How to remove the projector grid from a PDF pattern

October 24, 2026

Open the projector file that came with a PDF pattern and there is often a grid of squares drawn over the whole page. Under a projector, that grid does a real job. When you trace the pattern on your phone, it is just more lines to read past. Here is why the grid is there, why it gets in the way, and how Sttchr takes it off so only your pattern lines are left.

Why projector files carry a grid

A projector does not know how big your table is. Move it, zoom it or tilt it a little and the pattern grows, shrinks or turns from a rectangle into a slanted shape. The grid is how you check. Every square is drawn at a known size, so you lay a ruler against one, adjust the projector until the square measures true and every square looks square, and then you know the pattern lines are at the right size too.

That is why designers draw the grid across the entire sheet, edge to edge: the squares in the corners show distortion that the middle hides.

Why the grid gets in the way when you trace

Sttchr does not calibrate with a grid. It reads the page size from the PDF and shows each piece on your fabric at true size, so the grid has nothing left to do. What it still does is draw dozens of extra lines through every piece.

• It looks like a cutting line. Some files draw the grid in the same color and line weight as the pattern pieces, so it is easy to chalk along a grid line by mistake.
• It hides the size you want. In a nested pattern you are already following one line through several sizes. A grid crossing all of them makes that harder.
• It adds noise on busy fabric. On a print or a check, a page full of straight lines is one more thing your eye has to sort through.

Why you cannot always just switch it off

Some designers put the grid on its own layer, and a PDF app with a layers panel can hide it. Many do not. The grid is drawn straight into the same page as the pieces, and nothing in the file marks it as a grid. There is no layer to turn off, and deleting the lines by hand in a PDF editor means clicking every one of them without catching a piece outline by accident.

How Sttchr handles it

1. Sttchr checks every PDF you import. It looks for a grid drawn into the pattern: evenly spaced, straight lines that run right across the page. Pattern pieces do not, which is how the two are told apart.
2. It tells you what it found. On the Crop step, Projector grid found appears under the page. You will see it again under Edit in Arrange.
3. With Sttchr Pro, the grid comes off on its own. The row then reads Grid removed. Only your pattern lines are traced. A switch on the same row puts the grid back if you ever want it.
4. Without Pro, the row offers Try Pro. You can still crop, arrange and trace the pattern with the grid showing.

Only the grid lines are taken out. The page size, and so the true scale, stays exactly as the designer made it, and so do the piece outlines, the text and the size layers. If you already chose a size in a layered pattern, it stays chosen. In the rare file that cannot be split again, the app says so and shows every size. Sttchr works from a copy, so your original file is never changed.

A few files cannot be cleaned. Sttchr never rewrites a PDF the designer locked, and a grid that is part of a scanned image is not a drawn line, so it stays. When removal does not work, the row says This grid could not be removed. and you trace as usual.

Who gets grid removal

Grid removal is part of Sttchr Pro, along with unlimited uploads of your own PDFs. Your first 2 uploads are free. Patterns you buy in the Sttchr shop are always free to trace, and each one comes with a year of Sttchr Pro. Student, teacher, or money is tight? Get in touch and Pro is on us.

Questions

Does removing the grid change the size of my pattern?

No. Only the grid lines are taken out. The page size, and so the true scale, stays exactly as the designer made it.

Can I get the grid back?

Yes. Turn the switch on the Projector grid found row off. Sttchr never changes your original file, so the grid comes back exactly as it was.

Is grid removal free?

Grid removal is part of Sttchr Pro. Without Pro, Sttchr still tells you a grid was found, and you can trace with the grid showing. Patterns you buy in the Sttchr shop each come with a year of Sttchr Pro.

What if my PDF is locked?

Sttchr never rewrites a PDF the designer locked, so its grid stays. A PDF that needs a password to open will not import until you remove the password in another app.

More on the files Sttchr reads in which pattern types are supported, and how projector files compare with tracing on your phone in projector vs AR sewing patterns. To bring your own file in, read how to upload your own pattern.