PDF Printing & Assembly

Print at Home PDF 

Although all systems and printer set-ups are different, here are some best practices for successfully printing your downloaded PDF pattern at home.

  1. First make sure you have the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat on your home computer. You can download it here from the Adobe site. While there are many different PDF readers, they are not all created alike. Acrobat provides the most consistent printing of any we’ve come across.

  2. After you have downloaded your PDF files (we recommend downloading and saving to your desktop — control + click on a Mac, right click on PC) open the print at home pattern file in Acrobat.

  3. Once your file is open in Acrobat, we recommend using the following print dialogue boxes below to print correctly on your home printer. 

  4. The highlighted yellow areas below show the correct settings for printing your pages at actual size (without any scaling). We recommend that you select POSTER and you will see the outlined square fit on your 8.5 x 11 sheet in the US (Scale 100%) or A4 in the EU. 

    Grainline Studio | Print Settings


  5. Before printing the entire pattern, print out just the first page to make sure that your 3 in. x 3 in.
    (5 cm. x 5 cm.) square measures correctly — and if it does go ahead and print out the rest!

  6. If you are printing with Preview for Apple Computers — make sure that you click on SCALE and have it set to 100%. As shown below:





Assembling your Print at Home Pattern

  1. Cut borders as needed and tape pattern together matching the numbered/lettered diamonds.

  2. Follow the instructions included in the pattern booklet to complete your garment.

Copy Shop Printing Instructions

  1. If you are in the US and Canada you can send the full sized CopyShopUS.PDF version of the pattern to any service bureau capable of printing 34″ wide. If you are located in the US we recommend using Fed Ex Kinkos and their Large Format Black and White Printer. Another resource is PDFPlotting.com.

  2. CopyShopA0.PDF files are included for print bureaus outside of the US.

  3. All PDF files should be printed with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Access is restricted to editing programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign and as such, they will not print the files.

  4. Follow the instructions included in the pattern booklet to complete your garment.

Print at Home Layered PDF 

We are currently in the process of converting all of our PDF patterns to include this feature. You can check in the Additional Details section of each pattern listing for information on the digital files.

  1. First make sure you have the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat on your home computer. You can download the free software from the Adobe site here . While there are many different PDF readers, they are not all created alike. Acrobat provides the most consistent printing of any we’ve come across.

  2. After you have downloaded your .PDF files (we recommend downloading to your desktop if possible for easy access) open the print at home pattern file in Acrobat.

  3. Your file should open to the first page of the pattern (image below):

    Layered PDF Printing | Grainline Studio

  4. Open the Navigation Pane on the left hand side of the window, by clicking the highlighted area (image below):

    Layered PDF Printing | Grainline Studio

  5. If you don't see the Navigation Pane you can access it by clicking View and then Show/Hide (image below):

    Layered PDF Printing | Grainline Studio

  6. Click Navigation Panes and then select Layers. This will cause the Navigation Pane to open (image below):

    Layered PDF Printing | Grainline Studio

  7. Click the Layers icon to display the pattern sizes (image below):

    Layered PDF Printing | Grainline Studio

  8. Click on the eye icon to select or deselect sizes. Active layers, those with the eye visible, will be printed (image below):

    Layered PDF Printing | Grainline Studio


  9. If you're in between sizes you can still select the varying sizes you need and blend between them (image below):

    Layered PDF Printing | Grainline Studio


  10. Once your sizes have been chosen proceed to printing — Follow steps 1 – 5 above in the PRINT AT HOME PDF section.