Symbols not appearing in pdf
Hi. I'm working on my first pattern (attached), and I think I'm missing something. I've exported the design as a pdf, but when I view the pdf the colors appear but the symbols do not. Two questions:
1) how do I get the symbols to appear in exported files?
2) Is there an option to print a "symbols only" pattern with no color?
Thank you!
Elizabeth
1 Reply
Hi! Happy to help, and congrats on your first pattern, it looks great.
1) Getting symbols to appear
Two likely causes:
You may have exported "True Size." In the Export PDF dialog there are two buttons at the top: PDF and True Size. True Size prints one actual-size vector chart for tracing/mounting, and it doesn't include symbols at all. The PDF option is the multi-page chart with readable cells, symbols, and a legend — that's the one to stitch from. Symbols are always drawn on those numbered chart pages.
Or you may be looking at the wrong page. A charted PDF starts with a preview page and (optionally) a grid preview page — those are picture previews with no symbols by design. There's also an "Include full chart page" option that fits your whole design on one page; on a pattern this size the cells get too small to hold a legible symbol, so they're dropped there automatically. Flip past those to the numbered chart pages and the symbols will be there.
One more thing worth ruling out: the "Show Symbols" setting in Preferences only controls the on-screen canvas and color palette. It has no effect on PDF export, so toggling it won't change your file either way.
If you'd also like a symbol printed on each swatch in the color legend, tick "Use symbols (for B&W printing)" in the export dialog.
2) A "symbols only" pattern with no color
Not at the moment, I'm sorry to say — the chart pages always print colored cells with symbols on top. A symbols-only black & white chart is a very reasonable request though (it's much cheaper to print, and easier to mark up while stitching), and I'm logging it as a feature request.
In the meantime, the closest workaround is printing the charted PDF on a black & white printer — the symbols stay crisp and the colors come through as grays.
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