Textile Design Software: CAD Tools for Weave, Knit and Print Compared

Textile design software is chosen by the kind of fabric and by the machine that will make it, not by a ranking. Dobby and Jacquard designs need a weaving CAD that holds the weave and writes the loom’s own file: NedGraphics, Arahne ArahWeave, Pointcarré, Textronics and ScotWeave make them, and DigiBunai is a free open-source one. Knit designs for production are programmed in the knitting-machine maker’s system, such as Shima Seiki’s SDS-ONE APEX4 or STOLL’s CREATE PLUS, while knit CAD such as Pointcarré exports files for Stoll, Shima Seiki and Karl Mayer machines. Prints, repeats and colourways are drawn in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, often with textile plug-ins, or in a print CAD, and often reach the printer through separate RIP software. 3D garment simulation runs in CLO, Browzwear VStitcher or Style3D. Students can start free with Inkscape, Krita or Affinity for artwork, Arahne’s free downloads and the open-source DigiBunai for weaving, and the trial and student licences the 3D vendors publish. The table compares 20 tools from the vendors’ own pages.

Last verified: 12 October 2026. Each row was read on the vendor’s own page on the date shown. A price is quoted only where the vendor publishes it; otherwise the row says price on request. There are no affiliate links, and no tool is recommended over another: they are grouped by what they are for.

