ALTERNATIVE SOFTWARE USED FOR CARPETS' DRAWINGS DESIGN.

The Romanian carpet industry has followed the natural course of computerization processes in the carpets' manufacturing. The final textiles' consumer diversified their aesthetic taste for Western culture dominated by a functional and minimalist design that could be found in the everyday environment. There is a trend towards short series of industrial products, a trend which causes an acute diversification especially in the textile product styling. Usually, the CAD department is limited to 1-3 workstations thanks of high price of industrial software, operating systems and hardware. Increased production of drawings is limited by costs; the solution must be sought in the direction of licensed free/open software. This article proposes a solution that can be applied to industrial manufacturing with a minimum cost and high efficiency in styling and design, increasing the number of workstations of CAD department with minimal costs. Even the almost all software manufacturers use Microsoft6 Windows like operating system, we recommend Linux like a open source software. [1] [2] [3] By using Free / Open Source software for Linux, the designers can create industrial designs with low costs. [4] [5] The open source software named ArahPaint from Arahne d.o.o. (Slovenia) is a practical solution for the carpets' manufacturers. [6] In this paper are presented the steps for designing a repeating pattern carpet using the named software. Through the use of computers in the design drawings for carpets, discussions with potential customers can quickly materialize. Also, we assist to a rapid prototyping thanks to computerized aided design and thanks to electronic jacquard looms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]