I've been working on a Halloween wall hanging. The pattern in the book says it is 25% of the actual size; enlarge 400%. I really have trouble finding a program that I can enlarge a scanned pattern with. I used "Paint" to enlarge the photo 400% and printed it. It's Way Too Big! Probably twice as big as I need and maybe more.

Can someone Please help me?? I've wanted to make this thing for three years, and I made a special trip to get fabric (40 miles one way) yesterday. I'm ready to use the patterns if only they were the right size.

What programs have you used to scan then enlarge patterns?

You might want to take it to Office Max, Staples or Kinkos and let them enlarge and print it out. It's not expensive and soooo much less hassle.

If the picture is 25% of the actual size wouldn't you just enlarge it 4Xs the size. I'd use a copier and enlarge 100% then !00& again and that should do it.

To me it would seem 25% of actual size means it needs to be enlarged 75%. I'm not good at math but that seems logical.

LynBlair your avatar! It's great. :D :D

Enlarging it by 75% would actually shrink it. 100% is an exact copy, anything less is reducing. I think the problem you have is the software you've used. You really need to use a photocopier, or if your printer scans and copies use that.

Otherwise, if you want to do it manually, you can draw a grid on the original, then a large grid the size you want, and copy each square by hand.

:-)

ditto, I do believe I recognize that face---Nancy???

I would take it to a copier machine; I prefer Kinkos. They can help you.

Anytime I have a pattern that needs inlarged I take it to the local mom and pop shop copy place, she can do HUGE pieces and only charges me about 50 or 75 CENTS to do a copy that is...well to say the least HUGE!
and the great thing is there is never a wait to get something done. I don't have to wait in a line to get it copied, or a line to check out. Checky out if there is a local shop!

I have access to a copy machine and my printer is an all-in-one. I would try enlarging 125% then 125% then 125% and see what happens. I just enlarged for appliqué and I did my enlarging at 140% until I got the right size. I used that number because my copier had that programed in.

25% = 1/4 of the size. Full size would be 4x that original size. If you copied it at 100%, that would be just copying it the same size it is. So you need 4 x 100% (or 400%) to make it the full size.

The easiest way is to take it to a copy machine (supermarket, Staples, etc.). When you do it on the computer, it doesn't always come out right, especially if you do it in increments or if it's larger than the standard 8.5 x 11 paper size.

Isn't math fun? LOL

Your scanning software would be the first place to check, most often they will include a function which will increase the size of the piece being scanned.

I don't use Paint, I have Illustrator, Freehand and Photoshop. Any of which would do this quickly. Likely your Paint program will as well, if 400 percent seems larger than you would like, then pick another number, such as 200.

Does the pattern state a finished size? If so, compare that to the apx. size of the finished product you'd like. We'll here to help you come up with the correct percentage to enlarge your pattern if you need a hand. :)

You can scan the pattern and then save it as a pdf. file. Acrobat will enlarge it for you, just like the copy places. and acrobat reader is free to download. It was too late last night to think of this.

Thanks to everyone for all their input. I stayed up until about 1:30 this morning trying to figure it out. I had a program I thought I could installed use on one computer and not another. We ended up installing the program and not being able to use it after all. I probably got the pattern printed out at a useable size around noon today. I worked forever on it yesterday.

I know that it was 25% of the actual size and needed to be enlarged 400% to make it actual size. The reason it seemed too large was because, I believe, there was an error in the pattern and/or instructions. The background fabric was only 21" x 27", and the pattern was over 36 inches tall when enlarged at 400%...Finally, I measured the pattern in the book and did some math and ended up enlarging the pattern to 275% to fit the background.

This is the largest project I have made. My others have been minis, so I'm excited. I've had this pattern/project for 3 years. Everything has gone wrong. My fusible was giving me problems (coming apart from the paper). One piece fused really well, and I didn't think I was ever going to get the paper peeled off the back of my cut out to fuse it to my background. I did get it. I'm ready to put the borders on. Many other things went wrong. It's really looking cute, though, and I will share pics when I finish it!

This was a beginner pattern. I think I'll try a way more advanced one next time! LOL!

Also, I'm in a very rural area, and Staples is over an hour away...as for Office Max or Kinkos, I have no idea!

Thanks again for all the input!

Glad you got it figured out after all!!

