow (Cmd+Shift+Down Arrow on Mac) for no-wrap mode.
Requires an active warp selection.
Randomize Colors
Shuffles the warp thread colors randomly within the selection. The threading (shaft assignments) is unchanged — only the color order is rearranged.
If no selection exists, this operation randomizes colors across the entire warp. This is the only warp operation that works without a selection.
Drag-and-Drop Selection
After selecting a range of threads in the warp header, you can click inside the selection and drag to relocate (or duplicate) those threads anywhere else in the warp. Four modes are available, chosen by which keys you hold when you drop:
(none — plain drag)
Cleared in place (left blank, surrounding threads stay put)
Overwritten — whatever was at the destination is replaced
Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac)
Left in place — duplicate (the threads stay where they were)
Overwritten
Shift
Cleared in place
Inserted — threads at the destination shift right to make room
Ctrl+Shift (or Cmd+Shift)
Left in place — duplicate
Inserted
Notes:
You can also change shafts during the drop. Drag from shafts 1–4 down to shaft 5, and the dropped threads will be re-anchored to shafts 5–8 (the same band height as the source).
Single-cell selections don't arm a drag. A 1×1 selection — typically the leftover of a previous click — is treated as "no selection," so a fresh click starts a brand-new selection rectangle instead of dragging that one thread.
Color and thickness travel with the threads when their Sync toggles are on. With Sync off, the dropped cells inherit only the threading (color/thickness at the destination is unchanged).
Undo restores everything in one step. The Undo history entry names the mode (e.g., "Copy warp threads (insert)") so a Ctrl+Z is unambiguous.
How to Use It
Select a region of the warp header by clicking and dragging
Open the Warp dropdown on the Design tab (or right-click the warp header)
Choose the operation you want
The threading updates immediately
Step-by-Step Example: Creating a Point Threading
You have a straight draw threading (1-2-3-4) and want to turn it into a point draw (1-2-3-4-3-2-1):
Thread your first half: 1-2-3-4
Select those four threads in the warp header
Choose Mirror Selection from the Warp menu
The threading extends to 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 — a classic point draw, with shaft 4 as the pivot
Step-by-Step Example: Exploring Threading Variations
You have a threading you like but want to see what it looks like shifted:
Select the threading region you want to experiment with
Choose Shift Up from the Warp menu
Each thread moves one shaft higher — the pattern is the same but starts from a different shaft
Repeat to continue shifting
Try Shift Right or Shift Left to slide the pattern sideways
Use Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z) to undo any changes you don't like
Step-by-Step Example: Randomizing Colors for Inspiration
You want to explore different color arrangements on your warp:
Set up your warp with the colors you plan to use
Choose Randomize Colors from the Warp menu (no selection needed)
The colors shuffle randomly while your threading stays intact
If you like the result, keep it. If not, try again or Ctrl+Z to undo
Each click produces a different random arrangement
Tips
Undo works — Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z) reverts any warp operation.
Selection required — Most operations need a warp selection first. If you see "No warp selection," click and drag on the warp header to select a region.
Shift key controls wrapping — For all shift operations, the default wraps content around. Hold Shift when clicking to prevent wrapping.
Colors follow threads — Reverse and Mirror move colors together with their shaft assignments, keeping each thread's identity intact.
Shift Up/Down moves shafts, not colors — When shifting shaft assignments up or down, colors stay in place. Only the shaft numbers change.
Randomize Colors is the exception — It's the only warp operation that works on all data when no selection exists.
Quick Reference
Clear
Remove all shaft assignments
Yes
Invert
Flip shafts vertically (high ↔ low)
Yes
Reverse
Reverse thread order (left ↔ right)
Yes
Mirror Selection
Append reversed copy of selection
Yes
Mirror All
Mirror entire threaded warp
No (uses all data)
Shift Right
Move threads one column right
Ctrl+Right (Cmd+Right)
Yes
Shift Left
Move threads one column left
Ctrl+Left (Cmd+Left)
Yes
Shift Up
Move shafts up one position
Ctrl+Up (Cmd+Up)
Yes
Shift Down
Move shafts down one position
Ctrl+Down (Cmd+Down)
Yes
Randomize Colors
Shuffle thread colors randomly
No (works on all if none)
Add Shift to the shortcut for no-wrap mode (e.g., Ctrl+Shift+Right).
Add Shift to the shortcut for no-wrap mode (e.g., Ctrl+Shift+Right).
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