> 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/yarns-menu/gradient.md). # Gradient *Available on Desktop and Mobile.* Create a stepped color gradient between two colors and apply it to your warp, your weft, or any selected range of threads. The Gradient tool always works in **discrete steps — real yarns, not pixels**: eight steps means eight physical colors, and the preview always shows exactly what you will wind. ### Opening the Gradient tool {% tabs %} {% tab title="Desktop" %} There are four ways to open it: * **Yarns menu → Gradient** (Yarns and Palettes group) * **Design menu → Gradient** (Repeats group, next to Color Pattern) * The **gradient button** below the color action icons in the palette sidebar (right side of the drawdown) * **Right-click the WIF Palette → Gradient...** The Gradient window stays open while you work, so you can select ranges, apply, undo, adjust, and apply again without reopening it. {% endtab %} {% tab title="Mobile" %} * Tap **Yarns** on the rail (tablet) or the bottom dock (phone), then **Gradient…** under Palette {% endtab %} {% endtabs %}

Gradient Designer

### Quick start 1. Select a range of threads by dragging across the **warp or weft color bar** with the Select tool (or check **All warp** / **All weft** in the Gradient window). 2. Click the **Start** and **End** color wells to choose your two colors. 3. Set the number of **Steps**. 4. Click **Apply to Selection**. The status line at the bottom always tells you what will happen — for example, *"60 warp ends selected · 7–8 per step."* ### The controls #### Start and End colors The two color wells flank a strip showing the actual step colors. Click either well to open the color picker. The **⇄** button swaps start and end. #### Steps (2–24) How many distinct colors the gradient uses. Each step is a real yarn color you will need. If your selection has fewer threads than steps, the step count is automatically reduced to fit. #### Distribution Controls how the selected threads are divided among the steps: * **Linear** — every step gets an equal share. The classic evenly banded gradient. * **Curve** — wide blocks of the start and end colors, with the change compressed through the middle. Use the **Transition** slider to control how steep the shift is. * **Fibonacci** — step widths follow mirrored Fibonacci proportions (wide at the outside, narrowing toward the center). A naturally pleasing, organic spacing. * **Dither** — like Linear, but the boundary between each pair of bands is softened by interleaving single threads (...A A B A B B...). The **Transition** slider widens or narrows the interleave zone. * **Mix** — no solid bands at all. Adjacent colors interleave thread by thread across the whole gradient, densest at the transitions. **With Steps set to 2, this is the classic two-yarn ombré**: start with all of yarn A, sprinkle in single ends of yarn B at increasing density, pass through 1:1 alternation, and finish with all B. The mixing pattern is deterministic — the same settings always produce the same windable plan. #### Transition Controls how fast the color shift happens. Available for Curve, Dither, and Mix (Linear and Fibonacci have fixed bands, so it is disabled there). In all three cases, **100% is the gentlest, widest transition and lower values make the shift faster and more abrupt**: * **Mix at 100%** blends across the entire selection; at lower values the mixing concentrates around the midpoint of each color change, leaving solid zones between. * **Dither at 100%** uses the widest interleave zone at each band boundary while still keeping a solid core in every band; lower values shrink the zone down to a single swapped thread. * **Curve at 100%** is the classic ease; lower values push more threads into the outer colors and squeeze the change through fewer middle threads. #### Blend The color space used to compute the in-between colors: * **Perceptual** (recommended) — steps are computed in a perceptually uniform color space, so they look evenly spaced to the eye and stay vivid. Saturated opposites (say, indigo to gold) pass through rich intermediate tones instead of muddy gray-brown. * **RGB** — plain numeric interpolation, matching what graphics programs like Photoshop do by default. #### Mirror Produces a symmetric A→B→A gradient across the selection — very common in warp winding. Combines with every distribution, including Mix (for a fade out and back). #### Snap to yarn colors This is what turns a gradient from a pretty picture into a **windable, purchasable plan**. When enabled, every computed step color is replaced by the nearest real color from the yarn catalog, so each step is a yarn that actually exists. * The dropdown chooses the source: **All yarns**, **Catalog** (the built-in yarn catalog), or **My Yarns** (your personal stash — choose this to design gradients you can wind today). * The **…** button opens a checklist of suppliers and yarn lines so you can narrow the pool further — for example, only LoftyFiber 8/2 Cotton. Supplier checkboxes toggle all their lines at once; use All/None to reset. * The count line shows how many yarn colors are in scope. It turns orange when the pool is smaller than your step count — at that point some adjacent steps will snap to the same yarn and merge, and the status line reports the effective step count. * Snapped swatches are marked with a small dot; hover the swatch strip to see the yarn names. When you apply, snapped yarns bring their full identity into your palette — name, yarn line, thickness, and setts. #### All warp / All weft Check either box to apply the gradient to the entire warp or entire weft, ignoring any selection. **You can check both** — each direction gets its own full-length gradient, applied together as a single undoable action. Crossing a warp gradient with a weft gradient (especially with Mix) produces striking iridescent-style colorplay. #### The preview strip The thin strip above the status line shows the **thread-by-thread result** — this is where Distribution, Transition, Mirror, and Dither/Mix become visible, since the swatch strip alone can't show them. It updates live as you change any setting or drag out a new selection. ### Applying * **Apply to Selection** writes the gradient to the selected range (or all warp/weft). Each thread gets its step's color, palette entry, and — when Sync Thickness is on — the yarn's thickness. The whole apply is **one undo step**. * **Add to Palette** adds the step colors to your WIF palette as ordinary swatches without touching any threads — useful when you want to place the colors by hand or use them in Color & Weave Explorer. ### Trying variations: undo and redo without closing The ↶ and ↷ buttons in the bottom-left corner (or **Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y** — **Cmd+Z / Cmd+Shift+Z** on Mac — right in the Gradient window) undo and redo directly, so the natural rhythm is: apply, look at the drawdown, undo, change a setting, apply again — all without the window ever closing. ### Tips * **Two-yarn ombré:** Steps = 2, Distribution = Mix. Only two shuttles or two warp yarn packages needed. Lower the Transition slider if you want solid areas at each end with a faster blend between. * **Shop your stash:** Snap to **My Yarns** and scope to one yarn line — the gradient becomes a plan you can wind immediately, and every step in the palette carries the real yarn's name. * **Banding too visible?** Switch Linear to Dither for softened boundaries, or Mix to remove bands entirely. * **Warp + weft together:** check both All warp and All weft with the same two colors for a woven color field that shifts in both directions. * Your settings (steps, distribution, blend, mirror, snap scope, transition) are remembered while TempoWeave is open, so reopening the tool picks up where you left off. {% embed url="" %}