Affinity sewing patterns: one layer per size, every page
Affinity exports layers per page, not per document: on a pattern over several pages, sewists switch off a size page by page.
Draw a pattern across several artboards and export a PDF, and each page gets its own copy of every layer. In Acrobat Reader the layer list repeats Size 12 once per page, so a sewist who wants one size has to find and hide the others on every page. It's tedious, and it's confusing for customers.
Sewpress joins the pages into one drawing and treats layers with the same name as one layer, so every file it builds has one Size 12 layer that runs across every page.
Every format from one Affinity master
- 1
Set up your layers
Make one top-level layer per size (S, M, L) and shared layers starting with an underscore (_grainlines, _notches, _test) in the Layers panel. Use the same layer names on every artboard: that's how the pages are matched.
- 2
Upload your master
Export a PDF with layers, with every artboard, as long as each piece is whole on one artboard (pages that are already tiles are refused). Or, for a single artboard, export SVG: each top-level layer becomes a named group, which Sewpress reads as a layer. Either way, check the layer list and the test square on the inspection screen.
- 3
Check the scale and layers
A PDF is already in real units. SVG export settings vary between versions: if the inspection screen says your test square reads 75 mm, the file was written at 72 units per inch. Choose 72 there and it's fixed.
- 4
Build every format
Sewpress places your master once and builds tiled A4 and Letter, A0 and 36 × 48 in sheets and a projector file, each with one layer per size, and measures the test square in every file.
Affinity has been free since October 2025, when Canva relaunched Designer, Photo and Publisher as one app (it asks for a free Canva account). Masters from Affinity Designer 2 work the same way.
Test builds are free and every page is marked TEST COPY, so you and your testers can print and project the real files; they're kept 30 days. Clean files to sell are $12 a release, or 5 for $39, 20 for $119.
What each format needs, and doing it by hand
Every format also needs each size on its own layer, so sewists print or project only theirs.
Tiled A4 and US Letter
- Pages laid out separately for A4 and for US Letter, since neither fits the other
- An overlap between pages, with alignment marks on the shared edges
- A tile ID on every page and an assembly map on page 1
- The test square on page 1, and print scaling switched off
By hand in Affinity: An artboard per tile for each paper size, with pieces moved into place on each, and then the per-page layers above.
A0 and 36 × 48 in copyshop sheets
- Sheets at the real paper size: A0 (841 × 1189 mm) and Arch E (36 × 48 in)
- As few sheets as possible, turned whichever way fits better
- A test square on every sheet
By hand in Affinity: Artboards at A0 and 36 × 48 in, pieces arranged for each, and a PDF per sheet size.
A projector file
- Everything on one wide page, A0 landscape or bigger
- Lines two to three times heavier than print lines, including inside groups
- A test square and marks to calibrate the projection
By hand in Affinity: A duplicate with heavier strokes everywhere, on one large artboard, exported with layers.
Questions
- Do my layer names have to match across artboards?
- Yes, exactly: Size 12 on one page and Size12 on another stay two layers. The inspection screen lists every layer it found, so you can check before building.
- Does it work with the free Affinity app?
- Sewpress reads the files, not the program, so a layered PDF or SVG from the free app or from Affinity Designer 2 is read the same way.
- Can I draw the whole pattern on one artboard instead?
- Yes, and then either a PDF or an SVG works. Make it big enough for every piece at true size.