To detect the layout of color yarns automatically, a novel projection-based fabric segmentation method is proposed to segment the double-system-melange color fabric into several regions, which can be seen as single-system-melange color fabrics. This method consists of five main steps: (1) yarn skew detection, (2) fabric image projecting, (3) projection curve smoothing, (4) variance curve calculating, and (5) curve peak confirmation. Based on the acquisition fabric image, the skew angles of warp and weft yarns are detected by Hough transform first. The projection curves of L, a, and b channels in Lab color model are generated and smoothed by Savitzky-Golay filter. The variance curves of L, a, and b are then calculated, and the peaks corresponding to the regional boundaries in each curve are detected. The regional boundaries are confirmed by synthesizing the curve peaks of L, a, and b. The experimental and theoretical analysis proves that the proposed method can segment the double-system-melange color fabric into regions with satisfactory accuracy and good robustness. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 41, 626-635, 2016