Printable Stained Glass Patterns

A grid calculated from the printable region

Use actual paper dimensions and printable margins

US Letter measures 215.9 × 279.4 mm, and A4 measures 210 × 297 mm. The full paper size is not the usable area for a drawing. With a 10 mm margin on each of four edges, Letter portrait leaves 195.9 × 259.4 mm and A4 portrait leaves 190 × 277 mm. A printer that needs a larger margin requires a different setup even when the paper label stays the same.

Orientation swaps the paper axes before margins are subtracted. Letter landscape therefore provides 259.4 × 195.9 mm at the same 10 mm margin. The workshop calculates the construction grid from those printable dimensions, the physical panel dimensions, and the selected overlap. It does not assume that every large pattern takes six pages or that every printer can reach the same edge.

Understand why neighboring pages overlap

A 10 mm overlap repeats part of the drawing on adjacent sheets. That repeated area lets you align the same centerline and piece number before taping. It also means each later page adds less new width or height than the first page. For one axis, the page count is the ceiling of (panel length − overlap) divided by (printable length − overlap), with a minimum of one page.

For a 406.4 mm panel width on Letter portrait, the calculation is ceil((406.4 − 10) / (195.9 − 10)) = 3 columns. For the 508 mm height it is ceil((508 − 10) / (259.4 − 10)) = 2 rows. The result is six construction sheets. The overview page is additional; counting it as a construction tile would misstate the arrangement.

Compare portrait, landscape and a smaller panel

The same 16 × 20 inch panel is 406.4 × 508 mm on both paper choices. A4 portrait gives three columns by two rows at 10 mm margins and overlap. Letter landscape gives two columns by three rows, and A4 landscape also gives two by three. These are equal total counts with different joins. Choose the orientation that makes alignment convenient for the particular drawing rather than assuming fewer columns means fewer pages.

Change the panel to 12 × 16 inches and the physical dimensions become 304.8 × 406.4 mm. With Letter portrait and the same margins and overlap, the grid becomes two columns by two rows, or four construction sheets. This smaller example is useful for checking that a preview really recalculates. A fixed six-page label would fail to describe either the new geometry or the required paper.

Print at 100% and measure both directions

Choose 100% or Actual size in the PDF print dialog. Disable Fit, Shrink oversized pages, and any extra poster tiling performed by the print application. The downloaded PDF already contains the construction pages. Applying a second tiling mode can move the margins or introduce another scaling step. Check that the selected paper and orientation match the PDF before printing an entire project.

Measure the 100 mm calibration line with a physical ruler. The 4 inch endpoint is 101.6 mm, so it is close to but distinct from the 100 mm mark. If a supposed 100 mm ruler measures 97 mm, the output is at 97% and should not be used as the intended 1:1 pattern. Print another calibration sheet after correcting the settings; do not compensate by guessing a different glass cutting allowance.

Join the pages using their grid positions

Each construction page carries its column, row and page number. Lay out the grid before trimming so the adjacent sheets are unambiguous. Match the cross marks and repeated boundaries inside the overlap, then trim one overlapping paper edge where useful and tape across a stable surface. Keep the drawing flat: a raised or folded seam can make an otherwise correct repeated line appear offset.

Before fixing every join, compare a long horizontal and vertical feature across the assembled sheets. A consistent increasing offset suggests scale or alignment error; a single misplaced row suggests page ordering. Check the overall panel width and height against the intended dimensions too. The digital grid is a geometric prediction. A physical print is accepted at 1:1 only after the actual paper ruler and assembled dimensions have been measured.

Keep centerline cartoons and inset cutting files distinct

The tiled pattern shows the numbered centerline arrangement. Its labels match the project, glass list and individual cutting outlines. Copper foil and lead came still require their selected half-heart inset when making the glass blanks. The free compensated SVG supplies that single-layer cutting geometry. Printing a centerline cartoon at exactly the right scale does not automatically turn its centerlines into the correct cut edges.

For a 100 mm square with a 0.8 mm copper foil heart, the cut side is 99.2 mm even though the centerline square is 100 mm. With a 2.0 mm came heart it is 98.0 mm. Use a separate paper or sticker copy of the inset outlines where that fits your process, and keep the original numbered cartoon available for assembly. The preview line thickness never determines that physical inset.

Free attribution and the seller white-label boundary

The standard full-size PDF is free, unlimited and includes stainedglasspatternmaker.com on each page. It carries the overview, actual-size tiles, grid labels, overlap references, piece numbers, glass key and calibration marks. PNG and basic vector exports have no watermark. You do not need a workshop pass merely to print a large pattern, obtain a basic cut list, or save a local editable project.

The seller pack removes website attribution from all included PDFs and adds your optional studio name, cover notes and a large-type assembly checkoff worksheet. Its cutting, grinding, foiling and soldering boxes follow the same numbered project. The complete ZIP is generated after server authorization. The preview is a way to inspect its scope, while the paid file carries the unbranded tiled pattern and commercial or teaching distribution information.