Printed PDF patterns

[CLW]

I have purchased several PDF pattern just to see what happens.  I find that many of them come in multiple parts that you are supposed to cut out, line up and glue onto a piece of cardboard.  Most come without dimensions.  Anyone have any suggestions for how to line up the patterns?  Short of not purchasing these I was just wondering how folks make them work... There is always extra paper at the edge of the patterns or hash marks that just don't line up.  Thoughts? Suggestions (besides just not buying them ever agin which I have thought of!! )?

Thanks in advance

[plinkercases]

Usually there are printing instruction for scaling and paper size etc. and aside from lining up the parts like a jig saw to match the item patterned there are also usually match lines on each page to align them with the others.

Tandy PDF pattern packs have instructions, match lines and the PDF has one page with the full image (which you can get plotted full size) followed but he 8.5x11 individual parts of the page.

If you didn't get instruction and you are in US I would think you can assume they print on 8.5x11 with no scaling and then you match them together..... or call the vendor....

Hope this helps.

[JoergFBernhard]

25 minutes ago, CLW said:

I have purchased several PDF pattern just to see what happens.  I find that many of them come in multiple parts that you are supposed to cut out, line up and glue onto a piece of cardboard.  Most come without dimensions.  Anyone have any suggestions for how to line up the patterns?  Short of not purchasing these I was just wondering how folks make them work... There is always extra paper at the edge of the patterns or hash marks that just don't line up.  Thoughts? Suggestions (besides just not buying them ever agin which I have thought of!! )?

Thanks in advance

Hi, from my experience .pdf is always 1:1 if you tick the box "original size" or "100%" when printing. What type of pattern is that (that it is bigger than a full page)? If you post a pic I might be able to help.

[SolarLeatherMachines]

The PDFs might be accurate, but the PRINTER might not be.  Most are off a bit.  Test yours by printing a know dimension, like a 4" x 4" square.  Measure it closely, and then expand the pdf image size to accommodate the size.  Truly accurate printers are expensive, and most people don't have them.  

[JoergFBernhard]

5 minutes ago, SolarLeatherMachines said:

The PDFs might be accurate, but the PRINTER might not be.  Most are off a bit.  Test yours by printing a know dimension, like a 4" x 4" square.  Measure it closely, and then expand the pdf image size to accommodate the size.  Truly accurate printers are expensive, and most people don't have them.  

True. But even for common home use printers they might vary max 2mm with blurry edges. Nevertheless, if you send patterns by .pdf always mention the original size dimensions on the sheet.

Edited August 17, 2018 by JoergFBernhard

[TomG]

Print the pages 100% to 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
Trim all the pages to the outer black lines.

Thanks just line up the ticks  "A" to "A", "B" to "B" (or A1 - A1, A2-A@, etc)> Then tape them together as you go.
You will then have a full size pattern.

 

 

[Widget]

FWIW anything that I buy that's larger than a standard letter sheet can hold at 100% I take to Kinkos and have them print on 100lb stock on a large format printer.  I usually have 3 copies printed: 1 to cut, 1 to make a cutting mistake on (inevitable with me), 1 to keep at full so I can easily see any instructions, etc., in the margins.  Usually costs $10 for those three copies and (for me) beats the pants off of printing multiple sheets, taping them up to the kitchen window to see better to line them up, then having to paste them onto poster board or bag stiffener if I want to keep them around for awhile.

Also, nearly every pattern I've bought has a scale mark on it somewhere, either 1 cm or 1 inch.  Just make sure to measure that for accuracy before trying to line up the rest of the parts.

Good luck!

[CLW]

Thanks for all the feedback. Unfortunately,  I can't add a photo because for some reason all my photos exceed the 1.45 MB limit. The pattern is in 3 pieces, 4 pages per piece.  The edges of the patterns have hash marks but the hash marks don't line up into even boxes and are not themselves even.   I am going to try the print and measure method and hope!  Thanks again to all!

[Northmount]

16 minutes ago, CLW said:

Thanks for all the feedback. Unfortunately,  I can't add a photo because for some reason all my photos exceed the 1.45 MB limit. The pattern is in 3 pieces, 4 pages per piece.  The edges of the patterns have hash marks but the hash marks don't line up into even boxes and are not themselves even.   I am going to try the print and measure method and hope!  Thanks again to all!

You need to resize the photos so they fit within the sites constraints.

There are several pieces of software and methods you may use to resize photos:

An Online site http://www.shrinkpictures.com/

Download and use a free program called Irfanview for your PC.

On the iPad use an app called Image Size

On many SmartPhones, you can set the size of photo the camera takes

In MS Outlook, you can email photos to yourself and set the max size.  It will then resize photos before sending and you can then use those photos to post.

For most photos to be posted on the web, you can use a size of 800 x 600 pixels and have plenty of resolution to show what you want to show.  At that resolution, you can post hundreds of photos in a single post if you want to.

Please avoid the use of 3rd party hosting sites to post a link due to problems with the various sites policies where they block hosting, and due to the fact that if you delete, move, or change permissions, the link goes dead resulting in broken links and useless posts.

Tom

 

[LetterT]

Here is a short video on working with printed PDF templates, maybe that can help. I am not related to the maker, just an admirer to some of his work.

How to: Print & Make Durable, Reusable Leathercraft Patterns.

Edited August 20, 2018 by LetterT

[CLW]

Thanks for the information.  

[CLW]

Ok, Thanks Tom, I tried the resize.  Here is the picture.  As you can see the has marks don't make sense (to me) and there is no other lineup mark that can be used.   What am I missing?  Thanks again to all!