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Getting Started

AdaCAD is an experimental workspace that applies parametric design to the domain of weave drafting. It supports algorithmic and playful approaches to developing woven structures and cloth, for shaft, dobby, and jacquard looms.

AdaCAD is freely accessible online, you do not need to download or install it on your computer. We recommend using the Chrome browser on a laptop or desktop computer for the best experience. We are also continually updating AdaCAD to experiment with new features, which means that there is more than one version of AdaCAD that you can choose from.

Follow these steps to get drafting and weaving:

Step 1: Choose your AdaCAD Version​

AdaCAD 3.0 (stable) AdaCAD 4.0 (beta)

Not sure? Visit the compare versions page.

Step 2: Create a Draft​

No matter which version of AdaCAD you choose, you can create drafts two ways:

  1. Creating a threading, treadling, and tie-up in "Draft" (4.0) or "Detail" (3.0) views
  2. Creating a dataflow in the "Workspace" view.

Step 3: Weave!​

Once you have created a draft, weave it on your loom. You can export drafts from AdaCAD to upload to computerized looms such as the TC2 or AVL Compudobby Loom. You can also manually follow patterns to setup analog looms.

Step 4: Share and Contribute​

We'd love to see what you made and to share it with the community. Email your design and creation to unstabledesignlab@gmail.com or share it on Instagram by tagging #adacad. AdaCAD is an open-source project, hoping to blossom into an open-source eco-system, which means we are looking to the community to help develop this project. While we work to get more establish different modes of contribution you can help by sharing your designs with us, editing or updating our documentation (via the "Edit this Page" feature on the bottom of every page), adding your own operations to AdaCAD and providing feedback to us via unstabledesignlab@gmail.com.

Other Resources​

To make AdaCAD accessible to weavers and other weave-curious folks, we do our best to develop content that shows both how to use AdaCAD and offers exciting examples and artifacts generated in our research lab.

Tutorials​

For more information about the project and user guides, explore projects in our Learn category or on our YouTube Channel

Examples​

Each version of AdaCAD includes Examples that you can load directly. You can also browse examples in the Learn section of this website.

Glossary​

Confused about the terminology we are using? This website also includes glossary!