DigiBunai™ CAD Software DigiBunai™ aid's the weavers to create digital artwork and translate the saree design to be loaded to the looms. DigiBunai™ is the first of its kind Open Source Software for Jacquard and dobby weaving. DigiBunai™ is customized for Banarasi Saree having the unique feature of Garment Viewer which works as a play area for designers/weavers. The software is customizable (language and library of local designs) and also has the ability to integrate digital design tool of the user’s choice. DigiBunai™ supports Handloom as well as Power loom with Dobby and Jacquard weaving techniques. This is first of its kind Open Source Software that provides end-to-end functionality to the designers, weavers and artisans to efficient their processes. The development of the software is based on the requirement received from the various user categories like Handloom Designers, Handloom Weavers, Power Loom Manufactures, Artisans and Academicians. The design library created during the usage of the application strengthens the concept of re-use and reproduce. The application has an NSQF-compliant bridge course (Textile Designer-handloom Jacquard) to train the artisans of Handloom Jacquard. Aim Manual to digital transformation Livelihood enhancement Increase self-employment Sustainability of Indian handloom industry Preserve the handloom heritage of India Functions The functions of the developed software are shown below: Provision creates weaves, motifs/designs and fabrics. Library of Weave Patterns, Artworks and Fabrics. Flexibility to change the size, repeats and orientation of the design. Automatic color reduction and color replacing. Design repeats with mirroring and repeats fixation. Provision to create the customized graph based on the loom parameters. Area and color base weave pattern filling in Artwork. Auto Detection and Elimination of yarn floats. Provision to print the graph and direct punching through CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) Calculate the yarn consumption for fabric production. Support Extra Warp and Extra Weft Jacquard Weaving. Function to create two-layer fabric. Colourways to visualize the fabric with various yarn color combinations. Provision to create or modify the layout of garment (specifically saree). Option to see the front and back side view of the fabric. Function to Print and Export the Weaves, Designs, Fabric and Garments. Function to customize the yarn parameters to set the fabric quality and simulation. Seamless integration of 3rd party design tools. Feature to generate compatible output for electronic jacquard weaving. Products Dobby Weave DigiBunai™ Dobby is a unique solution for creating virtual weave-based designing of woven samples. It enables textile designers to conceive better and more weave patterns to suit the needs and liking of the customers or buyers. Facility to create Weave and save in library. Autogenerating Drafting, Peg Plan, Treadling and Tie-up. Weave repeat visualization. Library of 545 weave patterns. Provision to create double layer fabric. Multi and Complex Weave Generator. Facility to create Extra Warp patterns. Yarn sequencing. Front and rear side fabric visualization. Colorways function to visualize fabric with various yarn color combinations. Artwork Designer DigiBunai™ Artwork Designer is a platform for freehand drawings. It also uses to convert paper sketches into workable Jacquard designs. Direct drawing of motifs on customized graphs Automatic conclude the graph size with density parameters. Automatic color reduction and color replacing. Design mirroring and repeats. Color filled design to sketch transformation. Provision to fill weave patterns in designs. Area and color based weave filling in Artwork. Provision to create IKAT effect on designs. Auto Detect and Elimination of Yarn floats. Function to produce Numeric form of Graph Designs. Support to Manual/Piano/Electronic card punching’s. Actual size of design printing. Fabric Creator DigiBunai™ Fabric Creator (FC) is the way for converting Artwork into Digital fabric. FC mainly focuses on the aesthetic/artistic appearance of the fabric. It permits the user to visualize the motifs with base fabrics and alter their appearance in a user-friendly (i.e., usable without extensive knowledge) environment. Facility to fill/change weave patterns in Designs. Graph corrections to finalize the motif with filled weave. Support Extra Warp or Extra Weft weavings. Provision to change the yarn density. Provision for Yarn sequencing. Options to visualize the Front and Backside of the fabric. Auto calculate Bill of Material. Fabric rendering on 2D objects. Provision to customize the graph size of Design. Facility to export the Fabric and construction details. Support for Electronic Jacquards (BMP). Garment Viewer DigiBunai™ Garment Viewer facilitates such a unique feature to depict the complete Garment layout (specifically Saree). Designers can assign fabrics in different components (parts of the garment in which designs are placed) in the Layout. After placing the designs in layout, designers can perform various editing functions on the individual component for the best suitability or buyer’s approval. Play area for the Designers to predict the Garment before Weaving. Predefined and customized layouts of garments. Provision to set the component repeats. Repeat mode settings for designs on each layout component. Option to change yarn colors and density. Facility to Save, Export and Print the Layout. Provision to export Technical Sheet of Layout. Technology Benefits Easily available and affordable solution Pre-processing time optimization of weaving Product quality improvisation Easy to understand and operate the functions Predict the products before the production Reuse and reproduce the artifacts Single solution for Dobby and Jacquard Weaving CAD Software History India has a rich heritage of craft design and craft products. It spans from embroidery, zari, zardozi, metalwork, woodcraft, and stonework to toy design. But many of the traditional crafts are vanishing due to less income, time-consuming manual processes, and non-reusability of designs created on paper. To overcome the above issues, intervening with localization and easy-to-use ICT experiences are required in the increasingly digital economy. The byproduct of doing the above is conserving and growing the rich Indian heritage. Digital India Corporation(f.k.a. Media Lab Asia) along with its partner IIT Kanpur developed an ICT based tool viz. Chic™ (CAD Tool for Craft) to help the artisans with 2D design making viz. Embroidery (Chikankari, Zari, Zardozi, etc.). Chic™ CAD has been deployed in Uttar Pradesh., Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. During the deployment of Chic™ (CAD Tool for Craft) at Chanderi (M.P) Saree weaving cluster, Digital India Corporation was recognized for reducing the time of the pre-loom process and used commercial weaving software for creating Saree designs/ weaving patterns, converting into graphs and automatic jacquard card punching. The user's feedback was multifold; complex to use, no localization (local designs and languages), and expensive (hence piracy being rampant). With the experience in Lallapura (Varanasi) on embroidery design software training, the need for weaving software customized to the Banarasi cluster was realized. Under the aegis of R&D in the IT workgroup, the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Digital India Corporation is developing an Open Source Software to aid the handloom weaving community of Banarasi Sarees. The software aids the weavers to create the artwork and translate the saree design to be loaded onto the looms. Source: DigiBunai