How to Print a Multi-page Cross Stitch Chart

Small patterns fit on a single page. Anything larger than about 50 × 70 stitches at a readable square size has to be split across several pages, and that’s where most printing frustration comes from: shrunken squares, missing rows at page edges, or pages that don’t line up. A well-made PDF and a few printer settings solve all three.

What a good multi-page chart contains

When you export from the Studio, the PDF is laid out in this order:

1. Overview page: the whole design, its size in stitches, the finished size on your chosen fabric, suggested fabric size with margins, and a page map: numbered boxes on the overview showing exactly which page covers which part of the design.
2. Key: every symbol, its colour, name, RGB value and stitch count, plus the total.
3. Chart pages: each with its page number, the column and row range it covers (“columns 51–100, rows 1–70”), numbered bold lines every ten stitches on all four sides, centre arrows where the centre falls on that page, and a mini map in the corner highlighting this page’s position.

Overlap: why some squares are shaded

Neighbouring pages repeat a couple of columns or rows (2 by default). The repeated squares are shaded grey, so you can see they belong to the previous page and you don’t stitch them twice. Overlap makes it easy to line up pages and keep your place when moving from one to the next. You can choose 0, 2 or 3 stitches of overlap when exporting.

No stitch is ever left off a page edge: the tiling is calculated so every row and column appears on at least one page, and the key’s counts come from the chart itself, never from the pages, so repeated squares aren’t counted twice.

Printer settings that matter

The most important setting is scale.

• Choose Actual size or 100%.
• Turn off Fit to page, Shrink oversized pages and Scale to fit.

Otherwise the printer quietly shrinks every page by a few percent. On a chart that’s merely annoying; on graph paper meant to match your fabric count it’s wrong.

Other tips:

• Colour printing is worth it for complex charts, but the symbols are designed to be readable in black and white too.
• Draft/eco mode is usually fine for charts and saves ink.
• Double-sided printing is not recommended: you’ll want to lay pages side by side.

Choosing paper and square size

Square size	Who it suits
2.6 mm (small)	Experienced stitchers, fewer pages
3.2 mm (standard)	Most people
4.2 mm (large)	Easier reading, more pages
5.5 mm (extra large)	Low vision, small designs, children

Choose US Letter or A4 to match your paper; the layout adjusts margins and page count automatically. “Automatic” orientation picks portrait or landscape, whichever needs fewer pages.

Colour, black-and-white, or colour blocks?

• Colour + symbols: best default; colour shows the picture, symbols remove ambiguity.
• Black-and-white symbols: ideal for mono laser printers and photocopies. Every colour has a different symbol shape (circle, triangle, bar, cross and so on), so nothing depends on colour.
• Colour blocks only: quick to read for simple designs, but risky when two colours are similar.

Working with printed pages

• Keep a clean master. Print one copy to mark up and keep the PDF as your master.
• Use sheet protectors and a dry-erase marker, or a magnetic chart board with a ruler strip.
• Highlight as you go. Many stitchers colour finished areas with a highlighter; others prefer the digital tracker, which never runs out of ink.
• Lay out pages by the map: page numbers increase left to right, then top to bottom.

Exporting images instead

If you’d rather view on a tablet, export a PNG chart (a high-resolution image with symbols and grid) or simply open the project in the tracker, which zooms smoothly. A PNG of the simulated stitched look is also available for sharing; it’s labelled as a simulation, not a photo.

Common mistakes

• Printing with “Fit to page”, which shrinks squares.
• Printing only the chart pages and losing the key.
• Stitching the shaded overlap twice.
• Choosing tiny squares to save paper, then straining to read them for months.

Troubleshooting

The PDF won’t open on my phone. Some built-in viewers struggle with large vector files. Open it in a desktop browser or a dedicated PDF reader.

My project name shows ”?” characters. The PDF uses a standard font that supports Western European characters. Other characters in the title are replaced; the chart is unaffected.

There are too many pages. Choose a smaller square size, or landscape orientation, or split the design into sections you’ll stitch one at a time.

Worked example: how many pages will I get?

A 150 × 150 chart printed on US Letter with standard 3.2 mm squares fits roughly 50–60 stitches across and 60–70 down per page, depending on orientation. That means about three columns and three rows of pages, nine chart pages in total, plus the overview and key. The export dialog shows the exact number before you download.

To reduce the page count:

Change	Effect
Small (2.6 mm) squares	More stitches per page, fewer pages; harder to read
Landscape orientation	Better for wide designs
Overlap 0 instead of 2	Slightly fewer pages in some cases; less help lining pages up

To make pages easier to read, choose Large (4.2 mm) or Extra large (5.5 mm) squares and accept more pages.

Assembling a large chart

1. Print the overview page first and keep it as your map.
2. Print chart pages in order. Page numbers increase left to right, then top to bottom.
3. Lay pages out using the shaded overlap rows and the column/row ranges printed on each page.
4. Tape only the pages you are working on, or keep pages loose in sheet protectors so you can carry just the current one.

Saving ink and paper

• Print the black-and-white symbol version for working copies; keep one colour copy for reference.
• Use draft mode; vector charts stay sharp even at lower print quality.
• Print only the pages for the area you’re stitching this month.