Intuitive Design Interface Based on the Tartan Sett

The Sett is the fundamental building block of all tartans - click here for a explanation of the construction of a tartan. Tartan Designer allows the designer to work on the sett - set the number of stripes and the thread count and colour for each stripe. The tartan based on this sett can then be generated and viewed.  The designer can choose as a starting point for a new design a blank template, any of over 3000 existing registered tartans, or even a randomly generated sett by clicking the Random button.

Changes to the design are easily implemented - stripes can be added or removed and the thread count and colour of any stripe can be changed. At any stage the revised design can be generated into a completed tartan and viewed, saved and printed. Tartan Designer allows a tartan to be viewed full screen at the maximun resolution of your monitor and all control windows can be hidden allowing just the tartan to be displayed. The tartan can be viewed at different levels of magnification allowing views of the tartan as it would appear in a finished garment or a closeup detailed view.

Photo Realistic 3D Rendition of the Finished Cloth

Tartan Designer uses advanced pixel shading technology to replicate a woven sample of cloth. This enables a design to be created and viewed in a close aproximation to an actual woven sample.

Woven cloth, by its nature, captures light in such a way that the colours appear to subtly change depending on the light level and its direction as the light catches the natural rise and fall of the thread structure. Tartan Designer allows fine tuning of this effect giving the designer unique control over the finished representation. Further controls allow for the addition of Speckle (simulates the natural roughness of spun thread) and Warp (allows controlled uneveness of the output giving a less 'generated' effect).  This allows the designer to work intuitively with what is close to actual samples of woven material. And, of course, it gives clients a very good representation of what their finished tartan will look like when woven.

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