Main Window Overview
The TempoWeave Studio Interface
When you open TempoWeave Studio, you're looking at a purpose-built workspace designed around the way weavers think about drafting. Everything you need — your threading, treadling, tie-up, drawdown, colors, and tools — is visible at once, organized into distinct areas that mirror the structure of a traditional weaving draft.
This guide walks through each area of the main window so you know where everything is and how the pieces fit together.
Title Bar
The title bar runs across the very top of the window and shows two pieces of information:
Application Name — "TempoWeave Studio" is always displayed
License Tier — Your current license level appears after the name (e.g., "TempoWeave Studio — Pro"). This tells you at a glance which tier you're running. See the Licensing Guide for details on what each tier includes.
On macOS the title bar follows the standard system layout with the traffic-light window controls (close, minimize, maximize) on the left. On Windows the minimize, maximize, and close buttons are on the right.
Quick Access Toolbar
Just below the title bar — above the ribbon tabs — you'll find a row of small icon buttons called the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT). This is your shortcut strip for the actions you use most often, always visible regardless of which ribbon tab is selected. You can optionally show the QAT below the main ribbon, or hide it completely. If you hide it, you can always opt to show it again by clicking the small down arrow to the far right of the main menu and select Show Quick Access Toolbar.
The default Quick Access Toolbar includes:
File Operations
New — Create a new blank draft
Open — Open an existing WIF file
Browse — Browse your pattern library
Recent Files — Jump to recently opened designs
Save — Save the current draft
Lock — Lock or unlock the draft to prevent accidental changes
Edit Operations
Undo — Undo the last action
Redo — Redo an undone action
Cut — Cut the current selection
Copy — Copy the current selection
Paste — Paste from the clipboard
Insert — Insert clipboard contents (shifts existing data rather than overwriting)
Drawing Tools
Straight — Draw straight diagonal lines
Freehand — Draw freely in any direction
Line — Draw horizontal or vertical lines
Point — Place or remove individual cells
Thread Operations
Insert Thread — Insert a new thread at the cursor position
Remove Thread — Remove the thread at the cursor position
Selection Tools
Select — Select a rectangular region
Select Special — Select by criteria (color, shaft, etc.)
Select All — Select the entire grid
The QAT gives you one-click access to these essentials so you don't have to switch ribbon tabs in the middle of working. Every button shows a tooltip when you hover over it.
Ribbon Tabs
The ribbon is the wide toolbar area below the Quick Access Toolbar. It's organized into tabs, each grouping related tools and commands. Click a tab name to switch between them.
File (Backstage)
Clicking File opens a full-page backstage view rather than a ribbon tab. This is where you manage files and application-level settings:
New — Create a blank draft
Open — Open a WIF file from disk
Save / Save As — Save your work
Close — Close the current draft
Recent Designs — A list of your recently opened files, with the ability to pin favorites and remove entries you no longer need
Recent Folders — Folders you've recently opened files from, also with pin and remove options
Browse Drafts — Open the pattern browser to explore your draft library
Print — Access all print options including Threading, Treadling, Tie-Up, Drawdown, Color Card, Warp Winding Plan, Weft Color Plan, Project Report, and Weaver's Writeup
Export — Export your draft to other formats
Settings — Open application settings (appearance, default paths, preferences)
Exit — Close TempoWeave Studio
Click anywhere outside the backstage, or press Escape, to return to your draft.
Home
The Home tab contains your everyday drafting tools — file operations, drawing tools, selection tools, clipboard operations, and thread management. This is the tab you'll spend most of your time on. It also includes the Sync Color and Sync Thickness options that control whether warp and weft color or thickness assignments stay synchronized when you draw.
Project
The Project tab is for project-level settings and information — project details, notes, and the Weaver's Writeup editor where you can create printable pattern documents.
Design
The Design tab provides tools for building and modifying your draft structure. This includes operations on the threading, treadling, and tie-up; common weave structures; design repeats; color repeats; thickness repeats; color pattern drawing; and advanced composition tools like Echo, Interleave, Plot on Network, Amalgamation, and Block Substitution.
