PDF Stitcher: Sewing Tutorial

Last updated on October 11th, 2022 at 01:52 pm

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Can I still use print-at-home PDF pattern files with a projector? YES! With PDF Stitcher you can digitally “tape” traditional print-at-home PDF patterns together! Not only can PDF Stitcher do this, but it has many other helpful features for the projection sewist.

PDF stitcher was created by the brilliant Charlotte Curtis who saw a need when she began sewing with a projector. She is a member of the Projectors for Sewing Facebook community, who also happens to know a thing or two about programming.

She created this FREE and highly useful tool for the projector sewing community in 2020 when not many pattern companies had projector files available. Being able to take the print-at-home PDF files and convert them to one large file for a projector was a game changer!

Fast forward to today and many pattern companies are including projector files (or at least A0 sized files). However, you will find that PDF stitcher is still a very handy tool to have in your back pocket. It has been updated several times and is still useful to projection sewing.

“Taping” PDF files together is only the beginning of what PDF stitcher can do! It can also “unlock” PDF patterns so you can use the comment tools in Adobe, add margins for more scrolling room, and thicken hard to see pattern lines!

Get Started with PDF Stitcher

Now that you know a little bit about PDF stitcher, let’s dive in! To get started with PDF stitcher, you first need to download the program. It is an open source tool created for Windows 7 and higher or Mac OS X High Sierra or higher. It is most successful if you download using Chrome or Firefox browsers. Because of security settings, Edge and Safari may not download the program. To open a blocked file in Windows, you can you this article.

When you go to download, you will get a warning about downloading something from an unknown developer. We are going to ignore this and download anyway! This is a picture of the warning in Windows. Click on “More Info”, then choose to run/install the program.

On a Mac, you may need to go to System Preferences>Security and Privacy>General Tab and choose “Allow” to open app from an unregistered developer. If you get a warning on the Mac to “Move to Trash” or “Cancel”, choose to “Move to Trash”. Then go to the Trash and move it to the desktop.

On Windows, the program went to my downloads folder. Find it in your downloads and drag and drop the icon to your desktop.

Full Video Tutorial for PDF Stitcher

Tour PDF Stitcher

Now that you have PDF Stitcher downloaded, you are ready to take a simple tour. Open up PDF stitcher on your computer and follow along as I go through each section!

Options Tab

Always start in the Options Tab. This is where you will select the PDF pattern that you want to use.

Input/Output

Select “Open Input PDF” and find the pattern file on your computer. Click “open”. The file path directory will be displayed after the “Open Input PDF” in PDF Stitcher. This can also be selected using the shortcut Ctrl/Cmd +O.

Next, select “Save output as” to decide where to save the document that will be created. You can name it anything, but I like to use the original name then put “stitched” afterward. Save it somewhere that is easy to remember! The desktop is an easy and quick place to save to and you can move it later if you need to.

The keyboard shortcut for saving the output file is Ctrl/Cmd + S. PDF stitcher will never write over the original document, so don’t be worried about doing that. You must always create and output file.

Page Range

The page range box is automatically populated when you open a file. It will show all the pages in the original document. Use the Page Range box to select the pages you want to work with. It you have a print-at-home PDF pattern that is attached to the instructions, you will only want to select the pages that are the actual pattern for stitching. For “unlocking” a document you can leave all the pages. (If you don’t know what “unlocking” is for, just keep it in the back of your mind for later!)

The page range box accepts commas, hyphens, pages out of order, repeat pages, and adding blank pages (0). Putting a “0” for a blank page can come in handy when you are “stitching” some patterns together. Don’t worry! I go through some examples in this tutorial!

Margin to add to final output

If you are converting a print-at-home PDF pattern to a projector-friendly pattern, you will want to add margins so you can move the image as needed on your cutting mat. Having large margins really makes that easier to do! You can even run A0 or Projector Files through PDF stitcher that do not have large margins. Large margins make it easier to maneuver an image on your cutting mat.

The units for adding margins are the same units checked in the “Tile Pages” tab. A common choice for added margins is 20 inches. This creates ample room for lots of movement. PDFs of any size can be created, but keep in mind that Adobe doesn’t open anything larger than 200″x200″.

