needing some help or guidance

[chuck123wapati]

I think I'll clarify a bit. tracing a tooling pattern on the front of your project is somewhat different than tracing a template to be cut out of a larger piece of leather. For example the rectangle that makes a wallet that you cut out of a larger piece you can trace with about anything you want as at least mine are oversized and will be trimmed off. i use a soft point pencil and trace around my pattern. my previous comments were mostly about tooling patterns. hope this helps

[dikman]

Lots of videos on youtube if you want to see it done.

[Tim Schroeder]

I draw my patterns on grid paper, then copy on regular copying paper. Then lay it on the leather and put this big heavy piece of glass on for 5 minutes. If the paper wrinkles very much it is to wet to do anything to.  You can see in the picture the paper is barely starting to wrinkle. I threw this copy away and waited a few minutes and used another copy. Then remove the glass and let sit for 5 min. and the paper starts to dry a little. Then tape it down so it can't move.  I trace with regular ball point pen with ink in it so I can see what I have traced. Knock on wood, I have never gone thru with a pen. I did try a ball point stylus in the beginning, but it just tears the paper. I try not to move the paper until I'm sure I have traced all lines. 

Edited April 8 by Tim Schroeder

[Digit]

For cutting out panels I use a heavyweight paper (200-250g/m²) to create a template to the final size of the leather, place the template onto the grain side, trace around it with a silver pen, then cut out the leather on the inside of the ink. On smooth leather the silver rubs off easily with a damp cloth.