Textile design software at a glance

Tool	Vendor	Design types	Platform	Machine or loom output	Licence, trial, education	Source, date read
Jacquard, Dobby, Texcelle, Easy Weave, Easy Knit, Design and Repeat	NedGraphics (De Bilt, Netherlands, and New York; part of FOG Software Group)	Jacquard, dobby, knit, print, carpet and tuft, colourways	Not stated on the pages read	Jacquard machine formats “Bonas, Grosse, Stäubli, etc.” and punching machines; dobby machine conversions bundled with Dobby; Axminster and other carpet conversions as Texcelle add-ons	Demo on request; price on request	Jacquard, Dobby, about; 11 Oct 2026
ArahWeave, with ArahPaint	Arahne (Ljubljana, Slovenia)	Dobby and Jacquard weaving; ArahPaint for drawing in repeat	Linux and Mac; on a Windows PC it runs under Linux, directly or in a virtual machine	Stäubli JC3 to JC7, Bonas EP and XML, Grosse, Schleicher and other Jacquard formats, dobby loom formats, WIF	Personal Edition 2,500 € (handloom Jacquards only), Selvedge Edition 3,850 €, DobbyPro and JacquardPro on inquiry; free demo that saves images but not projects	ArahWeave, demo; 11 Oct 2026
Pointcarré (Jacquard, Dobby, Weave Design, Knitting, Printing, Mapping, flooring modules)	Pointcarré (France, with an office in New York)	Jacquard, dobby, knit, print, carpets and rugs, 3D mapping	Mac and PC, native	Jacquard heads from Stäubli, Bonas, Grosse, Tis, Schleicher and Actrom; dobby looms including Stäubli, Dornier and Picanol; knit files for Stoll, Karl Mayer and Shima Seiki	Price on request	Jacquard, Dobby, Knit; 11 Oct 2026
Design Dobby, Design Jacquard, Design 3D, Design Archive	Textronics Design Systems (Navi Mumbai, India)	Dobby, Jacquard, fabric simulation	Windows; not macOS directly, per its FAQ	Electronic Jacquards and card punching, with modules for Bonas, Stäubli and Grosse	Live demos; price on request	Jacquard, Dobby, FAQ; 11 and 12 Oct 2026
ScotWeave Dobby Designer, Jacquard Designer, Technical Weaver	ScotCad Textiles (Scottish Borders, UK)	Shaft and tappet weaves, Jacquard, 3D technical weaves	Not stated on the page read	Output to dobby and Jacquard looms; lists Bonas Jacquard heads among its products	Price on request	ScotWeave; 12 Oct 2026
DigiBunai	Digital India Corporation, under India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT	Jacquard design, graph generation and card punching	Windows; written in Java and listed as OS independent	Jacquard cards	Free and open source (GNU GPL 3.0); listed as beta	OpenForge project page; 11 Oct 2026
Fiberworks Silver and Silver Plus	Fiberworks	Weaving drafts	Windows and Mac	Silver Plus drives computer-assisted looms (AVL support costs extra)	Windows Silver US$160, Silver Plus US$200 or US$250 with AVL; unlimited trial that cannot save, weave or print	pricing page (updated 7 Aug 2022); 12 Oct 2026
SDS-ONE APEX4	Shima Seiki (Japan)	Knitting machine programming, pattern CAD, flat and circular knit, print and weave design, simulation	All-in-one system, hardware and software	Programs knitting machines	Price on request	SDS-ONE APEX4; 12 Oct 2026
APEXFiz	Shima Seiki	Design and simulation titles: Design-Standard (image and print), Design-Knit, Design-Weave (weave and towel), Design Pro (all of these), Design-Sox	Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit	Design data converted to machine data by a qualified knit manufacturer	Subscription; price on request	APEXFiz, product info, requirements; 11 and 12 Oct 2026
CREATE PLUS	STOLL brand: KARL MAYER has discontinued STOLL flat-knitting machines (Reutlingen plant closed since 31 October 2025) and agreed to transfer the brand to CIXING Group	Flat-knit programming, shape and grading, knit design (integrated CREATE DESIGN)	Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit	Programs STOLL flat knitting machines; converts and edits M1plus programs	Licence keys still sold, per the STOLL notice; no price on the product page	CREATE PLUS, STOLL notice; 11 and 12 Oct 2026
Illustrator and Photoshop	Adobe	Vector and raster artwork; Illustrator’s pattern tiles (grid, brick, hex) and Photoshop’s Pattern Preview	Windows and macOS	None; artwork files	Subscription (Creative Cloud)	Pattern Preview help (archived copy), Edit patterns help (archived copy); 11 Oct 2026
NedGraphics for Adobe: Colorist, Weave, Repeat, Design	NedGraphics	Plug-ins for colourways, plaids and dobby weaves, straight, drop, shift and mirror repeats, colour reduction	Inside Illustrator and Photoshop	None	Demo on request; price on request	plug-ins; 11 Oct 2026
Ergosoft RIP	Ergosoft (Switzerland)	Not a design program: drives the printer, with colour management and step and repeat	Windows	Digital printers on its supported-device list, including textile printers	Personalised trial; price on request	home, product, what a RIP is; 12 Oct 2026
CLO	CLO Virtual Fashion	3D garment simulation, patterns, virtual fabrics	Windows 11; macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon	None (garment and pattern files)	Student and Individual subscriptions, monthly or yearly, priced on the plans page; Enterprise and Academic by contact; 14-day free trial	plans, requirements; 11 and 12 Oct 2026
VStitcher and Lotta	Browzwear (Singapore)	2D drafting and 3D draping, fit, tech packs	Windows 10 or 11; macOS 15.4 or later	None (garment and pattern files)	Freelancer US$750 a year, FreelancerPlus US$1,500, Teams US$3,950, Enterprise custom; free six-month Learner licence for students and recent graduates	plans, requirements; 11 and 12 Oct 2026
Style3D Studio	Style3D	3D garment design and fabric simulation	Not stated on the pages read	None (garment files)	Free plan for non-commercial use, Individual US$40 a month or US$380 a year, Enterprise and Academic plans; 30-day free trial	Style3D Studio; 11 Oct 2026
Inkscape	Inkscape project	Vector artwork	Linux, Windows, macOS	None	Free and open source (GPL)	about; 11 Oct 2026
Krita	Krita project	Painting; Wrap Around Mode shows the image as if tiled, to check a repeat	Windows, macOS, Linux	None	Free and open source (GNU GPL)	home, View menu; 11 and 12 Oct 2026
Affinity	Canva	Vector, photo editing and layout in one app	macOS and Windows; iPad announced	None	Free for individuals	Affinity; 11 Oct 2026
ArahPaint6	Arahne	Drawing and image editing for repeats and fabric density	Windows and Mac; also in the Linux demo	None on its own; feeds ArahWeave	Offered as a full edition on the vendor’s download page	downloads; 11 Oct 2026