If you want to add margins to any document, make sure to select “Tile Pages”. Do this even when the A0 or projector file is only 1 page.

Process Layers

Make sure to select “process layers” when you are making any modifications under the “Layers” tab. If you are just “unlocking” a pattern or leaving the layers alone, you do not need to select this box.

Tile Pages checkbox

Select the Tile Pages checkbox when you want to apply changes from the “Tile Pages” tab. If you have no changes in the “Tile Pages” tab, you do not need to check this box.

Unchecking the Process Layers and Tile Pages checkbox will save the file as is with the page ranges listed. This can be used to separate the pattern from instructions and/or “unlock” a PDF file so that you can use the annotation (comment) tool in Adobe to write on the pattern.

Tile Pages Tab

The Tile Pages tab is where the magic happens. This is how we digitally “tape together” and assemble a print-at-home pattern. There will likely be some trial and error as you get this right. Some patterns are easier to stitch than others. Each pattern and designer are different, so there is no “one size fits all” for the settings for this tab.

Number of Columns or Rows

The number of columns or rows is where PDF stitcher is told how to line up the pattern. You only need to input columns OR rows. It will calculate the other based on the number of pages. If a pattern has a print layout, use that to see the number of columns or rows. Remember columns are vertical and rows run horizontal. Sometimes columns are listed with a number and rows with a letter on patterns such as A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3 (two rows and three columns). I will go through examples later in this tutorial.

Page Order

Most patterns work with the default setting. However, if your pattern turns out jumbled, you will need to visit the page order. Sometimes patterns are laid out in the file that is not typical. This means you need to figure out if the pages should be put together: rows then columns or columns then rows, top to bottom or bottom to top, and left to right or right to left.

Page Rotation

If you need to rotate a page from its original orientation before tiling, you can do that here. This is if a pattern is shown in portrait mode, but taped together in landscape mode or vice versa.

Page Range

Page range is the same that was listed in the Options tab. It is duplicated here. This is where you can put in the order and range of pages to “stitch” together. If there is a “blank” space in the print layout, you will need to put “0” in the page range. you may need to add “0” for any blank spaces in the middle of the grid.

For example, the Ellie and Mac Petal Top should be listed as 27-33,0,34-40,0,41-52,0,53-55. The Petal Top is a great nursing access pattern! (It does have a projector file available!)

For a tutorial on adding blank pages and using the page range see the section Example Stitched Pattern with Blank Pages Added.

Optional Parameters

For “no trim” patterns you can leave these in default. When you want to trim or overlap pattern pieces, you will use these tools.

Unit Selector

Choose inches or centimeters to set the measurements for the trim and margins

Set to Media Trim Box

If you get a pattern where the pieces are off-center, misaligned, cropped weird, but your other settings are right, you may need to use this.

Add Margin

I already reviewed this in the Options tab. It is listed here for convenience. You can type in the number of inches to add to the margins of your document.

Amount to Trim from Each page

Some patterns require trimming before piecing together. Others are overlapped. Look at the pattern to see. Some will say how much to trim. Other times you will need to use the “measure tool” in Adobe to check how much to trim from the top, bottom, left, and right. See the Example Stitched Patterns with Trim or Overlap.

Layers Tab

The layers tab is where you can make a lot of useful changes. When a pattern with layers is opened, the layers will appear here. The Layers Tab allows you to modify line color, line thickness, and line style. This is down all while preserving the layers! You can also erase layers that you do not need to “clean up” a pattern.

The Layers Tab is very useful for when an A0 or Projector file has lines that are hard to see. You can make the lines thicker and change them to a color that will work with your fabric choice. Another fun thing to do is make a main size layer a solid line and use a dashed or dotted line for grading size layers. See the section labeled Example Using Layers Tab for more details on how to use this tab.

Example 1: Simple Stitched Pattern, No Trim Pages

Who doesn’t love a free pattern?! When I was first learning to sew, I didn’t have much of a sewing budget. I scoured the internet for good and free patterns. Low and behold, there really is a lot of great stuff out there if you are willing to look! One of the blogs that I found was Life Sew Savory. She has so many great tutorials WITH FREE patterns! She really does a great job with these. However, all of these patterns are printable PDF letter-sized files with no A0 or projector files.

