Adobe Illustrator to A0 and 36 × 48 in copyshop sheets

What copyshop sheets need

• ✓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
• ✓Every size on its own layer, so the shop can print just one
• ✓A test square on every sheet

By hand, it's one artboard per sheet at A0 and another set at 36 × 48 in, with pieces rearranged for each, then a PDF save per size of sheet.

The Sewpress way, from Adobe Illustrator

1. 1
   Set up your layers

   Make one top-level layer per size in the Layers panel (S, M, L), and shared layers whose names start with an underscore (_grainlines, _notches, _test). Sublayers and groups inside a layer are fine.

2. 2
   Export for Sewpress

   Save as Adobe PDF with “Create Acrobat Layers from Top-Level Layers” ticked. A PDF carries real units, so scale is never in doubt, and each top-level layer arrives as a PDF layer.

3. 3
   Upload and check

   Illustrator writes SVG at 72 units per inch, while browsers and Inkscape read 96, so an Illustrator SVG measures 75%. Saving a PDF avoids it; if you do upload an SVG, Sewpress spots the 75 mm square and rescales with one click.

4. 4
   Build copyshop sheets

   Sewpress places your master once and builds A0 and 36 × 48 in copyshop sheets, measuring the test square in each.