Which tool for which job

• Checks, stripes and dobby weaves for a power loom: a weaving CAD whose list includes your loom’s dobby: NedGraphics Dobby, ArahWeave DobbyPro, Pointcarré Dobby or Weave Design, Textronics Design Dobby, ScotWeave Dobby Designer.
• Jacquard upholstery, damask, labels and sarees: NedGraphics Jacquard or Texcelle, ArahWeave JacquardPro, Pointcarré Jacquard, Textronics Design Jacquard, ScotWeave Jacquard Designer. Confirm the Jacquard head’s file format is supported (a Stäubli JC5, JC6 or JC7 file, a Bonas EP file). DigiBunai is free and makes Jacquard cards.
• Handlooms and computer-assisted handlooms: Fiberworks Silver Plus; ArahWeave Personal Edition, which supports handloom Jacquards from AVL and Digital Weaving Norway.
• Flat knitting: the machine maker’s system: SDS-ONE APEX4 for Shima Seiki machines, with APEXFiz for design and simulation by subscription; CREATE PLUS for STOLL machines already installed.
• Jacquard knits, socks and hats on several makes of machine: a knit CAD that exports to each, such as Pointcarré Knitting (Stoll, Karl Mayer, Shima Seiki) or NedGraphics Easy Knit; APEXFiz has a sock title.
• Prints, repeats and colourways: Illustrator or Photoshop, with or without the NedGraphics plug-ins; NedGraphics Design and Repeat; Pointcarré Printing for colour separations. A RIP such as Ergosoft RIP can then drive the printer; some print CAD sends files to certain printers directly.
• Carpets, rugs and tufting: NedGraphics Texcelle and Tuft; Pointcarré’s flooring modules.
• 3D garments and virtual samples: CLO, Browzwear VStitcher, Style3D Studio. For yarn-level fabric simulation, APEXFiz.
• Garment patterns, grading, markers and cutting: these are garment CAD, not textile design software; see pattern making and grading.
• Learning on no budget: Inkscape, Krita or Affinity for artwork and repeats; ArahPaint6 and the ArahWeave demo; DigiBunai; Style3D’s free plan; Browzwear’s Learner licence.

What textile CAD software does that a graphics program does not

Textile CAD (computer-aided design for textiles) is drawing software that knows how the cloth is built. A graphics program draws the picture; textile CAD also stores the structure and the machine settings, and turns the picture into the file the loom or knitting machine reads. The vendors’ own descriptions show six things it adds.

• It works in repeat. Pointcarré’s knit module lets the designer “work directly in repeat mode” with straight, half-drop and mirror repeats. NedGraphics’ Repeat plug-in builds straight, drop, shift and mirror layouts inside Illustrator or Photoshop. General programs can preview a tile: Illustrator’s Pattern Options lays tiles in grid, brick or hex order, Photoshop’s Pattern Preview shows the image repeating as you draw, and Krita’s Wrap Around Mode shows the image “as if tiled”.
• It holds the weave. In a Jacquard CAD each colour area of the artwork is given a weave, and floats are checked: Pointcarré lists “automatic float control and correction”. In dobby CAD, Pointcarré calculates the threading and pegplan from the weave and finds the fewest shafts the threading needs.
• It draws on the machine’s grid. One column is one end or one needle, one row is one pick or one course. Pointcarré warns that “a knitted stitch is rarely a perfect square”: a motif drawn on a square grid for a non-square stitch comes off the machine stretched, so its knit module sets the grid to the gauge.
• It simulates yarn and fabric. Shima Seiki says APEXFiz creates virtual fabrics “from actual yarn data”; ArahWeave and Pointcarré render the woven cloth from the weave, the yarns and the colours, for approval before a sample is woven.
• It handles colour as the mill does. Pointcarré’s print module reduces the number of colours in a design and makes new colourways from it; NedGraphics’ Colorist plug-in recolours artwork into colourways; Pointcarré and ArahWeave carry Pantone textile libraries.
• It writes the machine file. ArahWeave’s format table runs from Stäubli JC3 to JC7 and Bonas EP to dobby formats for many loom makers; CREATE PLUS programs STOLL flat knitting machines; SDS-ONE APEX4 programs Shima Seiki knitting machines.

Plug-ins close part of the gap for designers who work in Adobe programs: NedGraphics sells Weave for Adobe to build plaids and dobby weaves inside Illustrator, and Colorist and Repeat for colourways and repeats. The loom or knitting file still comes from a weaving or knitting system.

