digitizemypatternPattern grading service: cost and what it needs
Grading turns one base size into a full size run by moving the points of the pattern by set amounts. A US studio publishes $75 for five sizes and $10 for each size after that. The price assumes a clean digital pattern to start from: if yours is on paper, that has to be entered into CAD first, and that is a separate charge per piece.
Updated September 7, 2026 · digitizemypattern
What does a grader actually change?
Not the shape, the distances. Grading moves defined points of the pattern outward or inward by the amounts in a grade rule table, so the garment keeps its proportions across sizes. A shoulder grows differently from a hip, and the rules say by how much. Nothing about the style, the fit or the seam positions is redesigned along the way.
Your own size chart
You supply the measurements per size, and the grade follows your chart. This is what production wants: the run matches the label your customers already know.
A generic standard
No chart of your own, so the grader applies a common industry standard. Cheaper to start, and the reason first fittings sometimes come back wrong at the ends of the run.
A sample per end size
Sew the smallest and the largest before the run. A grade that looks correct on screen can fail on a body, and the ends of the range are where it shows first.
How much does grading cost?
Published rates, read on digitpatterns.com's own price page 7 September 2026: $75 to grade a pattern into 5 sizes, $10 for each additional size, and grading done either from your tech pack spec or from a generic sizing standard. Their price page recommends sampling before a graded pattern goes into production.
Two costs sit next to that one and are easy to miss. A paper pattern has to be digitized first, published at $7.50 per piece with a $50 minimum per style. Marker making, the arrangement of the graded pieces on the fabric, is charged separately at $7.50 per linear yard of paper.
So a paper pattern of 12 pieces graded to 7 sizes reaches roughly $90 for digitizing and $95 for grading before any fabric is touched. The digitizing half is the half that has nothing to do with grading skill.
Why does the base pattern decide the price?
Because grading software cannot grade a photograph or a scan. It needs a pattern as geometry: closed outlines, notches as points, grain lines, each on its own layer. If what you have is paper, somebody enters it first, and that entry is billed per piece regardless of how simple the shape is. A clean digital base also decides how the grade behaves: points in the wrong place move by the right amount to the wrong spot.
Entered by hand
A digitizing table and a puck, point by point along the edge, or a bureau doing the same and charging per piece. Slow, and the accuracy depends on the hand holding the puck.
Entered from a picture
One photograph of the flat piece with a sheet of Letter paper beside it comes back as a DXF at true size, notches and grain marked, in about a minute. Correct anything by hand in the browser.
Hand it to the grader
The DXF follows the AAMA and ASTM layer convention, which is what AccuMark, Optitex, Lectra Modaris and StyleCAD expect when a graded run is built.
Do we grade patterns here?
No. This is a digitizing tool, not a grading service: it returns the shape of the piece you photographed, at true size, in one size. Grading needs a rule table and a person who knows what the garment is for, and neither of those comes out of a photograph. What this does is remove the per-piece entry charge that sits in front of grading, and hand your grader a file they can open on the first try.
Questions before you order a grade
Do you grade patterns?+
No. We digitize one piece at a time from a photograph and return it at true size. Grading is a separate job, done by a person with a grade rule table, and studios charge for it per size.
What does grading cost in 2026?+
digitpatterns.com publishes $75 for five sizes and $10 for each size after that, read on their price page 7 September 2026. Grading can run from your own spec or from a generic sizing standard.
Can my grader use your file?+
Yes. The DXF is written on the AAMA and ASTM convention with the cut line, notches, grain line and internal marks on separate layers, which is what grading software reads.
Does grading need seam allowance in the file?+
That depends on how your grader works, and you should ask before sending anything. This tool adds nothing: if the paper piece has allowance the file has it, and if not, it does not.
Can one photograph give me the whole size run?+
No. A photograph carries one size, the one lying on the table. To get a run you either grade the digitized base or photograph every size you already have on paper.
How accurate does the base have to be?+
Accurate enough that the error does not grow through the run. Grading moves points, so an error in the base stays in every size. Check the outline in the editor before handing it on.
Keep reading
Give your grader a file, not a pile of paper.
Free while the demo runs. One photograph per piece.