3 Detailed Steps for Printing Scroll Saw Patterns

Before we started to design our own projects, we tried out patterns from all different sources. The most annoying part of using patterns then was the whole process of photocopying 5+ copies, taping paper so that all lines are oriented perfectly, and dealing with the mountain of wasted paper and ink. When we began creating patterns for others, it was very important to us to try and eliminate these hassles or at least minimize them as much as possible. Digital patterns that are already segmented helps check every box and every single one of our intarsia patterns come with a segmented and unsegmented pattern. Gone are the days when you had to carefully lineup multiple sheets of photocopies an tape them together being extra cautious that all the lines match up perfectly. A few of our larger patterns may have a few areas where taping is needed, but that is far and few.

Every so often we come across an eager scroller that would rather use a computer as a paper weight than try to turn it on and figure out how to use it. I feel the same way at times! This blog post will hopefully help those who are less familiar with computers be able to access our patterns. While there are numerous ways to go about printing, the steps below outlines the method we personally use and hope it will make things easier for some of you. The first few steps are geared towards Entwood Quest patterns specifically, but the rest are for any and all patterns. If you haven't yet, go check out our Pattern Shop to see what we have available.

Step #1 - Finding your PDF pattern

All of our patterns come in PDF form. At this time, we don't sell any physical paper patterns. Our main pattern site is https://ko-fi.com/entwoodquest/shop. So you just purchased a pattern (thank you for that!), but have no idea how to get it? No problem.

After you complete your purchase you will see a message appear similar to above. All you have to do is click on that blue "view content" button.

Another smaller window to appear. Click download. For Chrome users, you can open the file straight away as shown in the upper right corner, but let's wait for that. If you have closed out of the purchase window and want to know how to get back to download the content, there are two different ways.

First way is by going into your email and finding your sales receipt from Ko-fi.com. It should look something like the above.

Open the email, scroll to the bottom and click the red button "Go to Your Order". That will bring you straight to your order info seen in the first photo of this step.

Alternatively, you can go into your Ko-fi account and select the "payments & orders" section. Find your order and click "view details" to access your download.

Step #2 - Adobe Acrobat

There are a million different ways to print patterns. This is how we print all types of patterns. Adobe Acrobat has a paid and free version. YOU DON'T NEED THE PAID VERSION! If you need to, download Adobe Acrobat Reader here. Then, open the PDF pattern through Acrobat.

You should see something like the above photo now. Go ahead and clink the printer icon in the top right, but pause at the print menu.

If you want to print the whole pattern on a single page, select the "shrink oversized pages" option. Make sure to only select the pages you want to print. With this pattern it's only page 3.

If you want a full sized print out, select the "poster" page size. Toggle the "cut marks" checkbox. You can also easily increase the size by adjusting the "tile scale" which is always set to 100% by default. Let go ahead and print the full sized poster style.

Step #3 - Trim and tape

Once all the pages are printed, I lay them out for a quick look to see if any obvious mess-ups happened while printing. If all is good I start trimming the tabs. The "cut marks" at the corners are very helpful when using a paper cutter.

Take the top two pages and only trim the tab on one side and the bottoms on both. Position it so all the lines match up perfectly then tap it. Flip it over and tape the backside. Don't trim the tab from the second page because it gives the tape something more firm to hold onto. Repeat for the bottom two pages but only trim the one side. Then align and tape the 2 halves. You now have a perfectly align full sized print out!

Hope that helps

Like I mentioned before, there are tons of ways to print patterns. The way I showed isn't exactly the best but certainly works well for us. Please do keep in mind though that this method should only be used for reference purposes. If you want a full sized print out to actually cut from, I suggest going to a print shop that offers oversized printing such as the UPS Store.

We hope this guide helped you out. We would greatly appreciate it if you considered buying us a coffee or subscribe to our monthly "Pattern Subscription" plan. It helps to support future blog posts and you get access to all of our previous Free Pattern Friday giveaways. Be sure to share your pictures on Facebook and tag @Entwood Quest! Now, go make some sawdust!