My Pattern Is Printing Too Small or Too Large

If your printed pattern is coming out too small or too large, something is scaling the PDF during printing.

Before printing any more pages, print and measure the test square. If the test square is also the wrong size, work through the checks below.

Check that Actual Size is selected

In the Adobe Acrobat Reader print window, look under Page Sizing & Handling → Size and select Actual Size.

Do not use Fit, Shrink oversized pages or a custom scale percentage, as these can change the size of the pattern pieces.

Check the scaling in your printer settings

If Actual Size is selected but the test square is still printing incorrectly, check your printer's own settings or properties.

Look for options such as:

Fit to Page, Scale to Fit, Resize, or a percentage scale.

If a percentage is being applied, set it to 100%.

Try Adobe Acrobat Reader if you're printing another way

If you're printing from a web browser, phone, tablet or another PDF viewer, try downloading the pattern to a computer or laptop and opening it in Adobe Acrobat Reader instead.

This gives you much more reliable control over the print scaling.

Is the test square correct?

If the test square measures correctly but another pattern piece doesn't, don't change the print scale.

That's a different issue - see My Test Square Is Correct, but My Pattern Piece Isn't instead.

Still not right?

If you've checked everything above and the test square is still printing at the wrong size, you're very welcome to contact me.

If possible, include a screenshot of your full print window so I can see all of the settings you're using.

Happy sewing!
Maria
Pink Pony Design