Settings (app defaults & options)

Start up options for Shafts, Treadles, Overlay, Zoom, Units of Measure, and More

Default Settings

The Settings dialog lets you configure TempoWeave's behavior, appearance, and defaults for new projects. Settings are saved automatically and persist between sessions.

Location: File (backstage) → Settings

The dialog has two tabs: Default Settings (for new projects and startup) and Settings (for the current application session).

Startup Options

Sample Screen for Startup Options (requires scrolling to see all options)

Setting	Description
Load Draft on Startup	When checked, automatically opens a draft when TempoWeave launches
Open Default Project	Opens the built-in blank project (or your custom default)
Reload Last Project	Reopens the last file you were working on
Default Project	Choose a custom WIF file to use as your default starting draft. Click Browse to select a file, or Clear to return to the built-in default.

Language

Setting	Description
Language	Choose from System Default, English, Français, Deutsch, or Español. Changes require restarting TempoWeave.

Tip: You can create custom translations by editing the JSON files in the Locales/ folder within the application directory.

View Options

Setting	Description
Show Yarn Catalog	Display the yarn catalog panel when TempoWeave starts
Initial Drawing Tool	The drawing tool selected by default: Straight, Freehand, Line, or Point
Use GPU 3D View	Enable GPU-accelerated rendering for View Fabric and Cloth Simulation. If you experience display issues, uncheck this to use CPU-based rendering instead.

View Style Options

Setting	Description
Show Interlacement	Render interlacement shading effects in the drawdown view
Grayscale Drawdown	Desaturate cloth colors in the drawdown
Grayscale Palette	Desaturate all palette colors
Show Thickness	Display thread thickness visualization

Tie-Up Style

Controls how the tie-up matrix is displayed:

Option	Description
Block Style	Filled blocks showing shaft-to-treadle connections (default)
Numeric Style	Numbers displayed in each cell

Warp Header Style

Controls how the threading (warp) header is displayed:

Option	Description
Block Style	Filled blocks showing shaft assignments (default)
Numeric Style	Shaft numbers displayed in each cell
Color Style	Cells colored by thread color
Visible	Show or hide the warp header entirely

Weft Header Style

Same options as Warp Header Style, applied to the treadling (weft) header.

Grid Overlay Defaults

Gris Overlay and Numbering Defaults

Configure the grid overlay that helps with counting threads and picks:

Setting	Description
Drawdown	Show grid overlay on the main drawdown canvas
Warp	Show grid overlay on the threading canvas
Tie-Up	Show grid overlay on the tie-up matrix
Weft	Show grid overlay on the treadling canvas
Shaft Row Interval	Spacing between horizontal grid lines (3–14, default 4)
Thread Column Interval	Spacing between vertical grid lines (4–20, default 10)
Overlay Color	Grid line color: Dark Gray, Dark Red, Dark Blue, Dark Green, Dark Magenta, or Orange Red

Active Settings Tab

These settings affect the current application session and general behavior.

New Project Defaults

These values are used when creating a new draft:

Setting	Description
Shafts	Number of shafts (2–128, default 8)
Treadles	Number of treadles (2–128, default 10)
Loom Type	Tie-Up or Liftplan
Unit of Measure	Imperial (Inches) or Metric (cm)
Initial Zoom	Starting zoom level (1–40, default 10)
Default Palette	A yarn palette to load automatically for new projects. Choose from the Yarn Catalog or MyYarns collections, or "None" for default colors.
Default Warp Color	Starting warp thread color from the selected palette
Default Weft Color	Starting weft thread color from the selected palette

File Locations

Setting	Description
Default WIF Location	The folder that opens by default when saving WIF files. Click Browse to choose a folder, or Clear to reset.

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Theme

Setting	Description
Appearance	Light, Dark, or System (follows your OS setting). Default: System.
Accent Color	The highlight color used throughout the interface. Default: Blue.

Theme changes apply immediately — no restart needed.

Application Settings

Setting	Description
Telemetry Enabled	Send anonymous usage data to help improve TempoWeave
Version History Enabled	Keep a history of file versions for recovery
Remember Window Position	Restore the window size and position from your last session

File Associations

Setting	Description
Register as Default Handler	Associate .wif and .twa files with TempoWeave so they open with a double-click. The current registration status is shown below the checkbox.

Pattern Browser Settings

Setting	Description
Enable Pattern Browser	Turn on the pattern browser for browsing WIF files visually
Thumbnail Size	Small (96px), Medium (160px, default), or Large (256px)
Max Thumbnails	Limit how many thumbnails are cached: 50 to 5,000, or Unlimited
Generate Thumbnails in Background	Generate thumbnails automatically when browsing folders. If disabled, thumbnails are generated only when you click a file.
Clear Thumbnail Cache	Purge all cached thumbnails to free disk space

Draft Style

Controls the notation convention used for the drawdown:

Option	Description
American (default)	Shaft 1 at the bottom, treadling reads top-to-bottom, black squares indicate warp rises
Swedish	Shaft 1 at the top, treadling reads bottom-to-top, black squares indicate warp sinks

Note: Changing draft style affects how the drawdown is displayed and interpreted. If you're following a pattern, make sure your style matches the pattern's convention.

Cloud Library Settings

These settings appear only when the Cloud Pattern Library feature is enabled.

Setting	Description
Display Name	Your name as shown to others in the Cloud Pattern Library. Click Save to update it across all your shared patterns.

AI Draft Generation Settings

These settings appear only when the AI Draft feature is enabled.

Setting	Description
Claude API Key	Your API key for AI-powered draft generation. Click Test Key to verify it works.
AI Model	Choose between Claude Sonnet (more capable) or Claude Haiku (faster).

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Update Settings

Update settings are accessed separately from Help → Check for Updates.

Setting	Description
Auto Check for Updates	Automatically check for new versions on startup
Skipped Version	If you previously chose to skip a version, it's shown here. Click Clear to be notified about it again.
Check for Updates Now	Manually check for available updates