WORK IN PROGRESS
ArahPaint links
https://www.arahne.si
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https://www.facebook.com/arahneCAD/
https://www.pinterest.com/arahne0183/
https://www.youtube.com/user/arahpaint4#p/u
When this post began, I was working using ArahPaint Version 6.0.3688 on an iMac with an M1 chip, OS 14.5 Sonoma.
Since the blog is a live document, I often add new tests or ideas to older posts, which can become quite lengthy, so this is intended as the home for the most recent observations and experiments. The tool 
has been demonstrated in many previous posts including in the early ArahPaint meets Gimp in knit design 1
A different approach for varying any original design, which reminded me of the drawing in repeat option in my old Stitch Painter days :
choose a repeat ie this 10X12 one. 
Load the picture, from the pull-down Colors >set the number of colors 2, BW palette, press the r (small case) keycap on the keyboard, and the file will be multiplied in a fixed tenfold of both height and width
make the following changes in sequence
A: the original tiled by the keyboard command r to 100X 120 pixels
B: use a single-pixel pencil, place single dots with the mouse, and release mouse button
C: select the empty circle icon, and with the mouse click and drag to superimpose the chosen size in place on the previous design, release the mouse button
D: select the filled rectangle icon, and with the mouse, click and drag to superimpose the chosen size in place on the previous design, release the mouse button 
As a first option, use Tools > Find repeat, for a return to the smallest repeat unit matching the size of the original, and save the result.
A test with an 8X14 design 
with a superimposed filled oval 
The find repeat step can be eliminated, using “Save the picture as” will automatically isolate the smallest repeat, also 8X14 
is now tiled using Drawing in repeat to produce a 24X42 possible punchcard design 
And one more 8X14 png, repeating the steps using the color white and the rectangle tool outline for another variation. 
Subsequent files and information are now developed on my iMac upgraded to OS Sequoia 15.0 in September 2024
Developing designs using pattern fill for use on a range of machine models reviewed Pattern Fill, and introduced modification mode to custom zoom and rotate brush-filled shapes using the Command key on the Mac.
In the program’s most recent updates, there is now an Interactive Rotate and Zoom feature.
Advice from the developer: “The M1 update version is lagging, if you want to use the latest version which allows rotation /zoom of patterns, you have to install the Intel version, it works just fine with Rosetta on Apple Silicon”.
Create a brush, save it
10X5 pixels 
Open a new image large enough to accommodate multiple repeats, ie 120X120.
Select the brush drawing mode
Select any filled drawing tool and the brush, the angle and zoom parameters will appear.
The standard pattern fill: 
Move the mouse pointer to the drawing start position
Hold down both the Control and Command buttons while drawing with the brush to enter the modification mode
Use the mouse scroll to change the angle in both clockwise or anti-clockwise directions and zoom by increasing or decreasing its size, changing values until satisfied.
To exit modification mode, click on any drawing tool.
The design was modified to these values on a 120X120 canvas
Use Tools >Find Repeat, 111X83 
Check tiling using Image > Drawing in repeat, 222X249 
It is possible to work with added colors, which will factor in the changes in aspect ratios of the patterns in the final knit depending on the yarns and knitting techniques used.
Working with brush fill planned in 8X8 pixel blocks and using View >Grid Properties to 8X8:
sometimes the brush design needs to be rotated for successful placement ie this 16X16 
was rotated to 
a second brush, also 16X16 
planning for the full needle bed/200 needles/stitches, a multiple of 16+8, using brushes and filled rectangle tool, retaining square shapes 
with a 4-block border followed by a 3-block one 
experimenting with adding/subtracting color pixels, using the pencil or bucket fill tools 
184X184, also a multiple of 16+8 with 3 block border. 
the 200X200 tiling in both colorways 
Adding a fourth color also 16X16 
tiling check to 136X136 
filled rectangle placed on planned block design frame, 184X184. 
Varying the diagonals, a 64X64 repeat 
tiled to 192X192 
changing the colorway 
aiming for chevrons, 128X64 
tiled to 256X192
It is now possible to drag and drop selections from the internet browser or personal files into ArahPaint, working from my stash of BW indexed files
160X160
the image was dragged and dropped from my desktop onto a new Arah picture, 244X244, the black color became transparent by default. The base ground was used both with the default number of colors at 17 and with the number of colors reduced to 2. 
I was not able to drag and drop directly from ArahPaint into Gimp, but here is the image using the Command A, Command C, and Command V commands in Gimp 
The original BW png altered in Gimp, rendered in 2 colors in RGB Mode and saved to the desktop with palette different from the ground 2 color pattern. 
When dragged and dropped onto the 244X244 background, the result is a 4-color file for knitting using 4 yarn colors. 
Here there is added patterning viewed more easily when the design is enlarged, and in the dropped file, the white pixels are converted automatically to alpha 
Another BW-indexed file, 132X132 
the black is retained, and the result is visually in 3 colors, with the white pixels converted to alpha 
Before the dragged image is fixed, the color to alpha selection can be altered.
The final palette will contain all four colors.
When working on a project where the actual final number of colors is 3, check that >set the number of colors is on #3 before downloading the design to avoid patterning errors in knitting after downloading to KMs. The placement of the shapes in these variations is not knit-ready. 
The designs are simplified for 2 color knitting and using the built-in electronic KM separation 
Seeking triangular modules that do not intersect with multiple stitches as seen in the formerly shared truchet tiles. 
This motif inspiration was found in https://www.mi.sanu.ac.rs/vismath/sarhangi/ 
Hand building repeats beginning with colored 5X5 blocks 
converting all to single-color 
isolating the 30X30 repeat 
the tiled design, 150X150 
Adding a third color to form straight line diagonal outlines of shapes and frames can help circumvent those doubled-up stitches and retain aspect ratios.
A 21X17 repeat 
trimmed to 21X16 
tiled to 147X144, followed by a partial magnified view 