When I made the jump to projector sewing, I no longer wanted to go back to taping patterns together. For a while, I wouldn’t even use patterns that didn’t have an A0 or projector file. Thank goodness for PDF stitcher, because now I can still use these patterns with my projector.

Today, I’m going to walk you through “stitching” a PDF letter-size file together! The pattern that I am using for this part is the Life Sew Savory Women’s Raglan Sweatshirt pattern. You can download it from her site HERE. Download it to your computer and follow along with me! Make sure to already have PDF stitcher downloaded and the icon saved to your desktop.

The first thing I did was open PDF stitcher to the “Options” tab. Press Control/Command + O or the “select input PDF”. Choose the pattern file from your computer (it should already be downloaded to your computer before you begin.)

Next, you will need to tell it where to save the new stitched file. Press “select output as” or press Control/Command + S. The desktop is an easy place to save it, but if you have a folder for sewing patterns on your computer you can save it there. You can name the new output file anything you want. I usually use the name of the pattern and “stitched”. For this one, I named the file “Life Sew Savory Womens Raglan Sweatshirt Stitched”.

In the “Options” tab, the next thing you can choose is “page range”. This entire file is the pattern and no instructions, so I left it as 1-25. If you are opening a file that is instructions included with the pattern, you may only want to select the pages with the pattern on it for tiling.

Since this pattern was not originally created for projecting, I decided to add a margin as well for easy scrolling. A common number used is 20 inches, but you can use as much or little as you want as long as the overall document is less than 200”x200”.

Keep the “process layers” and “tile pages” checked.

Next, go to the “Tile” tab. Choose the number of columns OR rows. This pattern doesn’t have a print layout or grid. I guessed that the number of columns would be 5 and it worked out correctly.

You can look at the pattern you have and see if you can determine the number of columns or just make a best guess. If it doesn’t “stitch” correctly, you can always go back and re-stitch with a different number of columns. I left page order and rotation alone. I already added a number to the margins. That same number should appear under the “Optional” section in Margins to add to final output. This pattern is a “no trim” pattern. Therefore I left all the trim settings alone.

Finally, I checked the “Layers” tab. This pattern only had 2 layers. This told me that the sizes were not in their own layers. So, I didn’t change anything about the layers and left as is.

Example 2: Stitched Patterns With Trim or Overlap

Some patterns that you will stitch together are trimmed or overlapped when the paper is put together. PDF stitcher has accounted for this in patterns and allows you to digitally “overlap” or “trim” the pages. Every pattern’s trim or overlap settings are different. Use this document from the Projectors For Sewing Facebook Group to see if the pattern you are using already has the trim settings listed: PDF pattern assembly info

First, read through the directions to see how the pattern is to be assembled. It should say whether pages are trimmed or overlapped. If they are overlapped, it often doesn’t say how much, but has a line marked on the pattern. You will need to measure this line to see how much is overlapped.

The pattern I’m going to be demonstrating with is the Ellie and Mac Be Curious Dress. I love this dress pattern, it is so versatile and simply cute! It has been updated to have a projector file, so you don’t really need to stitch it. It is just being used as an example. 😉

To measure the amount of trim or overlap, open the pattern in Adobe or Xodo. Use the measure tool to measure the trim or overlap amount. In the Be Curious Dress pattern, I found the overlap to be Left: 0, Top: 0, Right: 0.75 inches, and Bottom: 0.75 inches.

The print layout provided in the pattern shows that there are six columns when the pattern is taped together. Remember you only need the number of columns OR rows. So, I put 6 in for columns and noted the page number that the pattern began on (55). Here are the settings I put in PDF stitcher.

Next, you can modify the layers anyway you would like (see the example 4 for details). Once you have the layers how you want, click “Generate PDF”. If the settings are all correct, you will have one cohesive pattern with layers preserved! You have just created a projector-compatible file! Yay! Here is what the final pattern will look like. I turned off the layers for the page numbers and grid. It looks just like an A0 or projector file now!

Example 3: Stitched Pattern with Blank Pages Added

Now, let’s dig into the Page Range tool for stitching patterns together! I will be demonstrating with the Laurel pattern from Styla. This pattern does have a good projector file, but for learning purposes I will be stitching together the print-at-home PDF file.  This is a FREE pattern from Styla, so download the file and follow along with me! Here is a picture of the Laurel baby. I will be stitching the Women’s Laurel that is linked above.

