How to figure out what pleats you want.

[AKScott]

Barb, thanks for mentioning the fell and associated taper.

I don't think it can be done in MSPaint. I might be able to do it in Gimp, I don't own photoshop.

Do you have a rule of thumb for rotating each successive pleat reveal in photoshop, or do you just wing it since you know what you are doing?

I was thinking with a 38" waist and 42" inch hips I would know I have to make 4" go away in say 28 pleats, click click whir, click, click whir, maybe 5 degrees on each sucessive paste up to get a reasonable idea of what the fell would look like?

I bet you just wing it. Thanks anyway for reading my question.

[Barb T]

I don't think it can be done in MSPaint. I might be able to do it in Gimp, I don't own photoshop.

All you need to be able to do is select a non-rectangular object, in this case a trapezoid. In PhotoShop, it's called the polygonal lasso tool. You just click four times, once in each corner, and you have a non-rectangular selection. I imagine that this could be done in Gimp.

Do you have a rule of thumb for rotating each successive pleat reveal in photoshop, or do you just wing it since you know what you are doing?

I actually measure. In the case of the tartan below, I scaled the sett size and the pleat size at the waist and hips, and drew lines to scale:



Then I used those to make a tapered selection that would be the right size at both the hips and waist. Depending on how generous I am with the pleat size at the waist, the rotation is typically somewhere between ~1 and 2 degrees. I just do trial rotations until the rotated slice matches perfectly, and then I just use that same amount of rotation for the next cloned slices.

Having said all this, it's infinitely easier to just pin up the tartan as a test (provided that you actually have the tartan). Just be sure to pin _tapered_ pleats that are the right size.

[Barb T]

One is to ask your kiltmaker to pin the fabric up a couple different ways and send you a picture. I have never done this. I would expect to be charged a fee for the service, but your kilt maker will be using the actual cloth from which your actual kilt is about to be made.

Actually, I do this for all kilt orders unless someone knows for certain that he wants the kilt pleated to the sett. I plunk the pinned tartan right on the scanner and save a jpeg directly that I can email. It takes maybe 10 minutes to pleat and scan a couple options, and, personally, I never charge for this. I consider it a critical part of the service to make sure that the client knows what all the options are and can make a choice.

Again, if you do this, you have to pin _tapered_ test pleats that are about the right size.

[AKScott]

It can be done in Gimp. The rotate function is just as finicky as ever. The trapezoid select is accomplished with the thrid icon on the top row of the main tool box, rectangle selct, ellipse select, than that thing I thought was a snare or noose is apparently the lasso tool.

[artificer]

It can be done in Gimp. The rotate function is just as finicky as ever. The trapezoid select is accomplished with the thrid icon on the top row of the main tool box, rectangle selct, ellipse select, than that thing I thought was a snare or noose is apparently the lasso tool.

I agree that Gimp is a little "uneven". I really hope they manage to polish it up a bit, as I'd rather not lay out $1200US for AdobeCS anytime soon.

Good work on the pleating pattern, I'm going about trying to work the pleating on the R'lyeh tartan in Gimp.

[SoSelkirk]

I have printed out a color sample on several sheets of legal size paper (landscape mode) and trim the ends so the pattern matches, tape end to end, and I end up with a 24" +/- strip of "paper tartan". This can then be folded different ways to make pleats. Make multiple strips and you can try different pleating styles. When you find a pattern you like, you can tape the upper edge down and even pull the bottom corners to see how it looks when the pleats open up.

[Barb T]

I have printed out a color sample on several sheets of legal size paper (landscape mode) and trim the ends so the pattern matches, tape end to end, and I end up with a 24" +/- strip of "paper tartan". This can then be folded different ways to make pleats. Make multiple strips and you can try different pleating styles. When you find a pattern you like, you can tape the upper edge down and even pull the bottom corners to see how it looks when the pleats open up.

Just remember that the size of the pleats you fold matters. It's best if you can scale the tartan so that the printout actually matches the sett size. Then it's easy.