Colours are added to the design using the Colour Palette and the Warp and Weft Colour plans. Colours can be chosen from stored colour files, the Swatches Palette and from the selected colour picker. Every AVA weave design has its own colour palette which can store limitless colour variations of the design.

When using Dobby stand alone, the colour palette will open automatically when the design is created. When using Checks & Stripes, the colour palette will need to be opened separately.

Go to Window Menu > Weave > Colour Palette. The palette will open displaying the three standard colours (black, white and red).

To change the first colour, do one of the following:

• Double click on the first square in the colour palette to access the active colour file. Click on a new colour in the colour file which opens and click OK.

• Drag a colour from the Swatches Palette directly to the first colour square in the weave colour palette. If the Swatches Palette isn’t open, access it by clicking on the first small multi coloured button at the top of the Layers window.

• Hold down the ⌥ (option) key and click once on the first square in the colour palette to access the colour picker. Choose a new colour from the picker and click OK.

Repeat above, using any option, to change the other colours across the top row of the weave colour palette.  The new colours will be stored with the design.

Once you have added some colours to the palette they can be used in the design.

Colouring the Warp and Weft bars

If the Warp and Weft colour bars are not already being displayed in the design window they will need to be opened.

1. Go to Weave Menu > Show Warp and Weft or click on the Show Warp and Weft button in the toolbar.
2. The Warp colour bar will appear at the bottom of the Design Window and the Weft colour bar will appear at the right of the window.
   
   
   
3. Click on the colour you wish to add to the design in the colour palette.
4. Move the cursor to one of the colour bars and it will change to a pencil icon. Click down on the bar and drag over the required number of ends or picks. The chosen colour will appear on the colour bar and in the design in the area selected.
5. Repeat this for any other colours you wish to use in both the warp and weft bars.
   
   

Colouring using the Warp and Weft windows

This method is similar to drawing colours directly on the colour bars, although separate windows are used for each set of threads.

The advantage of this method is when you need to colour specific ends or picks, it is easier than using the colour bars because the colour windows display numbered grids in the same way as the Pegplan and Threading Windows, so you can easily identify a specific end or pick.

1. Go to Window Menu > Weave > Warp Colour, or click on the relevant button in the Tool bar. The window will open displaying the number of colours which are set in the Weave Settings .
   
   Each colour in the colour palette is given a letter reference which can be used to enter the colour sequence as a formula. The colours are lettered alphabetically from left to right in the colour palette.
   
   The bottom row of the colour windows relates to colour a, the second row is colour b, and so on through the alphabet for all the squares shown. The reference key on the left of the window is designed to help you remember which row relates to each colour in the palette.
2. Draw in the Warp Colour Window on the relevant row for the colour sequence you wish to enter.
3. Repeat these steps for the Weft Colour window as desired.

Entering the colour sequence as an algebraic formula

The colour sequence can be entered as an algebraic formula from both the colour bars and the colour windows. To access the formula drawer, hold down ^ (control key) on the keyboard and click in the relevant bar. Select Edit formula and follow the method detailed for the Threading window to enter the desired colour sequence.