How To Scan Materials with Mesh or Holes

This article discusses the challenges involved in identifying holes in fabrics, and how SEDDI Textura’s AI and computational technology makes it possible for the software to automatically detect and identify holes in fabrics.

Traditional textile scanning systems include a backlight as well as different multidirectional lights that allow machines to identify holes and meshes. Scanners typically used for paper do not need this equipment, so it may seem as if detecting holes with a desktop scanner would be a difficult thing to do. 

Watch our video about how to scan a fabric with holes here

SEDDI Textura’s breakthrough solution leverages the power of AI and other computational technologies to identify holes in fabrics, filling the gap in the visual elements that a desktop scanner cannot capture. Before using this feature, However, there are a few aspects to consider:

• The Hole Detection feature needs to be activated manually by clicking a button.
• Hole Detection only works when maps have been generated by SEDDI Textura.
• Hole Detection works when the image is scanned on a white background with a desktop scanner.
• SEDDI Textura requires a desktop scanner that can produce high-resolution images (at least 800DPI) to be able to detect all yarns in meshes.
• Just like with other systems, small yarns and mesh may sometimes dissolve in a transparent background when using low DPI or a bad lens.

To detect holes, scan the material just like any other fabric in SEDDI Textura. Scan, tile, and then generate the maps. In this case, a black fabric will be used as an example.

Once the material has been scanned, tiled, and SEDDI Textura’s AI has generated the maps, navigate to the Material Library

Next, select the option to Edit This Textura and access the Material Editor

This will take you to the Material Editor where you will see the material on its white background from the scan.

Once there, note the option to modify the maps of the material to edit its properties. Find this feature under the Transparency slider, there is a Detect Holes button.

It is possible that the Detect Holes button does not appear. This could be due to one of the next reasons.

• Holes have already been detected in that material previously.
• It is an old material and the ability to detect holes was not developed when the feature was released.
• The maps have not been generated with SEDDI Textura's AI.

As soon as you click Detect Holes, the AI-based tool in SEDDI Textura will identify the holes in the material and apply them.

As you can see in the example, the effect is immediate and the result is very detailed. Once the tool is active, you can combine it with other tools to modify its properties such as recoloring.

Once the fabric has the desired result, you can save changes on the material to over-right the previous aspect, or you can use Save As to create a copy of the material.

It is possible that the holes detected by SEDDI Textura do not exactly match the real fabric. Some areas might not be sharp or detailed. If this is the case or you need to modify the hole detection output, you can download the material and edit the Alpha/ Transparency Map with any image editing tool. In the Alpha map, white equals opaque and black equals Transparency.