Jess Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 I have a couple of questions rolled into one here. We just linked our site to a free software that will allow you to resize & print pantographs (& Motifs) from your home printer, but you would have to tape the pages together or have a printer that prints on banner/roll paper if you want the full length & you've resized the pattern to larger than one page. This program allows you to resize & print all of the hundreds of patterns that we offer in PDF format. We have already used a test group for this project & have gone forward but I think more feedback would be helpful as well. Thank you for your feedback. So the question is: If you find the ability to do this an interesting concept then how often do you think you would use this feature? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyA Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 taping pages together is a huge Pain, they never line up, and they do not roll easily. Yuck. Great product to offer though for people that don't mind that method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheri Butler Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Kathy, I purchased some fax paper on a roll. That way you can trace your 10 or 12' pantograph and you dont have the tape mess. Guess it's a trade off. tracing vs taping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Personally, Lining up and taping a lot of papers together is less than appealing. Also as previously mentioned they would be impossible to roll up. How much space would they take up after they are printed? The idea of having a file on the computer with possibly hundreds of pantos that could be re-sized is wonderful but until a lot of people have printers that can print banners I just don't see this being feasible. Last year I bought a panto from a dealer at MQX. I went to use it on a quilt last month. It very nicely had a sticker of the pattern on the outside, like a label. However when I went to use it, it was a totally different panto. I called the designer/owner of the company and she stated that it must have been mislabled but wouldn't mail me a new panto. She instead emailed me a file to print the panto on my home printer. It's still sitting on my email, unopened. Just my opinion. Dianne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmyhogan Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Usually I only tape enough pages (2 or 3) together of a re-sized pattern to get the whole pattern then, I put it on the plastic table (where pantos go), roll out a length of Freezer Paper over the top of that and start tracing. When I get to the end of the pattern, I move the taped pages down until it matches the end of my tracing and start again. If it is hard to see through the freezer paper I put a light under the table (like a light box). The Freezer Paper is sturdy enough to last through Many uses. It would be really nice to be able to print a 10 to 12 foot piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbishwit Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 This option is not appealing to me...I don't like to tape the pages together and for the amount of volume I do by doing long arming as a business I would rather purchase the pantos on a roll (no work for me except ordering on line) as for resizing the pattern Jodi Beamish at Willow Leaf studios already provides that service for her customers (for a little fee) so why would I want to bother with the tape? Maybe the hobbiest longarmer doing this for herself only, would like this tape option but I don't see the business owner longarmer wanting to do it. Just my opinion...you asked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted January 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Thank you to everyone so far for their input. Here are some other suggestions that might be useful: OPTIONS BESIDES TAPING: besides taping is that you can take the resized file(s) to your local print shop & they will print them out on roll paper. They charge a ton for resizing , but not a lot to just print what you have already resized. For some users this could be an option. There are also a ton of printers on the market that already print from rolls ( Epson 1280, Epson 1900, 3800, 4800, HP 90, are just a few). I've taped several patterns that roll up fine, if I wanted to save them like that. They will also accordian fold & you can put punched holes & keep them in a binder. But most of the time I just tossed them & Printed the pattern again when I needed it because I knew that I would probably want a different size anyway. Another idea that I used quite a bit is that I would take wash-away stabilizer (the paper-like kind works best) & run it through my printer to put the patterns on, stitch right through them,& then just tear away most of it & spritz away any that got stuck in stitches. It works like Golden Threads paper except that it dissolves. Actually Golden Threads paper or other tracing paper or Vellum will also work in your printer, you just have to adjust the setting to transparency. AS FAR AS REGISTRATION OF PAGES (LINING UP). We use a technique that allows you to move the pattern for printing that moves them in exact X,Y coordinates (described in our instructions) that allows everything to be perfectly lined up from one page to the next. I mean perfectly lined up. There is a little overlap that is necessary to get past the margins, but with this technique you are not necessarily moving the pattern all loosey goosey around to print. It is exact so that you can keep your pages lined up, if you do decided to tape. So these are just a few ways that this technique & software might present some alternatives. I realize that taping is not for everyone, but it is just one of the many options presented by use of this program & downloading patterns that can be easily resized. My biggest pet peeve prior to getting a CQ is that I hated to be limited to whatever size the pattern was in the packet, or tracing it over & over, rather than being able to print copies, as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted January 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Just as a side note to this poll. I wanted everyone to know that we offer shipped paper patterns in whatever size that our customers want, at no additional charge. We custom print everything, so that's just part of our service also. The downloadable, resizeable PDF files are just an additional way for our customers to receive patterns. Currently we offer: -Digital formats for computerized machine quilting -Digital PDF for printable, scaleable paper patterns -Paper Patterns (pantos & motifs) that we will print any size you want. -Digital EMB format, which is a zip file with multiple machine embroidery formats in several sizes. - Downloadable/digital Piecing Patterns in PDF format -Downloadable/ digital Applique Pattern in PDF format (now resizeable also) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeke Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Ya know. Back when I use to do a lot of panto's, I just did them myself. On a standard piece of paper. I would copy them off and arrange them the way I see fit. I never taped anything at all. This way I can spead out or tighten in the panto for the quilt. This made it so easy to do. Now I would place the first set under the plastic and arrange it to fit the width of the quilt plus 4 inches. Then I went and got some more plastic for a second row. This way I could interlock my designs and not have to turn the quilt after every row. This gave me two rows of panto's. Regards, zeke..............Now can you dig that................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 This sounds a lot like a service I have called www.perfectborders.com. I have used it for 3 years and love the ease of choosing the height and width of a border and mixing and matching motif pieces (like a bunny that follows a duck). We print the .pdf on our hp printer/fax/copier using banner paper. Works great. It costs about $12-15. Here's the catch, though. These are single use patterns. This service sounds similar. Jess, are we allowed to use the same border .pdf multiple times with your product.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 OK I am curious (still learning the ropes) on pantographs. Is it OK to resize these or do we need permission. I wasn't sure about copyright and how this resizing software applies. Jess, is this just for your designs or anyone's designs? Thanks (not sure and wanted to ask). And, I think your downloading tool is a good idea (this saves you time and $$ on shipping and reduces your paper costs. So with that, is there a cost savings for us, too? I don't have many pantos in my stash, but would like to get some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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