> 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/file-menu/export-bitmap.md).

# Export Bitmap

Export your draft's interlacement as a pixel-exact bitmap image — **one pixel per thread crossing** — for looms and software that are programmed with images instead of shaft/treadle drafts. This is the standard workflow for digital jacquard looms such as the **TC2 (Digital Weaving Norway / Tronrud Engineering)**, and it also works for industrial jacquard design programs (ArahWeave, Pointcarré, NedGraphics, EAT) and for any tool that can read a black-and-white weave image.

### Where to find it

**File ▸ Export ▸ Export Bitmap**

Choose the format in the save dialog: **PNG** (compact grayscale), **TIFF**, or **BMP**. TIFF and BMP are written as true 1-bit black-and-white files — the formats the TC2 software reads directly, with no conversion step. The file is suggested with your draft's name, starting in your WIF folder. If the draft has no threads yet, you'll get a warning instead of an empty file.

### What the image contains

The export is a map of your cloth's structure, not a picture of its colors:

* **Image width** = the number of warp ends in your draft. **Image height** = the number of weft picks. Exactly one pixel per warp/weft intersection — no grid lines, no borders, no scaling.
* **Black pixel = warp on top** (that warp end is *lifted* on that pick). **White pixel = weft on top** (the end stays down). This is the same convention the TC2 uses: for each pick, black raises the thread, white leaves it down.
* The image contains only pure black and pure white pixels (TIFF and BMP are genuine 1-bit bilevel files; PNG is grayscale holding only 0 and 255). Yarn colors are not part of the export — jacquard looms read structure, not color.
* The top row of the image is pick 1 of your draft. Most loom software lets you choose the weave direction or flip the image on import if your point of view differs.

### Using it with a TC2

The TC2 maps every pixel of the file to an individual thread, so the goal is a file whose width matches the number of ends your loom is threaded for (for example, 2640 ends on a full-width fine-threading setup — check your own loom's configuration).

1. **Size the draft to the loom.** If your draft is one repeat, expand it to the full warp width before exporting — Design ▸ Design Repeats does this in one step. A file narrower than the loom's end count weaves only that many ends (some studios require full-width files).
2. **Export Bitmap** from TempoWeave and pick **TIFF** in the save dialog — that's the format TC2 studios use, ready to load with no conversion. (BMP works too.) Because the file is a true 1-bit bilevel image, the TC2's *"More than 2 colors in Pattern"* prompt won't appear, and the Photoshop conversion ritual some studios teach — Mode ▸ Grayscale ▸ Bitmap with *50% Threshold* — is unnecessary. Never resize or resample the file — the pixel count is the thread count.
3. Load the file on the loom and weave. Each row of the image is one pick; the software shows where you are and advances a row per pick, exactly like the drawdown.

### Tips

* **Structure soundness matters more than ever at one pixel per thread.** Long floats that look fine on a 24-shaft draft can damage a fine jacquard warp. It might be a good idea to run Project ▸ Float Check before exporting.
* **Doubleweave and other multi-layer structures** export exactly as drafted — each pixel is the true lift for that pick.
* **Want a picture of the cloth instead of the structure?** Export Bitmap is the loom-programming map. For a color image of the fabric for documentation or publication, use the drawdown printing/reports instead.
* The export runs off the main thread, so even very large drafts (thousands of ends and picks) export quickly but there may be a slight pause until it completes.

### Sources / further reading

* [Digital Weaving Norway — TC2 loom](https://digitalweaving.no/tc2-loom/)
* [Stanford making@stanford — TC2: "a pixel is a thread"](https://making.stanford.edu/tc2-loom)
* [AdaCAD — Generate files for a TC2 (Photoshop conversion steps)](https://docs.adacad.org/docs/learn/tutorials/weave_tc2/)
* [Tien Chiu — The Digital Weaving Norway TC-2 jacquard loom](https://tienchiu.com/how-tos/weaving/a-comparison-of-jacquard-looms/the-digital-weaving-norway-tc-2-jacquard-loom/)