Techniques · Cutting and printing
How to print a quilt pattern at actual size
Templates and foundation papers only work at their true size. Here’s the one setting that shrinks them, how to turn it off on a Mac, Windows, a Chromebook or an iPad, and how to check before you cut.
The short answer
In the print window, set the scale to 100% or Actual size, never “Fit”. Use the same paper as the PDF, Letter or A4. Then measure the 1″ test square with your quilting ruler before you cut anything.
Why patterns print small
Most print windows start on a setting that fits the page inside the printer’s margins. It’s called Fit, Shrink to fit, Scale to fit or Fit to printable area, and it shrinks everything a few percent. That’s too little to see, and enough to make a block come out ¼″ small.
The other cause is paper. A pattern made on Letter and printed on A4, or the other way around, is shrunk to fit.
Print at actual size
Choose where you’re printing from:
- Open the PDF in Preview and choose File › Print.
- Under Scale, choose 100%, not “Scale to Fit”.
- Check Paper Size says the paper in your printer: US Letter or A4.
- Print, then measure the square on page 1 with your ruler.
- Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader and choose File › Print.
- Under Page Sizing & Handling, choose Actual size, not “Fit”.
- Check the paper is the paper in your printer: US Letter or A4.
- Print, then measure the square on page 1 with your ruler.
- Open the PDF in Chrome and press Print.
- Under More settings, set Scale to Custom, 100.
- Check Paper size says the paper in your printer: US Letter or A4.
- Print, then measure the square on page 1 with your ruler.
- Open the PDF, tap the Share button, then Print.
- Choose your printer. Under Paper Size, choose the paper in your printer: US Letter or A4.
- iPad has no Scale setting: it prints a PDF’s pages at their own size when the paper matches.
- Print, then measure the square on page 1 with your ruler.
Your printer’s own app may have a scale setting too. Wherever you see one, set it to 100%, or “Actual size”, and leave any “Fit” box unticked.
Measure the test square
A good pattern prints a square of a known size on every page. Ours prints a 1″ square and a 2 cm square in the corner. Lay your quilting ruler on it, and check both ways.
It should be exactly 1″ (25.4 mm) each way.
Not to scale on a screen. Measure the one on paper.
Measure from the outside of one line to the outside of the other, and check it across and down: a printer can be right one way and wrong the other. If the pattern has no test square, measure a printed line you know, like a template marked “3½″ square”.
If it isn’t 1″
Don’t cut from those pages. If the square is off, the templates are off by the same amount. It’s nearly always one of these:
Print again with the scale at 100%, or “Actual size”. “Fit”, “Shrink to fit” and “Fit to printable area” all shrink it.
Make sure the PDF and the printer use the same paper. A Letter page on A4 paper is shrunk.
Some printers stretch a page a little. Print one test page, measure it, and ask the pattern’s maker. For Quarter Inch patterns, write to us with your printer and what the square measured.
Joining tiled pages
Templates bigger than a page print in pieces. Each piece overlaps the next by ½″, with marks to line up. Lay one part over the other’s overlap so the marks sit exactly on top of each other, and tape it. Quarter Inch’s own pages, step by step, are in Joining tiled template pages.
Tape on the front, flat on a table, and measure the joined template against its printed size before you cut fabric with it.
In Quarter Inch: every page has the test square, and Print tells you the steps for your own device. See Print your quilt and the test square.
Questions
Short answers.
Something else? A real person replies.
hello@quarterinch.app
Why is my quilt pattern printing smaller than it should?
The print window is set to fit the page, or the paper doesn’t match the PDF. Set the scale to 100% or Actual size, use the same paper, and measure the test square.
Is a few percent smaller really a problem?
Yes, for templates and foundation papers. On a 12″ block, 2% smaller is about ¼″, so it won’t fit the blocks around it.
Can I print from my phone or iPad?
Yes. An iPad has no scale setting: it prints a page at its own size when the paper matches. Choose the right paper size, then measure the square.
What’s the difference between Fit and Actual size?
Fit shrinks or stretches each page to the printer’s paper. Actual size prints it without scaling, which is what a template needs.
Sources
We checked every fact above against these pages on , and we update this guide when they change. Spotted something out of date? Write to hello@quarterinch.app.