Seeking tartan design input for my "Leaf Peeper" Tartan

[unixken]

If it helps, the repeat of the pattern is 300 threads total. Of that, 54 threads (18%) are green. Less than 1/5th of the tartan is green.

EDIT: My Bad - My math did not account for the symmetry of the tartan (what appears on one side of the pivot also appears in reverse order, on the other side.) So the 54 threads are repeated, meaning 108 threads are green... or just over one third of the tartan. I stand corrected.

[Piipriker]

let me first say, that each design has it's own appeal. Personally I like modern, ancient and granite the best.

Now, for those having difficulties to see the colours correct I have a little chart to adjust the monitor with the basic controls (hue, saturation, brightness, contrast) of the monitor.

As the image is too large I can give you only the link

http://www.johannes-leckebusch.de/Mo...stbildsRGB.jpg

you must see every rectangle clearly separated from the other. what is to be taken into account too is the colour space (RGB, sRGB) and the colour temperature.

[unixken]

Since I've gone ahead and ordered an 8yd kilt done up in "Leaf Peeper", I thought I'd resurrect this thread a bit, to revisit the question of colors. But I was curious to see what effect different DESIGN TOOLS had, on them.

I thought I'd provide a comparison of different online tartan design tools, and show how they each represent the SAME DESIGN PARAMETERS. Now obviously, I can't order "swatches" of this from different mills, given that each mill has minimum lengths to satisfy. And since the different design tools each produce vastly different looks, we can see how it can be something of a crap shoot, short of ordering thread samples from the various mills.

However, the point is, we shouldn't be too quick to say "there isn't enough color X" in the design. Again, these three tools were fed the same design specs...

First, a screenshot of the Scotweb Tartan Design tool that I used, to place my order. This tool shows a rather dark representation:

Scotweb - Leaf Peeper.jpg

Next, the design tool at TartansAuthority.com. This tool presents the other end of the spectrum, with very bright representations of the colors:

TartansAuthority - Leaf Peeper.jpg

Finally, the design tool at TartanDesigner.com. This tool takes a middle ground, I believe, in the shades it displays.

TartanDesigner - Leaf Peeper.jpg

Fascinating stuff, this.

[AJBryant]

Man, that really drives home the issue with tartan design, doesn't it?

How will you ever know exactly what you're going to get?

I've been toying with designing my own tartan for a while, and I, too, have found it to look nice and sedate in one format, but loud (albeit not quite MacLeod! ) in another.

[Barb T]

How will you ever know exactly what you're going to get?

Once you decide on a design and pick a weaver, you can ask for a sample of the actual threads that would be used. At that point, you could actually ask for a choice of greens, for example. That way, you can have a little control over what the tartan will look like. Just remember that tartan is a weave of crossing stripes - only the squares where there is the same color in both warp and weft will show the "pure" colors. Others will be a blend of whichever stripes are crossing at that point. You can take the sample threads and wind them on a card and "weave" a few crossing stripes to see what the effects will be.

And remember that, unless you are willing to pay for a custom dye lot, you will need to work with the standard thread colors that the mill uses.

[Paul Henry]

Man, that really drives home the issue with tartan design, doesn't it?

How will you ever know exactly what you're going to get?

I've been toying with designing my own tartan for a while, and I, too, have found it to look nice and sedate in one format, but loud (albeit not quite MacLeod! ) in another.

One of the the ways you can get an idea of the colour balance is to ask for some samples of existing tartans from the weaver, it's a very good way to get a rough idea of how it might look, of course it's not foolproof but it can help.

[unixken]

One of the the ways you can get an idea of the colour balance is to ask for some samples of existing tartans from the weaver, it's a very good way to get a rough idea of how it might look, of course it's not foolproof but it can help.

A very good idea. I had a fair enough idea of the interplay and proportions of the colors I selected, based on comparisons to my Buchanan tartans, which use a similar set of major colors.

[AJBryant]

Those are both good ideas. I think the safest road is to order a small sample of a similar woven tartan and see how it compares. That's brilliant.

[Barb T]

Just be sure to order the samples from the mill you're going to have weave the tartan. And, while you're at it, have them send you threads so that you can see what the choices are.

[creagdhubh]

Sound advice from our highly experienced and resident kiltmakers.