Woven design: dobby and Jacquard software

A dobby lifts heald shafts, so a dobby design is a weave, a threading (draft) and a lifting plan, with warp and weft colour orders on top; checks and stripes are its home ground. A Jacquard lifts ends individually, so the design is a figure the width of one repeat, laid on a grid of ends and picks and filled with weaves. The site’s guides to the dobby and the Jacquard machine explain both, and woven design covers the elements of a weave on point paper.

All five industrial weaving CAD vendors in the table make both dobby and Jacquard products. What separates them for a buyer is the machine list and the platform. NedGraphics states support for “any kind of Jacquard machine format (Bonas, Grosse, Stäubli, etc.) or punching machine” and now bundles every dobby machine conversion into its Dobby product. Arahne publishes a full table of the formats ArahWeave reads and writes; ArahWeave is built on Linux, runs on a Mac, and on a Windows PC runs inside Linux. Pointcarré names its Jacquard heads (Stäubli, Bonas, Grosse, Tis, Schleicher, Actrom) and its dobby looms (Stäubli, Dornier, Somet, Sulzer, Picanol, CDL, Pignone). Textronics runs on Windows and lists Bonas, Stäubli and Grosse modules. ScotWeave describes “output to looms” without a list on its home page, so ask for yours.

Worked check: will the weave fit the dobby? Before anything is coloured, a dobby design has to fit the shafts and the sett has to suit the weave. The site’s weave calculator works this out from the weave notation. For a 3/1 twill in a Ne 40 cotton at 110 ends per inch:

Step	Working	Result
Repeat	3 up + 1 down	4 ends × 4 picks
Shafts for a straight draft	one shaft per end of the 4-end repeat	4 shafts
Yarn diameters per inch (Ashenhurst)	28 × √40	177.09
Maximum sett for the weave	177.09 × 4 ÷ (4 + 2 intersections)	118.06 ends per inch
Sett used	110 ÷ 118.06	93.2% of the maximum

Open the weave repeat and shafts calculator set to this twill. Dobby CAD does the same arithmetic for any weave; Pointcarré’s dobby module, for example, also finds the fewest shafts the threading needs, since ends that interlace alike can share a shaft.

Jacquard: the repeat is set by the hooks. On a harness tied in repeats, one hook lifts one end in every repeat, so one repeat is as wide as the hooks used divided by the ends per cm: 2,400 hooks at 40 ends per cm give a 60 cm repeat. That is the canvas a Jacquard CAD opens, in ends and picks, before any drawing starts. The worked example in the Jacquard guide follows one cloth from hook count to design grid.

Knit design software

For production knitting the question “which knit CAD is best” usually answers itself: the program has to produce a file the knitting machine runs, and the machine builders make their own systems. Shima Seiki’s SDS-ONE APEX4 combines “programming of knitting machines and pattern CAD functions” with design and simulation for flat knitting, circular knitting, printing and weaving. Its APEXFiz line is design and simulation software sold by subscription for Windows, in titles for image and print work, knit, weave and towel, and socks; Shima Seiki says APEXFiz design data “can be converted to machine data by a qualified knit manufacturer”. For STOLL flat knitting machines the programming system is CREATE PLUS, which includes shape development and grading, an integrated CREATE DESIGN interface, and opens existing M1plus programs. STOLL’s own position has changed: a notice on its site says KARL MAYER has discontinued its flat-knitting machine business under the STOLL brand, that the Reutlingen plant has been closed since 31 October 2025, and that selected STOLL assets, the brand among them, are to pass to CIXING Group; it adds that software licence keys can still be purchased and existing installations still used.

Independent knit CAD sits before that step. Pointcarré’s knit module draws jersey and Jacquard knits on a gauge-correct grid, generates the stitch grid and technical card for an intarsia sweater “ready for Stoll or Shima Seiki”, and exports .bmp, .pat, .tiff, .png and .tga files for flat and circular machines from Stoll, Karl Mayer and Shima Seiki. NedGraphics offers Easy Knit, and a Knit for Adobe Illustrator plug-in for Fair Isle, intarsia and stitch layouts. For the fabric itself, the site explains weft and warp knitting and the loop and needle structure a knit grid represents.

