How to Print a Large Format PDF at Home
What's a PDF file?
PDF (Portable Document Format) is a file format that has captured all the elements of a printed document as an electronic image that you can view, navigate, print, or forward to someone else. PDF files are created with most CAD programs, Adobe Acrobat , Acrobat Capture, or similar products. They are useful as a single format for printing documents across all computer platforms, so many people use them for sending and printing clothing blocks or patterns.
My printable blocks and patterns are created in CAD (Corel Draw) in A0 size layout. To print these at home on an A4 printer you will need either a CAD program or a utility program like Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Adobe Acrobat Reader will be te fastest and easiest if you're not into editing CAD files. You simply open the PDF in Acrobat Reader and print it using poster print settings. It has a free 7 trial, after which it has a low monthly fee that's still cheaper than getting it printed at a copy shop if you do even just one pattern a month!
Download The Acrobat Reader Install from Adobe
How to Poster Print to A4
In your program.....
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Choose your PDF file > Print or click icon in the toolbar.
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Select a printer and number of copies to print.
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(Optional) Click properties to open the printer properties. For more information, see your printer documentation.
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Under pages to print, select an option:
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All - prints all pages in the PDF.
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Current page - prints the current page in the PDF
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Pages - specifies a subset of pages to print. You can enter individual page numbers, a range, or a combination. For example: 1, 6-18, 33, 98.
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You can print a large format document, such as A0, by splitting the page across multiple sheets of paper (called "tiling"). The Poster option calculates how many sheets of paper are needed. You can adjust the size of the original to best fit the paper and specify how much each "tile" overlaps. You can then piece together the tiles after printing.
It's really that easy ... and sooo much faster than going out to a copy shop to print it for you.