> 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/print-formatted-reports/print-sleying-guide-for-variable-density.md). # Print Sleying Guide for Variable Density ### What It Does The **Sleying Guide** is a printable (PDF) plan for **sleying the warp through the reed** — deciding how many ends go in each dent so the warp comes out at the right width and density. For an even sett it's a convenience. Where it really earns its keep is **variable-density** cloth — warps that change sett across their width (cram-and-dent, lace borders at a different EPI than the body, graduated setts) and warps with **reed gaps**. Working those out by hand at the reed is error-prone; this report does the arithmetic for you. It walks your warp end to end, groups consecutive threads that share the same density into rows, and for each row tells you exactly: * the **density** (EPI) of that stretch, * how many **dents** it spans on your reed, * the **sley pattern** — how many ends to put in each successive dent (e.g. 2 per dent, or `1-1-1-2`), * how many times that pattern **repeats**, plus any **balance** left at the end, * any **reed gap** (empty dents) to leave, and * the **starting color**, so you can confirm where you are. *** ### Before You Start You'll need: * **A reed chosen** — the guide is computed for a specific reed (dents per inch, or per 10 cm in metric). *Required* — without it the report won't run (you'll see *"Reed is not set. Open Project Info → Setup and choose a reed before printing the Sleying Guide."*). * **Warp ends in the draft** — there has to be a warp to sley. **Tier:** available to **Lite, Core, and Pro** licenses. (The Print reports as a whole are disabled in Demo.) *** ### Setting the Reed Tell TempoWeave which reed you're using — either: * **Project Info ▸ Setup** — set the reed's dents-per-inch (shown as *dents per in*, or *dents per 10 cm* in metric), **or** * the **Reed Calculator** (Project tab) — choose a reed and sley and it stores the dents for you, and helps you find a reed that hits your target EPI. The reed value is saved with the project. *** ### Variable Density & Reed Gaps This is where the guide shines. Both come from **warp section markers**: * **Local density override** — mark a section of the warp and give it its own EPI (the **Variable Density** feature). Any threads inside that section are sleyed at the section's density; threads outside any marked section use the **project sett**. The guide starts a new row each time the density changes, so each density stretch gets its own sley pattern. * **Reed gap** — a section can carry a **gap** (in your project unit), which the guide converts to a number of **empty dents** to leave at that point — the basis of cram-and-dent and deliberate spacing. So if your warp is, say, 24 EPI in the body with a 12-EPI lace border and a small gap between them, the guide produces a separate row (with its own sley pattern) for the border, the body, and an empty-dent gap between — no mental math at the reed. When various densities are defined across a warp (all warp threads are not sleyed in the reed at a single number of ends per inch / centimeter), this report helps to pull the warp ends through the slots as the project is designed. See this topic for more information and a video: [Variable Density (Cram and Dent)](/special-topics/video-collection/variable-density-cram-and-dent.md) The report format works across the warp ends, breaking at each change in the density sleying pattern (starting thread). The number of threads in the report line is placed into the no. dents as shown according to the sley pattern. If the pattern does not fit equally into the number of dents, as shown on Balanced 2 in the picture below, the balnce for the last dent(s) is shown, so in this case, the 5th dent would have two threads for a total of 8 threads in this section. The Gap column has a value if a gap after the sleying pattern was defined; this can be used for widely spaced coth, such as that sometimes used on curtains, where a deliberate empty section is left in the reed. The running width will accumulate to the width in the reed at the close of the last section. The starting color is shown to help the weaver double check their progress at sleying the reed for warps that have multiple colors.
*** ### Printing the Guide 1. **File menu (backstage) ▸ Print tab.** 2. Click **Print Sleying Guide for Variable Density**. It generates a PDF in **landscape** (the table is wide), using your current Print Options (paper size, continuous page, header/footer toggles, page numbers). *** ### Reading the Report A header line states the **Reed** (e.g. *Reed: 12 dents per inch*). Then a row per density stretch, with these columns: | Column | What it tells you | | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Starting Thread** | The warp end this row begins at. | | **No. Threads** | How many ends this row covers. | | **Section Name** | The marked section's name (blank for unmarked, project-sett runs). | | **Density** | The sett for this stretch — ends per inch (or per cm). | | **No. Dents** | How many reed dents this stretch occupies. | | **Repeating Sley Pattern** | Ends per dent, as a repeating unit (see notation below). | | **No. Repeats** | How many times that pattern repeats across the stretch. | | **Balance Pattern** | The leftover dents at the end that don't complete a full repeat. | | **Gap** | Any reed gap to leave here, shown as empty dents (0 = none). | | **Running Width** | The cumulative warp width as you sley — a running check you're on track. | | **Start Color** | A swatch of the color at the start of this row. | Work top to bottom: each row is one stretch of the warp; sley its pattern the stated number of repeats, add the balance, leave any gap, then move to the next row. *** ### Understanding the Sley Pattern Notation The pattern lists ends-per-dent across one repeat, separated by dashes; `No. Repeats` is how many times to lay it down, and `Balance` is the partial pattern at the very end. * **Even** — `3` × 3 means *3 ends in each dent, for 3 dents* (9 ends, 3 dents). * **Cram** (more ends than dents) — `1-1-1-2` × 3 means dents get *1, 1, 1, 2 ends* and that 4-dent unit repeats 3× (15 ends across 12 dents). A `Balance` of `1` adds one more dent with 1 end (16 ends, 13 dents). * **Spread** (fewer ends than dents) — `1-1-1-0` × 3 means *1, 1, 1, then an empty dent*, repeated — every fourth dent left empty to open the sett out (9 ends across 11 dents). A `Balance` of `1-1` finishes with two more single-end dents. In short: a `2` or `3` means crammed dents, a `0` means a skipped (empty) dent, and mixed values like `1-1-1-2` distribute the extras (or the gaps) as evenly as the reed allows so the density looks smooth in the cloth. *** ### Tips * **Set the reed first.** The whole plan is computed for one specific reed — if you switch reeds, update Project Info / the Reed Calculator and reprint. * **Use section markers for variable density.** Mark the stretches that differ in sett (and add gaps where you want them); the guide turns those into per-section sley patterns automatically. * **Check the Running Width** against your intended weaving width as you go — it's the quickest way to catch a miscount early. * **Landscape by design.** The report prints landscape because of the wide table; choose a paper size in Print Options that fits. * **For winding the warp** (not sleying), see the **Warp Winding Plan** and, for a sectional beam, the **Sectional Warping Plan**.