digitizemypatternProjector sewing with your own patterns
Sewing with a projector means shining the pattern straight onto the fabric and cutting around it, with no printing, taping or tracing. Some PDF patterns you buy come with a projector file. Your own paper patterns do not, but once a piece is digitized you have a true-size file you can project.
Updated October 25, 2026 · digitizemypattern
Digitize a pattern for the projector
Lay the piece flat next to a sheet of Letter or A4 paper, take one photo from straight above and drop it here. The outline opens in the editor in about a minute, ready to download with a true-size SVG.
Which of our files to use on a projector
Every download is one archive with four files. For a projector, the one that matters is the SVG.
Use this one
All pieces in one file, drawn at true size: the width and height of the file are set in millimetres. Cut line, notches, grain line and piece names are in it. In projector software calibrated to your mat, 100 per cent is real size.
If your software reads DXF
The same outline in millimetres, with notches and the grain line on their own layers. You can check its sizes first in our free DXF viewer.
Not made for projecting
The PDF is for a home printer: the piece is split across Letter or A4 pages with an overlap. There is no single-page version yet, so on a projector you would see one tile at a time.
From a paper pattern to the cutting mat
Five steps. The first three are the same as for any digitized piece.
Photograph the piece
Flat on a darker surface, a sheet of Letter or A4 paper beside it, phone straight above.
Check the outline
Fix points, notches and the grain line in the editor. Note the size it shows for the piece.
Download
Unzip the archive and keep pattern.svg for the projector.
Calibrate
Set up the projector over the mat and calibrate it the way your projector software does, usually against a grid or a ruler on the mat.
Measure, then cut
Open the SVG at 100 per cent and measure one known length with a tape. If it matches the editor, cut.
Check the size before the scissors
A projector adds its own error on top of the file: the lens, the height above the mat and the calibration all change the size you see. So measure on the mat, not on the screen. The piece size is shown in the editor and again in the DXF viewer, in inches and millimetres. Pick a long straight edge, measure it under the projector and compare.
If the projected piece is off by more than you would accept from a printed copy, calibrate again before cutting. The file itself is at true size: for an ordinary piece shot straight down in even light the outline is within about 0.06 in of the paper.
Questions about projector sewing
Is there a projector mode or a projector PDF?+
No. The download has a tiled PDF for printing and a true-size SVG. For a projector, use the SVG in your projector software.
Can I turn off the page tiling in the PDF?+
Not at the moment. The PDF is always split across Letter or A4 pages, the sheet you photographed the piece with. The SVG is one piece of artwork with no pages.
Are the notches and grain line in the SVG?+
Yes. The cut line, notches, the grain line with arrows and any internal lines are all in the SVG, with the piece name in the middle of each piece.
Do I still need to measure after calibrating?+
Yes, once per session. Calibration drifts when the projector or the mat moves, and one measured edge tells you straight away.
Keep reading
Your paper pattern, ready to project.
Free while the demo runs. SVG, DXF, PDF and PLT in one archive.