Once all of the layers in your document have been assigned a weave structure, it should be checked for floats. ‘Float’ is the term used to describe any point when a yarn is not weaving into the fabric, in other words, it is temporarily floating on either the front (face) or the back of the fabric.
What constitutes a float is determined by the user, based on the maximum number of threads it is allowed to float over. For example, a float may be classed as any thread that floats over 8 or more warp or weft threads without weaving in. An acceptable float length may be higher or lower than 8, as decided by the designer, based on the end use of the fabric.
Checking for floats in a weave
- From the Weave Menu select Float Check Setup…
- Enter the maximum float length allowed for the warp and weft threads. The four colours displayed in the window will be used to identify the four different types of float within the design. Make a mental note of which colours you need to look out for depending on the type of floats you are most concerned about (with reference to your fabric end use).
- Click Scan. The colours will appear wherever a float has been found.
A window will also appear showing you the total number of floats found.
If thousands of floats have been found, it may be advisable to change one of your chosen weaves as this may be causing the majority of the floats by itself. You may also find that many floats appear where one weave meets another weave. Again, this can be remedied by changing one or both of the weaves involved.
Tip: Remember that floats may also occur at the repeat join if weaves meet at this point. If this happens it is a good idea to view the design in repeat when checking for floats.
Manually fixing floats
If there are not too many floats in the design, it can be quick and easy to fix them by hand. To do this, you need to know whether the float is on the face or the back of the fabric. Refer to the colours provided when you initially scanned for floats. Make sure your Jacquard layer is active and select the Pencil Tool from the Tools Palette.
- To fix a float on the face of the fabric, your active painting colour (the foreground colour in the Tools Palette) must be white (to signify no ‘lift’).
- To fix a float on the back of the fabric, your active painting colour must be black (to create a ‘lift’).
Click once, somewhere near the middle of the float to creat a stitching point. After a second, the float will disappear. Try to pick a point that is not too obvious in the pattern repeat, so that the chosen weave structure is not negatively affected visually.
From the Weave Menu, select Show Next Float. This will take you to the next float to be fixed. The float information window will update to show you the current float location and its length.
If you need to temporarily hide all of the floats, choose Weave > Show Floats. Switch them back on using the same command. Repeat the steps above for all the floats to be fixed.
Automatically repairing floats
If there are too many floats to fix by hand, they can easily be fixed in one go using the Repair Floats function.
Warp floats, weft floats or all floats can be fixed automatically using a specific weave structure. Simply look through the library for a suitable weave and make a note of it’s name. Then choose Weave > Repair Floats… Enter the name of your chosen structure (it can be copied and pasted from the Weave Library) and click OK. Lifts are then entered in the corresponding areas of the floats.
This function can either be used across the whole file, or within selected areas. Once the weave has been applied, the float information window will update showing any remaining floats and if so how many there are. The remaining floats can either be fixed by hand, or a different weave can be used to repair them again, until none remain.
Set the design back to a single repeat once the float correction process. This can be done by selecting One Repeat from the View Menu, or by clicking the One Repeat icon in the Toolbar of the Design Window.