How to print your pattern
Five steps to a pattern at exactly the right size. Designers: link this page from your shop or instructions.
A4, A3, Letter or Legal
- 1
Open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader
It's free, and it's the reader that shows the size layers. Browser PDF viewers and some phone apps print every size at once and may ignore print settings.
- 2
Pick your size in the Layers panel
Open the Layers panel (the stacked-sheets icon on the left) and click the eye beside every size you don't need. Leave the grainlines, notches and labels on.
- 3
Print only the pages your size needs
The cover has a print chart: find your size and type its pages into Pages in the print dialog, along with page 1 for the cover. With a per-size file, just print every page.
- 4
Set Actual size, then print page 1
Choose Actual size or 100%, never Fit or Shrink oversized pages. Print the cover first and measure the test square with a ruler: it must match the size printed in it. If it doesn't, check the setting again before printing the rest.
- 5
Tape the pages together
Pages overlap a little. Lay each page over its neighbour so the matching diamonds sit exactly on top of each other, then tape. The assembly map on the cover shows where each page goes.
Copyshop and projector
- 6
At a copyshop
Send the A0 or 36 × 48 in file (or the per-size file for your size, if there is one) and ask for it printed at 100%, not scaled to fit. Black-and-white sheets, where included, tell sizes apart by dash and are usually cheaper.
- 7
With a projector
Open the projector file in your projector app or Acrobat, switch off the sizes you don't need, and calibrate against the rulers or the calibration box layer. For dark fabric, use the dark copy: light lines on black.
When something looks off
- My test square measures a few millimetres short. What happened?
- The printer scaled the page to fit. Print again with Actual size or 100% selected, and turn off any Fit, Shrink or Scale to fit option. On a Mac, also check the Scale box in the print dialog says 100.
- I can't find the Layers panel.
- Your PDF viewer probably doesn't support layers. Use Adobe Acrobat Reader on a computer, or use the per-size file if the designer included one: it holds just your size.
- Which pages do I print for my size?
- The print chart on the cover lists them. Type them into the Pages box in the print dialog, for example 1, 3-6, 9.
- Can I print in black and white?
- Yes. Every size has its own dash when the designer chose styled lines, so they stay apart in black and white. The size key is in the top margin of every page.