Print design, repeats and colourways

Many print designs start in Illustrator or Photoshop, because the artwork is the product. The textile work is in the repeat, the colour count and the colourways. Illustrator’s Pattern Options and Photoshop’s Pattern Preview make and check a tile; NedGraphics’ plug-ins add drop, shift and mirror repeats, recolouring and colour reduction inside the same programs. Print CAD goes further toward production: Pointcarré’s printing module builds up to 56 colour channels, one per ink, and handles digital, rotary and screen printing in one application. The site’s page on textile printing covers the printing methods themselves.

Worked check: fitting a repeat to a rotary screen. A rotary screen prints its pattern once per turn, so the repeat must divide the screen’s circumference exactly or a seam shows once per revolution. Artwork drawn at 150 mm for a screen of 640 mm circumference gives 640 ÷ 150 = 4.27 repeats. The nearest whole number is 4, so the repeat has to become 640 ÷ 4 = 160 mm: 10 mm larger, a 6.7% stretch. Drawing it at 160 mm (or 128 mm, for 5 repeats) from the start avoids the distortion. Check other sizes in the rotary repeat calculator, set to this example.

Design software and printing (RIP) software are different programs

Searches for textile printing software often mean the program that drives a digital printer. That is a RIP, a raster image processor: in Ergosoft’s definition, software that turns a design file into the raster of dots “a printer needs”, with colour management through ICC profiles. Ergosoft RIP can also fill the media with “mirrored, offset, or straight” repeats at the printing stage. A print studio may therefore need two programs, a design program for the artwork and its separations and the RIP its printer supports, though not always: Pointcarré states that its print module sends files directly to textile printers, Epson and Mimaki included, “bypassing any RIP already in place”. Check which route your printer supports.

3D garment and fabric simulation

3D programs put a fabric on a garment and a body. CLO, Browzwear and Style3D all publish their plans. Browzwear lists VStitcher at US$750 a year for a freelancer and gives students in accredited programmes a free six-month Learner licence. Style3D Studio has a 30-day trial, a free plan for non-commercial use and an Individual plan at US$40 a month. CLO offers a 14-day trial and Student and Individual subscriptions, and needs Windows 11 or an Apple-silicon Mac on macOS 14 or later. These programs simulate garments from patterns and fabric properties; they do not write loom or knitting files. For woven and knitted fabric at yarn level, Shima Seiki says APEXFiz builds virtual fabrics “from actual yarn data”. Pattern making, grading, marker making and cut planning (the searches for fabric cutting software) belong to garment CAD, covered in pattern making and grading.

Free and low-cost textile design software for students

• Artwork and repeats: Inkscape (vector, free and open source, Linux, Windows, macOS); Krita (painting, free and open source, with Wrap Around Mode for checking a repeat); Affinity, which Canva states is “free for individuals” on Mac and Windows.
• Weaving: DigiBunai, open source under the GNU GPL 3.0, for Jacquard design and card punching on Windows (its own download site answered 503 when this page was checked on 11 and 12 October 2026); Arahne’s downloads, which include ArahPaint6 as a full edition and an ArahWeave demo that saves images but not projects; Fiberworks, whose trial has no time limit but cannot save, weave or print.
• 3D: Style3D’s free plan (non-commercial), Browzwear’s six-month Learner licence, CLO’s 14-day trial and Student plan.

The industrial weaving packages (NedGraphics, Pointcarré, Textronics, ScotWeave, ArahWeave DobbyPro and JacquardPro) are sold on request, and none of the pages read for this table publishes education terms for them; ask the vendor. Repeats, colour reduction and drawing on a weave grid can all be learned on the free programs first.

How to choose textile design software

1. Start from the fabric. Woven, knit, print, carpet or garment: each row of the table above serves some of these and not others.
2. Name the machine. Write down the loom, Jacquard head or knitting machine, its controller and the file it reads, and find that format on the vendor’s list. A design that cannot be sent to the machine has to be redrawn.
3. Check the platform. Some run only on Windows (Textronics, APEXFiz, CREATE PLUS), some on Mac and PC (Pointcarré), one on Linux and Mac (ArahWeave).
4. Read the licence. Subscription or perpetual, per seat or per site, and what an education licence allows. Prices change; take them from the vendor’s page on the day you buy.
5. Trial it with your own design. Weave one of your fabrics in the demo, export the machine file and have it run, or compare the simulation with the woven sample.
6. Ask who supports it near you. Training and a local agent matter more for a loom-connected system than for a drawing program.

