I think it would be very useful to be able to save patterns as .pdf files, so that they would be portable...meaning, you could save to a disk, take it to a copy shop, and have it printed on their plotter or other large-format printer. I find cutting and taping patterns to be tedious, to say the least.

You can print to Kinko's fed express and you can print to wide bed printers. I use a printer with roll feed paper thats 24 inchesW by 150 feet- L but you need to set paper length for each pattern piece or waste a lot of paper.
Kaaren

quote:

I think it would be very useful to be able to save patterns as .pdf files, so that they would be portable...meaning, you could save to a disk, take it to a copy shop, and have it printed on their plotter or other large-format printer. I find cutting and taping patterns to be tedious, to say the least.

I do this all the time, using Primo PDF, a free utility for printing to PDF files. You can get it here:

http://www.primopdf.com/

I find it pretty useful for a number of applications. You can convert anything you can print into a PDF file instead. I convert Word documents to PDF that way. Once, when my printer was messed up and I needed to print some online purchase receipt, I printed to PDF. Later, when I had my printer fixed, I loaded the PDF file and printed it to the printer.

Very handy tool.

And, it can be used to convert DS or MPD patterns to PDF files. I did have some hassles getting the page size large enough. I believe I had to set my system printer default to be PrimoPDF before running DS or MPD. Go to Start - Control Panel - Printers - select PrimoPDF, then in the File menu there, set it as the default printer.

Then, run DS or MPD and select Page Setup. For paper size, select "Postscript Custom Page Size". Then, when ready to print, and the print dialog is up, select Printer - Properties - Advanced - Edit Custom Page Size and enter some very large size in inches, big enough for your entire pattern piece. Then, print it to the PDF file.

Ugh. Sounds nasty, but once you get through it once, you can print pattern pieces to PDF files all day. When you are done, go back to the System Print dialog and reset your regular printer back as the system default.

It works.

quote:

You can print to Kinko's fed express

Kaaren, could you please explain how one would do this? I'm on the Kinko's website now, and it does not have a large format option when setting up a print job. It also shows a jumble of characters when I hit "preview."

OH - I did have it set up some time ago. I know I had to download their "program" and that each pattern piece I had to set paper size for OR set a very large paper size for everything using the largest length,and width - that does mean when the collar or pocket prints it will be on the same size paper as the largest front or back and that could get very expensive.

If you are printing oodles of patterns as a custom dress maker you might want to invest in a new/used wide format printer. The HP 110Plus(with electronic roller and cutter) is working very well. Paper I use is about $11.50 per roll of 150 feet by 24 wide. The printer is on sale for $995.00 at the moment and you might find a used one. Ink is outrageous @30 something per cartdrige and print heads run close to 30 each- the full tilt was around $340 dollars- but ink is holding out well and I print very little full color and expect its only black I will be replacing. I have the printer since early November and am on my third roll of paper but same ink and print heads. DH built me a very sturdy stand for 14.00 in materials so I did not have to invest $300+ for the stand. Still as a business expense - it may well be worth it.

I never really hated taping patterns from a regular home printer and the minimal time invested in each pattern doing only now and then was not a hardship.

Kaaren