Bought pattern off Etsy, digital.
Pattern looks good on monitor.
Computer does not have Adobe, so could not resize pattern that way.
Took pattern to Staples & enlarged it on their copy machine.
From the print original, I enlarged 154%, 154% again, then 129%.
Chat GPT says that is 397%, which is great; I was aiming for 400%.
Pattern has 2 sizes. (These are childrenās dragon wings.)
The smaller size pattern worked out fine.
I could not get the larger size pattern to work out, though.
I couldnāt get it the right size, and I had to cut the pattern into pieces, but I just couldnāt get it to work, get the right size & fit onto the paper sizes available.
I was frustrated to the point of tears, so just came home to try to sew the smaller size first.
What should I have done differently? This has taken me hours, which should have been simple with the right technology & equipment
All that process should not have been necessary--typically you get two files, one that prints on extra large A0 paper at a copyshop, one that prints in tiled fashion onto letter/A4 paper that you can print at home and tape together. Both ways you print the pattern at 100%, which produces the sizes promised in the description.
So what were you trying to do with all the enlarging?
Do you have a public library you could go to print? I donāt even own a printer any longer, but can print at the library Up to 100 pages a day for free. Just make sure the printer is printing 1-sided, rather than the default 2-sided.
I went to the public library first. When I began to struggle, I decided to drive to Staples, thinking I would be able to use the A0 paper there. Our library is 20 cents per copy.
Staples was like 40 cents per copy.
Well, that kinda sucks. I only print out the tiled smaller patterns at the library. I actually also have a garment fabric store that prints out A0 pattern for $2.75 a page (compared to $15-17/A0 page at FedEx/Kinkoās) Did you try to print out the A0 on a regular printer? That would be why you had size issues. A0 is the paper that is like 30ā or 36ā wide and 50-ish inches long. You need to do the home printing for the tiled version and print it on a regular 8.5 x 11ā printer paper, OR you print out the A0 on a large scale commercial printer. You canāt print A0 out on any regular printer.
scaling up multiple times on a copier introduces a tiny bit of distortion each step, so by the third enlargement those errors compound and the proportions get wonky
It wasnāt distorted, I just couldnāt get it to fit on any paper there.
I would have loved to have used A0 paper, but the Staples worker said there were 7 orders ahead of me, & the biggest copy for me to use (the paper size, I mean) was 11X 17.
The pattern is designed to print on A0, so save yourself all this work and print it on A0. Iām not sure why you are trying to fiddle with the zoom/scale and everything when you donāt need to. Just go to Staples at a quieter time, or, get it done online (thereās lots of services that do this)
Okay, you created this problem for yourself by trying to use 11x17, then, and enlarging on the copy machine. Either wait for A0 print to come through, or print it on letter paper and tape everything together (which should be relatively quick for toddler-size patterns). Glad you got the small size functioning.
adding the pattern link for you. It offers A0 and letter/A4 options.
See my new comment just now in a direct comment reply to your initial response to my first question for you. You canāt print out A0 on a regular printer. Use the tiled version for āhome printingā for Staples or your library.
AFAIK Adobe Reader is free and only that's needed for opening and printing a pattern at 100% size. Adobe writer costs money.
But you can also look for free PDF software, someone mentioned Gimp, I use one called pdf24, but I think it's German, but maybe there is also an English version.
Or you go the the website of a plotter service, upload the file and receive a printed pattern in A0 (costs about 10 ā¬ per pattern) . Or your local copy shop has computer terminals for printing out.
FWIW I think this is a real pattern. Thereās lots of pictures of real kids in the wings.
It says it comes in 3 formats
āPDF format: Layered A4, US Letter, A0/Projectorā
You shouldnāt have to make it larger or smaller. All the sizes should exist in the pdf. Any reading program will work. Print on plain paper and tape together (A4 or US letter sizes) or have the A0 size printed at a copy shop on a large format printer.
For starters, is it a real pattern, or AI slop? And how did it not work out - what was wrong with it? In my experience, photocopying a photocopy often gives a very distorted print. Even enlarging on Adobe may distort it. Good luck.
chatgpt got the math wrong there, copier percents multiply, they dont add, so 154 then 154 then 129 comes out around 306 percent not 397, so the big size ended up only about three quarters of what it should be. id skip enlarging altogether and print the letter size tiled file at 100 percent (actual size, not fit to page), check the test square with a ruler before taping, and measure your small set the same way before you cut fabric
If you can get access to a projector that might work for quadrupleing the size, but id imagine you are going to have alot of issue with structure when you start putting these together, whatever gives them shape in the original pattern is not going to be strong enough to hold up 4 times the weight of materials.
I guess I wasnāt clear. The original pattern, as it appears on my computer monitor, is the actual size. It is just because my computer is really old, that it could only print it 1/4 of the actual
Size.
Ok I have no idea what you mean, sorry. Your computers age has nothing to do with what size it can print. There's another comment asking if you can post the link to the pattern, which might help us with advice.
Here is the listing. Sorry I canāt remember how to do a link today, only a screenshot. Iām not usually this tech-un-savvy, but my brain seems foggy.
Ok ya this looks like ai, there are alot of small differences in each picture. there are so many positive reviews through which is weird, the instructions on the etsy page are weird and also dont mention anything that would hold the spape of these wings.i do believe youll be able to get something out of it but be prepared for this to only be 1 in a line of issues with this pattern.
Neither do I, I have gimp, its a open source version. Ie free, again not having Adobe should not affect your ability to print a pattern to its original size. If chatgpt is telling you you need Adobe, it is incorrec like it is in alot of cases. Please post the link to the pattern
just take it to a copy shop with a large format printer... it's worth it to not have the headache, and you can check the square that confirms.
Otherwise.
Import into Inkscape (free).
group all imported pattern items,
make a square in Red the size of what it is supposed to be.
Scale grouped pattern to match red square size.
Add a line in the bottom of the working window, and ā¢lockā¢ it.
highlight all
Move each pattern section in an orderly way over the "working window" ((set to 8.5x11 -- it defaults to A4 ))
print, move, print. next row, print move print.
line up as best you can and tape it.
You're making every excuse under the sun and clearly not listening to the advice being given to you. Adobe Reader is FREE. It (and other similar applications) is how you print PDF patterns.
There are so many different types of Adobe software. You donāt need the paid ones to open a pdf. Google āAdobe PDF readerā and download that, it is always free.
Itās also not the only free PDF reader, they all do the same job of opening a PDF file so you can print it.
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u/ProneToLaughter 1d ago
can you link to the pattern sales page?
All that process should not have been necessary--typically you get two files, one that prints on extra large A0 paper at a copyshop, one that prints in tiled fashion onto letter/A4 paper that you can print at home and tape together. Both ways you print the pattern at 100%, which produces the sizes promised in the description.
So what were you trying to do with all the enlarging?