There are many options included in this pattern. Let’s say I only want my stitched pattern to have the options that I need to cut. This will reduce confusion as I start cutting and remove any unnecessary pages.

I want to make a tiered skirt, simple bodice, and the flounce sleeve. Open the instructions file and find the print layout. I want to use the comment tools to cross off the page numbers of the pattern pieces I do not need. When you try to use the comment tool, you will notice that it will not let you. This pattern is “locked”. Run the instructions PDF through PDF stitcher to “unlock” the document and allow the comment tools to be used. To do this, select the input file (Styla Instructions PDF) and save a new file with a name of your choice (Style Instructions PDF Unlocked or something like that).

Now, open this document and you can now use the comment/annotation tools. If you don’t know about these tools in Adobe, then make sure to check out Digital Annotations Part 1. I looked at the print layout (page 13) and crossed off any of the pattern piece pages that did not have the parts I needed. Then, I wrote in a 0 for any of the spaces in the grid that did not have a page number. The zeros will be space holders and you will need them in PDF stitcher. Also, look at how many columns are in the print layout. This pattern has 9 columns. I also noted that the pattern has “no trim” pages.

Next open PDF stitcher and input the print-at-home PDF pattern for the Styla Laurel. Choose a “Save output as”, you can name it something like Styla Laurel Stitched. Remember, PDF stitcher never writes over the original document, so don’t worry about loosing anything. If you ever make a mistake, the original is always there!

In the Options Tab, uncheck process layers and check tile pages. In the Tile Pages tab I put 9 columns and left rows blank. I didn’t change anything for page order or rotation. In the Page Range, I used the print layout and typed: 1-18, 0,0,0,0,0,0,25-27,0,0,0,31-35,0,0,0,0,39-42,0,0,0,0,0,46-50. The zeros represent “place holders” in the grid and parts of the grid that I don’t need. Then, I went down to margins and added 20. Everything else I left as is.

Finally press “Generate PDF”. It will be saved in the location you already specified. Go to that folder and open the PDF that you just stitched. It will look like this:

Example 4: Using Layers Tab

What do you do when you have an A0 or projector file that is difficult to see in your projection? Sometimes the designer did not create thick lines, or the colors are hard to see with the fabric you chose. A quick way to fix this, is to run the PDF file through PDF stitcher.

A0 files that have more than one page can often be stitched together in the same process as shown in previous examples. You can modify layers and margins to A0 and projector files as needed using the Options and Layers tab.

To modify the layers of a PDF file in PDF stitcher, select your input and output files as you did before. Add the margins in the “Options” tab. If you are not “stitching” the files together, make sure to uncheck “Tile pages”.

Click on the “Layers” tab. You can choose to select or deselect certain layers and “delete” or “hide” them. For size layers, I usually just choose to hide, but if you know you will not need them, you can just delete them. You will always have your original file because PDF stitcher doesn’t ever “overwrite” or erase the original file. Click to select the layer that you want to work with to modify the line properties. You can change the color of the line, thickness of the line, and style of the line. Once you have made your selection, don’t forget to click “apply to (the layer you chose)”. If at any time you make a mistake, or don’t like what you chose, you can reset the highlighted layer or rest all the layers that are checked.

Once you have made all the modifications that you want, click “generate PDF”. Your file will be saved to the location you selected in the “Options tab”. You will need to close and re-open the folder if you already have it open for the new file to show.

You can follow these same instructions when modifying the layers in a print-at-home sized PDF. The steps will be the same. You can also “Tile” the pages at the same time you update the layers.

PDF Stitcher can change the line thickness, style, and color of the layers, but it cannot ADD layers. If the pattern has all the sizes that are in one layer, it cannot separate them. Layers can be separated in Inkscape or Affinity Designer.

Conclusion

Now you can use PDF stitcher to up your projector sewing game! In this tutorial, we talked about how PDF stitcher came to be and took a tour of PDF stitcher. Next, I walked you through four examples of how PDF Stitcher can be used. Enjoy using all the patterns in your arsenal to make your amazing creations! Happy Sewing!

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