I have found that printing things using Paint is kinda weird. Paints idea of 400% is my idea of about 700%. lol

As for removing the paper from fusible. I open a pair of scissors up and lightly score the paper with one blade. be careful and don't use alot of pressure because if your scissors are sharp enought you will cut right through your fabric!(Never try this while mad you will most definitely press to hard. ask me how I know!) Doing this lifts it just enough to pull the paper up and off!

Don't feel bad my officemax, kinko's and any other office place is about an hour away also! Thank goodness for my my local mom and pop printing place!

I don't know if there are any local printing places around here, unless there is one at a "local" place we vist often, about 40 miles away. Where we go to Wal-Mart or to eat out. "Town" is about 25 minutes away. We have a Kroger! LOL!

Maybe it was Paint's version of the pattern! Mongo patterns!

I don't know what was up with that one piece of fusible, but it was really, really stuck. I may have ironed it too much, but the others were fine. That one must've been Paint's version of sticky! LOL!

What I think would work:

If the "original" is 2 inches and I want it to be 6 inches, I would use the 300% setting.

Basically, divide the size wanted by the size of the original.

6 (wanted) / 2 (original) = 3 = 300%

2 (wanted) / 6 (original) = 1/3 = 0.3333 = 33%

I'm glad you got it figured out. You can also try scoring the fusible paper with a straight pin. Can't wait to see your project.

LOL Miranda, (thats my little sisters name) sounds about like the place I grew up, minus the Kroger. I grew up in Japan, Missouri. The nearest payphone was about 20 miles away! Our "town" didn't even have a post office our address was actually Sullivan which was where the closest pay phone/gas station/civilization was!Yet they still didn't have much to choose from a walmart, and a few fast food places!
Shoot our nearest neighbor was a field of cows and beyond that you didn't see your "neighbors" house!
Then I ended up marrying a kid from the city, like cittttttttttttttty kid! Now we are raising our children kind in the middle! lol

i scan and use photoshop software to enlarge.

if its really big then i'll take it to the copy center.

When enlarging, I don't enlarge it in the program, when the print info comes up it says to print at 100%, you can change that to anything that you want pretty much, and it will just print it out that much bigger.

Thanks for all the other tips.
Cutebuns, that does make sense!

We are getting a new computer soon, so I hope it has a more user friendly program that will help.

justwannaquilt, When we go to town, there's a hospital, a CVS, some restaurants, and dollar stores! We pretty much live in the woods. The road to our house is a narrow black top (it turns to gravel a few miles down the road past our house) with no lines, yellow or white. We live on a sheep farm. They belong to MIL and GMIL. We have a miniature horse. My SIL/neighbor has goats. We grow a garden.

Sounds like in the middle is a great place for you to raise children!!

don't forget to post a picture, you have us all curious. Why is it the simple ones can give us the most fits???

That is large compared to the city that I live by, I live 3 miles out on a dirt road, there is a corner store, a car delership, two liquor stores, a bar, a small hotel, a hairdressers, a icecream shake and the gas station is out by the hwy, not in town.


Different people do things differently, I have also used copiers but if I am at home, it works out, there is usually a guide some where on the paper to let you know if it is the correct size

Hi,
Perhaps I can help you with your enlargement issues. I've never posted anything so I hope I can show you what I mean.
Remember that a copy enlarges both directions. If your image is 25% of what you want to end up with, a 200% enlargement will get you where you want to go. For example, a 2"x2" image is 4 sq inches. When you enlarge it 200%, it becomes a 4"x4" image (16 square inches). The original 2x2 is 1/4 of the new image.
I know it doesn't seem to make sense, so I am going to try to attach an example.

Good quilting.

I will definately post pics because I'll be so happy when this is together. I can't let myself post one, yet...
Oh, I don't know. I think I could've taken an advanced pattern and sailed through it! LOL! We'll see because I have a harder one planned.

Thank you, Carolyn. I'll keep that in mind for next time. Welcome to the Quilting Board!

Sorry I can't get my example to come up on the screen. I hope you understand.
How does everyone get their pictures to load?

I just downloaded it, and it opened for me. I just click "attach files" and select the file I want. Mine are always .jpeg files. Your file is a .pdf, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Hi ButterCreamcake

Perhaps this is helpful
http://www.thequiltedsnail.com/scale.html

There are some charts for enlarging and reducing.

Ellis' Granny B