Tools
The Tools tab contains analytical and specialized operations — Fabric Analysis, View Fabric (a realistic cloth simulation), 3D View, Float Check, Prepare Threading, Treadle Reducer, Treadle Expander, Tie-Up Operations, Section Markers, Section Assembly, and the Weave Assistant for interactive dobby-style weaving.
Yarns
The Yarns tab is for managing your yarn library and specifications — the Yarn Catalog, yarn profiles, and color management tools.
View
The View tab controls how your draft is displayed — zoom level, grid appearance, color vs. black-and-white display, interlacement view, thread thickness display, draft style (American or Swedish notation), variegation display, and ruler/numbering options.
Cloud
The Cloud tab provides access to the Cloud Pattern Library for sharing and discovering patterns online. This tab is only visible when the Cloud Library feature is enabled.
Window
The Window tab manages your workspace layout — Split View (to view two drafts side by side), Focus Mode (which hides the ribbon for maximum drafting space), and Full Screen mode.
Help
The Help tab includes links to documentation, the About dialog, version information, and support resources.
Document Tabs
Below the ribbon you'll find a tab strip showing your open drafts. Each tab represents one WIF file and shows:
File name — The name of the WIF file (e.g., "Huck Lace Towels.wif")
Modified indicator — An asterisk (*) appears after the name when the draft has unsaved changes
Lock indicator — A lock icon appears before the name when the draft is locked to prevent accidental changes
Close button — An X on each tab lets you close that draft (you'll be prompted to save if there are unsaved changes)
Click a tab to switch between open drafts. You can also drag tabs to reorder them.
Split View
From the Window tab, you can enable Split View to divide the workspace into two panes, each with its own set of document tabs. This lets you view two drafts side by side — useful for comparing patterns or copying elements between designs. The active pane is highlighted with a subtle border, and you can drag the divider between panes to adjust the split.
The Four-Pane Design Area
The center of the window is the heart of TempoWeave Studio — a four-pane drafting area that displays your weaving draft in the traditional format used by weavers worldwide. The four panes are locked together so they always stay aligned:
Threading / Warp Header (Top Left)
The top-left pane shows the threading — which shaft each warp thread passes through. The columns represent individual warp threads (numbered along a ruler at the top), and the rows represent shafts (numbered along the right edge). A filled cell at the intersection of thread 5 and shaft 3, for example, means thread 5 is threaded on shaft 3.
The color bar running along the top of the threading shows the warp color order — each thread's assigned color. Click on a color cell to change it to the currently selected palette color.
This pane scrolls horizontally in sync with the drawdown below it.
Tie-Up (Top Right)
The top-right pane shows the tie-up — the connections between shafts and treadles. Rows represent shafts and columns represent treadles. A filled cell means that shaft is tied to that treadle.
In Liftplan mode, this pane instead shows which shafts are lifted for each pick directly, and the tie-up is not used.
The tie-up pane stays fixed in position — it doesn't scroll — so it's always visible as a reference while you work.
Drawdown (Bottom Left)
The bottom-left pane is the drawdown — the main cloth view showing the interlacement of warp and weft. This is the visual representation of what your woven fabric will look like based on your threading, tie-up, and treadling.
Each cell represents the crossing of one warp thread and one weft pick. A filled cell means the warp thread is on top; an empty cell means the weft pick is on top. The colors shown are the actual warp and weft colors you've assigned.
The drawdown scrolls both horizontally and vertically. A horizontal scrollbar appears at the bottom. The content is right-anchored — it aligns to the right edge of the pane, which matches the weaving convention of threading from right to left.
Treadling / Weft Header (Bottom Right)
The bottom-right pane shows the treadling — which treadle is pressed for each pick (row). The rows represent individual picks and the columns represent treadles. A filled cell at pick 10, treadle 2 means treadle 2 is pressed for the 10th pick.
In Liftplan mode, this pane shows which shafts are raised for each pick directly.
The color bar along the left edge shows the weft color order — each pick's assigned color. Click on a color cell to change it to the currently selected palette color.
This pane scrolls vertically in sync with the drawdown, and the vertical scrollbar on the far right controls the scrolling for both panes.