Questions

What is the best software for textile design?

There is no single best one: the right program is the one that designs your kind of fabric and writes the file your machine reads. Woven mills use weaving CAD such as NedGraphics, ArahWeave, Pointcarré, Textronics or ScotWeave; knitters use the machine maker’s system; print designers use Illustrator or Photoshop with textile plug-ins or a print CAD.

Which software is used for textile designing?

Textile designers use general graphics programs (Illustrator, Photoshop, Inkscape, Krita, Affinity) for artwork, and textile CAD for production: weaving CAD for dobby and Jacquard, knit CAD and machine programming systems for knitwear, print CAD for separations and colourways, and 3D programs such as CLO, Browzwear and Style3D for garments.

What is the best textile CAD software for knitting?

For programming, the one from the knitting machine’s maker: SDS-ONE APEX4 for Shima Seiki machines (APEXFiz designs and simulates, and a qualified knit manufacturer converts its data to machine data), and CREATE PLUS for STOLL flat knitting machines, whose production has ended but whose licence keys are still sold. For design across several makes, knit CAD such as Pointcarré exports pattern files for Stoll, Karl Mayer and Shima Seiki machines.

Is there free textile design software?

Yes. Inkscape and Krita are free and open source, and Affinity is free for individuals. For weaving, DigiBunai is open source, and Arahne’s download page includes ArahPaint6 as a full edition. Style3D has a free non-commercial plan, and Browzwear gives eligible students a free six-month licence.

What software is used for digital textile printing?

Usually two kinds. A design program prepares the artwork, repeat and colour separations: Photoshop or Illustrator, NedGraphics Design and Repeat, Pointcarré Printing. A RIP, such as Ergosoft RIP, manages colour and sends the job to the printer; some print CAD, such as Pointcarré for Epson and Mimaki printers, can send the file directly.

What is CAD in textile design?

Computer-aided design for textiles: software that draws a design in repeat, assigns weaves or stitches, simulates the fabric and its colourways, and writes the file a loom, Jacquard head or knitting machine reads. The CAM side is that last step, where the design becomes machine data.

Sources

• Weaving CAD: NedGraphics Jacquard, Dobby, Texcelle and plug-ins for Adobe; Arahne ArahWeave (formats, editions, prices) and downloads; Pointcarré Jacquard, Dobby, Printing and about; Textronics Design Jacquard, Design Dobby and FAQ; ScotWeave; DigiBunai on OpenForge; Fiberworks pricing.
• Knitting: Shima Seiki SDS-ONE APEX4, APEXFiz, APEXFiz product information and system requirements; STOLL CREATE PLUS and the notice on the STOLL site; Pointcarré Knit.
• Print and colour: Adobe Pattern Preview (archived copy; Adobe’s help pages refuse scripted reads) and Edit patterns for Illustrator (archived 4 January 2026); Ergosoft Ergosoft RIP and What is a RIP.
• 3D: CLO plans and system requirements (September 2026); Browzwear pricing plans and system requirements; Style3D Studio.
• Free software: Inkscape; Krita, its download page and manual; Affinity.

How this page is kept

Last verified: 12 October 2026. Every product, platform, machine format and price on this page comes from the vendor’s own page, read on the date given in the table; a price is the vendor’s published figure on that date and may have changed since. Where a vendor publishes no price, the page says price on request rather than guess. The worked checks use the site’s calculators as they stood on this date. Tools are listed by what they design, and no vendor has paid for or reviewed this page.

Change log. 12 October 2026: rewritten in full. The earlier version listed general graphics and garment programs (Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDRAW, Procreate, Canva, Spoonflower, CLO, Browzwear, Optitex, TUKAcad) and left out the weaving and knitting CAD that textile designers use to reach the loom. It quoted prices with no date or vendor source, claimed the software makes designs meet ISO and ASTM standards, and described an unnamed brand that cut fabric waste by 30% with no source. Those claims are withdrawn. Garment pattern making, grading and cutting are left to the site’s pattern-making page.

Found an error, or a vendor whose terms have changed? Please tell us through the contact page, naming the row and the vendor page that disagrees.