General information
- All pattern files are in pdf format.
- All patterns paper format are A4 or/and Letter.
- Use a home printer, or a copy shop printer with A4 or Letter print sheet.
- Black-and-white or color – your choice – printing accepted.
Before printing
Download the pattern file on your computer. Open pattern file in your pdf viewer application. Best choose Adobe Reader as a pdf viewer application, which is free to download, install and use. There are some steps you need to follow to correctly print the pattern.
Notes
All patterns have on their first page a box with 10 cm width.
All patterns have on their top left corner 4 pages a box with width of 20 cm spread on those 4 pages.
Both boxes are for testing if the pages printed at the right scale (size). The big box also is there to help you in assembling pattern pages.
For this printing demonstration I’m using:
- Adobe Reader XI as pdf viewer application;
- Canon MG6400 series – my home color printer;
Printing steps
- First step is to setup the right settings for the printer. See printer setting section bellow.
- The second step is to print only the first page and check the 10 cm box. Measure the width. If it’s exact, go to the next step. If it’s not, check and adjust printer settings, and retry this step.
- The third step – you can now print all the pages. When assembling the pattern, check the box on those 4 top left corner pages. It will guide you how to tape together pattern pages.
Printer settings
Not all printers have all the settings I’m going to show you. Not all the settings will have the same label/text, but it should be intuitive to figure them out.
All right, open pdf pattern file in Adobe Reader, and hit “Print” option, from “File” menu. A print window like this one pops up.
- Check the printer that will print your file (in case you have multiple printers installed).
- Select “All” pages to print all pages, or just the first to check printer settings.
- Select “Size” for page sizing options.
- Select “Actual size”! This is the most important settings of all! Some printers do not have this option, instead select “Scale” or “Custom Scale” and set the scale value to 100%.
- Select “Portrait” as page orientation.
- Uncheck the “Print on both sides of paper”.
Now, this may not be enough. Every printer may have additional settings. Also, we need to set the format for the print page to A4 and plain paper. Click “Properties” button.
Depending on your printer options, this window will be different. Mine is like this. There are 4 tabs for my printer settings. You will have to look the settings I’m going to set on your printer settings.
I’m on the “Quick Setup” tab.
- Choose “Standard” printing.
- Uncheck “Duplex” printing.
- You can choose “gray scale” or “draft” printing to save ink.
- Chose “Plain paper” and “Standard” quality.
- Very important: select printer paper size – A4!
Next is “Page Setup” tab.
- Make sure: page size is A4 and page orientation is “portrait”.
- Select “Normal-size”.
- Very important: uncheck “Automatically reduce large documents that printer cannot output”! This check is not so visible, I barely noticed it, but it is very important. Although, your printer may not have it, so there will be nothing to uncheck.
- Uncheck “Duplex printing”.
Make sure that you have “Margins” set to 0 (zero).
And that’s it with my printer settings. Hit “OK” button on Printer Settings window and “Print” on the last window to print!
Afi Atelier