To print a PDF sewing pattern at the right scale, open it in a desktop PDF reader, choose the paper size the file was made for, set the scale to 100 % or "Actual size" (never "Fit to page" or "Shrink oversized pages"), and print the page with the test square first. Measure the square with a rigid ruler: if it measures exactly 5 cm (or 2 in) both ways, print the rest. Small errors matter: printed at 97 %, a pattern for a 100 cm (39 1/4 in) hip comes out about 3 cm (1 1/8 in) smaller around.
Before you print
- Choose the paper size your printer takes. A4 (210 × 297 mm) is standard in most of the world, US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) in the US and Canada. Larger home printers may take A3 or Tabloid (11 × 17 in), which means fewer pages to tape.
- Download the file and open it in a desktop PDF reader, such as the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Browser viewers work, but some scale the page without telling you.
- Look at the page map if the pattern has one, so you know how many pages to expect.
- Check the ink or toner. Faint lines are hard to match at the joins and hard to follow with scissors.
How to print, step by step
- Open the PDF and the print dialog.
- Select your printer and the paper size of the file: an A4 file on A4 paper, a Letter file on Letter paper.
- Set the scale to 100 %, "Actual size" or "None", depending on the program. Turn off every option that fits, shrinks or enlarges the page: "Fit to page", "Fit to printable area", "Shrink oversized pages", "Borderless".
- Leave the orientation on automatic, with "Auto-rotate and center" if offered. Patterns can mix portrait and landscape pages.
- Print only the page with the test square.
- Measure the square in both directions with a rigid ruler, not a tape measure.
- If it is exact, print all the pages. If not, check the settings below and test again before printing everything.
Print settings by program
| Program | Setting to use | Settings to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat Reader (Windows, macOS) | Page Sizing and Handling: Actual size | Fit, Shrink oversized pages |
| macOS Preview | Scale: 100 % | Scale to Fit |
| Google Chrome | More settings, Scale: Custom, 100 | Fit to printable area, Fit to paper |
| Microsoft Edge | Scale: Actual size | Fit to printable area |
| Firefox | Scale: 100 | Fit to page width |
| Phone or tablet | Print from a computer if you can | Automatic scaling |
Menus move between versions, but the words "actual size", "100 %" and "fit" appear in nearly every print dialog. Many phone print dialogs scale to fit without offering a choice, so a computer is safer. Whatever you print from, the test square has the final word.
How to read the test square
A test square is a box of known size printed on the pattern. Lay a rigid ruler along one side with zero exactly on the outer edge of the line, read the opposite edge, then measure the other side. Measure on a flat table, not on your lap, with the same ruler you will use later for cutting dimensions.
- Exactly 5 cm (2 in): the scale is right.
- About 4.8 cm (1 7/8 in): the reader shrank the page to fit, usually by a few percent. Set "Actual size" and test again.
- Right one way, wrong the other: the paper size in the print dialog does not match the paper in the printer, or the printer driver has its own scaling. Check both.
Paper, ink and margins
Plain 80 g/m² (20 lb) paper is fine. Black and white or grayscale is enough, and draft quality saves ink as long as the lines stay sharp.
Home printers cannot print right to the edge of the sheet, so tiled patterns leave a blank margin around each page and the drawing continues on the next page. Do not use borderless printing: it enlarges the page to fill the paper and changes the scale.
Printing only the pages you need
You do not always need every page. If you are leaving out a piece, such as pockets or a facing you will replace with binding, use the page map to find the pages that hold it and print a page range instead. Keep the scale at 100 % for every partial print, and check the test square again whenever you change printer, paper or program.
Keep the printed pages in order
Printers stack pages face down or face up depending on the model. Collect them as they come out, check the labels, and put them in order before you start trimming. If one page prints badly, reprint that page alone with the same settings rather than the whole file.
Printing a Sewly pattern
Printing needs the Maker or Atelier plan. You choose A4, US Letter, A3, Tabloid, A0 or 36 × 48 in for a copy shop, or a projector file. Pieces are packed onto as few pages as possible, in portrait or landscape, with a 1 cm (3/8 in) margin on each side of the home-printer sizes. Pages are lettered and numbered by row and column (A1, A2… B1), the cover has a page map, and the test square gives both a 5 cm and a 2 in reference. Empty pages are skipped, and large plain rectangles (waistbands, ties, gathered skirt panels) come as cutting dimensions instead of printed pages. More on the options in printing Sewly patterns.
Common printing problems
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Test square too small | Fit or shrink setting on | Print at Actual size, 100 % |
| Lines cut off at one edge | A4 file printed on Letter, or the reverse | Download the file for your paper size |
| Page printed small in a corner | Wrong paper size selected | Match the paper size in the dialog |
| Faint or broken lines | Ink saving or low toner | Use normal quality for pattern pages |
| Square correct, pieces still do not match | Pages assembled with gaps or overlaps | See the assembly guide |
Once the pages are printed, follow how to assemble a tiled PDF sewing pattern. If you would rather not tape pages, printing at a copy shop gives you large sheets, and projector sewing skips paper altogether.