How Scrolling Works
The four panes are synchronized so that scrolling any one pane keeps the others aligned:
Scrolling horizontally (via the drawdown's scrollbar) moves both the drawdown and the threading together, keeping warp threads aligned
Scrolling vertically (via the treadling's scrollbar) moves both the drawdown and the treadling together, keeping picks aligned
The tie-up stays fixed — it doesn't scroll because it's always the same compact size
This synchronized scrolling means you never lose track of which thread corresponds to which shaft, or which pick corresponds to which treadle.
Rulers and Numbering
Thread numbers appear along the top of the threading pane, and shaft/treadle numbers appear along the edges of the tie-up. These labels scroll with the content, so you always know exactly where you are in the draft — even in a pattern with thousands of threads.
Color Palette Sidebar
The right side of the window contains the Color Palette — a narrow sidebar that gives you quick access to your project's colors. It's divided into two sections:
Active Palette — Shows only the colors currently in use in your draft, making it easy to find and select your working colors
WIF Palette — Shows every color defined in the WIF file, including unused colors available for adding to your design
Between the two palettes you'll find three small action buttons for Color Swap, Color Exchange, and Edit Yarn — quick access to color operations without needing to right-click.
Click any color swatch to select it as your current drawing color. The selected color is applied when you click on warp or weft color cells in the design area.
For full details on the palette, color operations, sorting, and tips, see the Color Palette Guide.
Coordinate Indicator
In the top-right corner of the design area, near the tie-up, you'll find a small text display that shows your current cursor position. As you move your mouse over any of the four panes, this indicator updates to show the thread and pick number, or the shaft and treadle position — depending on which pane the cursor is in.
When you have a selection active, the coordinate indicator also shows the dimensions of the selected region (e.g., "12 x 8" for a selection spanning 12 threads and 8 picks).
This is especially helpful when working on large drafts where it's easy to lose track of exactly which thread or pick you're on.
Status Bar
The bottom edge of the window shows the status bar — a narrow strip that displays key information about the current draft at a glance:
File Name — The name of the currently loaded WIF file, shown in bold on the left. If no file is loaded, it shows "No WIF Loaded"
Draft Statistics — A summary of the current draft's structure:
Shafts — Number of shafts in the draft
Treadles — Number of treadles
Mode — Whether the draft uses Tieup or Liftplan mode
Threads — The highest warp thread with a shaft assignment (the actual threaded width, not the maximum capacity)
Picks — The highest weft pick with treadling data
Zoom — Current zoom level
The status bar updates automatically as you work — adding threads, changing the tie-up mode, or zooming in and out are all reflected immediately.
Keyboard Shortcuts
TempoWeave Studio supports standard keyboard shortcuts for common operations:
Ctrl+N (Cmd+N on Mac)
New draft
Ctrl+O (Cmd+O)
Open file
Ctrl+S (Cmd+S)
Save
Ctrl+Shift+S (Cmd+Shift+S)
Save As
Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z)
Undo
Ctrl+Y (Cmd+Y)
Redo
Ctrl+X (Cmd+X)
Cut
Ctrl+C (Cmd+C)
Copy
Ctrl+V (Cmd+V)
Paste
Ctrl+A (Cmd+A)
Select All
Delete
Clear selection
Escape
Cancel selection or close dialog
Tips
Start on the Home tab. It has everything you need for basic drafting — drawing tools, selection, clipboard, and thread management. Switch to other tabs only when you need their specialized features.
Use the Quick Access Toolbar for speed. The QAT is always visible, so frequently used actions like Save, Undo, and tool switching are always one click away without changing tabs.
Watch the status bar. It's a quick sanity check — if you're expecting 200 threads and the status bar shows 180, you know something's off before you print.
Lock your draft when it's finished. The Lock button prevents accidental changes to a completed design. You can still view and print, but editing is blocked until you deliberately unlock.
Try Split View for comparisons. Open two drafts side by side to compare threading patterns, check color choices, or copy ideas between designs.
Use Focus Mode for distraction-free drafting. When you need maximum screen space for the drawdown, Focus Mode hides the ribbon. An Exit Focus Mode button appears in the Quick Access Toolbar to bring it back.
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