Warp Spread

Warp Spread Dialog

Original Shaft	Spreads To
Shaft 1	Shafts 1, 5, 9
Shaft 2	Shafts 2, 6, 10
Shaft 3	Shafts 3, 7, 11
Shaft 4	Shafts 4, 8, 12

Mode	What It Does	Target Shafts
Automatic Even Spread	Spreads all shafts evenly by a multiplier	Must be a multiple of current count
Manual Spread	Spreads one shaft across up to 8 chosen targets	Any shaft numbers you specify

What It Does

Warp Spread takes the threads on one shaft and distributes them across multiple shafts. The tie-up is automatically updated so the cloth structure is preserved — the same threads still interlace the same way, but they're now controlled by different shafts.

This gives you finer control over individual threads. Where before a single shaft raised (or lowered) all those threads together, now they're split across multiple shafts and can be controlled independently in future treadling changes.

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Opening Warp Spread

• Ribbon: Tools tab > Optimize group > Warp Spread button

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The Warp Spread Dialog

The dialog offers two modes, selected by radio button. Only one mode is active at a time — the inactive mode is grayed out.

Automatic Even Spread (default)

Spreads all shafts evenly by a multiplier. You choose how many total shafts you want, and TempoWeave distributes every shaft's threads across the expanded range.

• From: Your current shaft count (shown for reference)

• To: The target shaft count (must be a multiple of your current count)

How it distributes: Each original shaft's threads alternate across its group of new shafts. For example, spreading 4 shafts to 12 (a 3× multiplier):

Original Shaft	Spreads To
Shaft 1	Shafts 1, 5, 9
Shaft 2	Shafts 2, 6, 10
Shaft 3	Shafts 3, 7, 11
Shaft 4	Shafts 4, 8, 12

The first thread on shaft 1 stays on shaft 1, the second goes to shaft 5, the third to shaft 9, then back to shaft 1, and so on.

Manual Spread

Select the Manual Spread radio button to switch to this mode.

Spreads a single shaft's threads across up to 8 target shafts of your choosing.

• From Shaft: Which shaft to spread (pick any shaft in your draft)

• To Shafts: Up to 8 target shafts — enter shaft numbers in any of the 8 fields (values greater than 0 are included). The threads will cycle through the specified shafts in order.

Example: Spreading shaft 1 to shafts 1 and 5 means the first thread stays on shaft 1, the second moves to shaft 5, the third goes back to shaft 1, and so on — alternating between the two.

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How to Use It

Automatic Even Spread

1. Open Warp Spread from the Tools tab > Optimize group

2. Make sure the Automatic Even Spread radio button is selected (this is the default)

3. Set the To field to your desired shaft count (a multiple of your current count)

4. Click Apply

All shafts are spread evenly and the tie-up is updated.

Manual Spread

1. Open Warp Spread from the Tools tab > Optimize group

2. Select the Manual Spread radio button

3. Select the From Shaft

4. Enter the target shaft numbers in the To Shafts fields

5. Click Apply

The selected shaft's threads are distributed across your chosen targets.

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Step-by-Step Example: Doubling Shafts for More Control

You have a 4-shaft twill and want to spread it to 8 shafts so you can create more complex variations:

1. Open Warp Spread from the Tools tab

2. With Automatic selected, set To: 8 shafts (From: 4 shafts is shown for reference)

3. Click Apply

Now shaft 1's threads are split between shafts 1 and 5, shaft 2's between 2 and 6, and so on. The tie-up has been expanded so the cloth still looks the same, but you can now edit the tie-up to create patterns that weren't possible with just 4 shafts.

Step-by-Step Example: Spreading One Shaft Manually

You have a draft where shaft 3 controls too many threads and you want to split it for finer control:

1. Open Warp Spread from the Tools tab

2. Select the Manual Spread radio button

3. Set From Shaft to 3

4. Enter 3 in the first To Shaft field and 7 in the second (alternating the threads between these two shafts)

5. Click Apply

Half of shaft 3's threads stay on shaft 3, and the other half move to shaft 7. The tie-up is updated so shaft 7 has the same connections as shaft 3 — the cloth looks identical, but you now have independent control over the two groups of threads.

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When to Use It

• Preparing for complex structures — Spread a simple threading to more shafts so you can modify the tie-up for more intricate patterns

• Converting between structures — Some weave structures require more shafts than others. Spreading gives you the extra shafts while preserving the basic threading order

• Lace and openwork — Lace weaves often need threads from the same basic group to be on different shafts so they can be independently controlled for leno or doup effects

• Sampling — Spread your warp across more shafts to experiment with different tie-ups on the same threading

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Tips

• Undo works — Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z) reverts the spread in one step.

• The cloth doesn't change — After spreading, the tie-up is set up so the cloth looks exactly the same as before. The benefit is that you now have more shafts to work with and can modify the tie-up for new patterns.

• Works with liftplan — Warp Spread works in both tie-up and liftplan modes. The liftplan is automatically updated along with the threading.

• Check your loom — Make sure your loom has enough shafts for the expanded draft. Spreading 8 shafts to 24 requires a 24-shaft loom (or a dobby/computer-controlled loom).

• Multiplier matters — For automatic even spread, the target must be a multiple of your current shaft count. You can't spread 4 shafts to 7 — it would need to be 8, 12, 16, etc.

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Quick Reference

Mode	What It Does	Target Shafts
Automatic Even Spread	Spreads all shafts evenly by a multiplier	Must be a multiple of current count
Manual Spread	Spreads one shaft across up to 8 chosen targets	Any shaft numbers you specify