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Dragonlair
USA
2863 Posts |
 Posted - 10/08/2020 : 09:41:23
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I'll address your several issues.
You can make your stitches bigger to VIEW by changing the zoom factor of the display. It usually forces you to scroll sideways and lengthways to see all the stitches but there is a view pattern option that pops up a display of the entire pattern. It doesn't show the symbols, just color blocks of the entire pattern in a separate window - it can be large or small, depending on the pattern. The zoom option is in the upper left of the home tab. I usually set it to 200%. Also, your choice of stitch count affects the size of the default size - 16 count blocks will be smaller than 14 count blocks.
Note -- the stitch count you specify is really just for you to use to see the pattern and for the estimates of floss usage (usually not very accurate in the best of cases). If you want to stitch a pattern that is listed at 14 count as 18 count - go ahead! It just uses a bit less floss.
The next point - printing. The print dialog allows you to specify how many stitches per inch to print. If you want bigger stitches on the printout, just make that number smaller. It may take more pages to print but the blocks will be bigger.
The main point - virtual printer. A virtual printer is a way to make files other than actually print them and is accessed through the print dialog. It is how to make a PDF file of the pattern, even though the "master" is still a .pat file. In fact, a PDF creator is the most common form of virtual printing. There is one from Microsoft but it doesn't seem to be completely compatible with PCStitch. It has a history of just completely blocking all printing. Most PDF readers, including Adobe, have built-in PDF creator features (virtual printers). I use the one that comes with Foxit as that product has less overhead than Adobe. You can also get stand-alone products but I DO NOT recommend the one called Primo-PDF. It is known to install extra products without your approval.
My previous post was done while I used Primo-PDF, before I had to install it on a newer machine and found they had changed how things worked. I got so mad at trying to clean it out as it was installing, I scrapped it entirely and found the Foxit had one that worked better and faster. Note - my earlier comment was about 8 years ago. Things change and not always for the better.
Once you install a product with the PDF creator feature, that product will appear in the drop-down list you use to select a printer. Just click on the down arrow where the printer is listed and choose your virtual printer. No actual printing is done - just a PDF file that you name appears where you tell it to or in some default location.
Diane
There is no such thing as a stupid question
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Converting pattern to email version
