What it does
ArahPaint is a raster drawing program for repeating patterns and textile artwork. It draws across tile borders, previews multiple repeats and works with different horizontal and vertical fabric densities. Layers, colour reduction and contour tools help prepare motifs from scans or photographs.
A woven design may not use square pixels. ArahPaint keeps the fabric’s horizontal and vertical density in view while the motif repeats, helping you judge its proportions across the surface.
Reduce a scanned image to the intended palette, use Despeckle to remove stray pixels and adjust contours by thinning, thickening or pruning them. Protected colours can preserve selected parts during editing.
Match the saved format to the artwork
PNG is Arahne’s default and carries its custom density-related tags. The format table lists SVG and PDF as inputs only. GIF output does not support transparency, while repeated JPEG saving loses detail and is unsuitable for cleaned jacquard images.
The download page supplies full ArahPaint6 editions for Windows and Mac, and includes it in the Linux package. It is aimed at pixel and repeat preparation rather than general photo retouching.
Strengths
- Drawing continues across repeat boundaries
- Fabric density can differ horizontally and vertically
- Contour and colour tools support textile preparation
Watch out for
- SVG and PDF are listed as read-only formats
- GIF output does not preserve transparency
Best for
- Textile motifs with controlled colour counts
- Repeat artwork prepared from a scan
Sources
- ArahPaint repeat editing, colour tools and format table (Oct 27, 2026)
- ArahPaint6 full-edition downloads (Oct 27, 2026)
- ArahPaint workflow focus and density support (Oct 27, 2026)