Tips and tricks for a cleaner trace
Ten things that make a trace go faster. Most of them take one tap.
1. There is no pinch to zoom
On purpose. Every piece projects at its real printed size, and pinching would corrupt that. Use the Scale control instead. It moves in tenths of a percent, and the app says Not true size any time you leave 100%.
2. Check it with a ruler, once
The setup step is called Check scale with a ruler. Do it the first time on a new surface. Lay a ruler on the fabric and only adjust if the projection disagrees.
Some makers mark a test square. When they do, it arrives joined to piece 1, a centimetre to its side. Measure that and you are done in five seconds.
3. Give the camera something to look at
Plain cloth in a dim room is the hardest thing you can hand a camera. Turn on a light. Move the phone left and right instead of holding it still, because it needs that shift to read depth. When it says Move left more, the motion it is getting is too small.
The same fabric can behave differently on two phones. That is expected.
4. If it will not find the fabric, place it yourself
After a long search the app offers Cannot find them? Place it here. Take it. On dark featureless fabric it is usually faster, and you can still check scale afterwards.
5. Color and weight are for your fabric
White and black are for plain light and dark cloth. The other six keep nested sizes apart. Weight matters more than people expect. If you are squinting at the lines, go heavier before you change anything else.
6. Print the anchor marks for an exact fit
Quick trace needs no printing, and it is the default. For a locked, centimetre accurate fit, lay four printed squares around your pattern. You can download them here or find them on your account page.
One rule. Print at 100%, fit to page off. Each square must measure exactly 3 inches, because that width is what the app anchors to. Check one with a ruler before you cut.
7. Watch the lock badge
Green Locked to 4 markers means the printed squares have your pattern. Amber Markerless means it is coasting on world tracking. If you printed anchors and the badge is amber, sweep back over a square.
8. Lock it before you chalk
Lock freezes finger dragging. Your hands are about to be on the fabric under the phone, and a stray touch mid cut line is expensive. Lock first, trace second.
9. Placed pieces stay as ghosts
Moving on does not throw the last piece away. It stays on your fabric while the next one goes live. Step back and you pick a piece up again.
Keep them bright while you arrange. Dim them once you are chalking.
10. Trace the whole layout at once
After the last piece, Trace all projects everything together with nothing live. It is the fastest way to check a layout fits your yardage before you cut. On long fabric, just pan across it.
A few more
- Nested sizes. Tap a size to recolor it. The one you are working on projects in yellow.
- The grid is real. A 1 in or 1 cm cell is that size in the world, not on the screen. Good for squaring to the grain line.
- Check the file before you print. A listing's big sheet and its print at home version do not always cover the same sizes.
- Bring your own file. PDF or DXF. Exports from CLO 3D, Seamly2D and Optitex land at true size with no calibration.
Something here not matching what you see? Tell us at sttchr.com/contact. We would rather fix the app than the advice.