does anyone know of a computer program that makes weave patterns

PC Stitch for one. And, David at VisualWrap is working on a program specifically targeted at custom rod thread weaves. You might inquire with him as to how it's coming along. If it's as good as VisualWrap, it should be a winner. His link is to the left in the sponsor column.

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Hi Bucky,
I have used the PC Stich for the last couple of years. You can make patterns for weaving but I would advice you to wait and check out David's program before buying the PC. The problem with the PC is that if you copy a picture of a fish and want to transfer it to a weaving graph or grid, this program picks up a lot of color variations that the human eye doesn't see. Lets say that you want to make a bass weave. The belly is white but when you transfer it to the PC, you may wind up with white, light shades of gray or light blue. Then you have to go back and change all those colors to white again which is time consuming. Sometimes you have to adjust the outline of the fish because of the different colors the PC picks up. Don't get me wrong, the program works, it is just time consuming. If Dave can come up with a program especilly for rodbuilders, I'll buy it.

I saw a working prototype of Visual Weave in Charlotte and it is amazing! Well worth waiting for. He was hoping to have it available by mid summer

Hi Gents,

The weave program has come a long way since Charlotte, but it still has a bit more to go. It needs to be released this year if I am to keep my sanity :-)

What Ellis says is interesting. The weave program (and I assume PC Stitch) analyses the pixels in an image to determine the closest match to an available pallete according to some algorithm. Certain colours can be a close match mathematically, but to the eye they look quite different. The weave program lets you limit the palette, and this helps minimise the amount of work required in touching up the finished pattern. If you are using PC Stitch, see if there is a way of limiting the colours that the program is choosing from and this might save you some work.

Dave Boyle
www.visualwrap.com