Hey everyone,
Obviously, I'm new here and after doing some searching and I can't seem to find a definitive answer to one big question I have. I think I know the answer, but I could be wrong. If it's been asked before, I apologize I couldn't find it. But anyway, I am an amateur tailor and I'm looking to create personal patterns for shirts, trousers, jackets and the like. My question is would inkscape, in your opinion(s) be good for doing this? Essentially, the plotting of points needs to be reasonably accurate, (not extremely so, but at least to the 1/4") and curves and angles need to be accurately represented. Also the ability to tile segments of a pattern and print them on letter sized paper would be a big plus. Is inkscape a good choice to do this? Just for reference, here is a pic of a typical jacket draft:






Thanks for your time..

Pete

imho
the list, not so hot, yes possible but not what inksacpe is made for
the drawing, no doubt that would be fairly easy
the printing, I dunno, I have used Corel Draw before and it was this tiling feature built right in, hate say it but be worth it for this function alone to have a Windows box with Corel Draw just for this
I hope someone else knows a way to work around this with linux and inksape

Pat Jr.

thanks pat,
i posted the instructions not because i want to replicate them with inkscape, but because i wanted to give an idea of the drawing's origin. so, inkscape is accurate enough to produce this? also, the tiling print feature isn't essential, it's just that i've been using AI and it is a convenient feature to have. i can just save the drawing and transfer it to a thumbdrive and have a buddy print it at a print shop that he works with. they can print it in it's entirety without the need to tile it. i just wondered if i could print it out at home.

again, thanks for your help

pete

forgot to ask, if i took this jpeg and wanted to scale it to a certain size using guidelines to place it, can i scale it this way while keeping the proportions locked and correct styling/shape without distortion of the jpeg?

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

Inkscape would be great for making clothing patterns! You can make them absolutely precise. And you can scale them to your heart's content, without losing any quality. Although I realize that making clothing in different sizes cannot be simply done by scaling the pattern. And Inkscape has grids, that would be very helpful in drawing patterns. You can make the grid in any units you want!

I don't understand what you mean about this

...the ability to tile segments of a pattern and print them on letter sized paper...

Are you talking about tiling a pattern on the fabric, so that you can match the graphics and/or stripes or checks, when you sew the pieces together? Or are you just talking about putting say 6 sleeve patterns pieces on one sheet of paper? (My mom taught me to sew when I was 8 years old ) Well, Inkscape could do both

Edit -- If it's the latter, Inkscape can't take one image and print 6 times on the paper, that I know of. But you could make copies of the pattern piece, and paste it 6 times in one file; and then print that. Or there's a tiled clones feature that might work too.

A JPG is a raster graphics format, which means it cannot be scaled without losing quality (pixelation). You might be able to convert it to vector, depending on what's in the image. After it's converted to SVG, then you can scale it, with dimensions locked, and not lose quality. If you could show us a thumbnail of the JPG, we could offer suggestions about converting it to SVG. If it's something like a family photo or landscape, it will be hard to convert. If it's like a drawing of a suit or dress, or something like that, you could probably use Inkscape's Trace Bitmap to convert it.

Thanks brynn!
Nice to know there's a fellow needle and thread man on the forum!
The jpeg that I am talking about is the actual drawing that's posted above. I just want to size it to my measurements (both horizontally and vertically) and then print it to regular letter sized paper. I've been using AI and there's a built in function where you can tile print oversized file in segments (tiles, I guess) and then tape the entire image together. For example, if the image was 25 1/2 x 34 1/2 then it would print 9 tiles (3X3) to get the full image. Your explanation of jpeg vs. vector vs. svg makes sense because when i tried to scale the above drawing it didn't keep its quality. what's the process (what program(s) do i use) for converting to a file type where i won't lose quality?

thanks brynn and everyone else who posted for helping me get started using this powerful tool!

Oh, ok I understand. No, Inkscape can't print like that. You'd have to take the oversized pattern piece and "manually" (using Inkscape) cut it into pieces, and move to the needed position before printing.

The raster format of pattern pieces should trace fairly well with Inkscape's Trace Bitmap feature (in the Path menu). (instructions: http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Trace.html) It will convert a raster image to SVG. However, you might find (in this case) that something called a centerline trace would be better. And Inkscape's trace engine doesn't do that. But there's an online trace engine that will do that, and you can find it here: http://www.roitsystems.com/cgi-bin/autotrace/tracer.pl I would suggest trying both, and decide which one you prefer. You may not actually even notice any difference. And of course, if you draw the pattern originally in Inkscape, conversion would not be needed, since it would automatically be in the SVG format.

If you need to break up a pattern piece after Trace Bitmap has been used to convert it, you might need to use a different process than if it had been drawn originally in Inkscape. So just let us know when you get to that step, and we can offer suggestions. Unless you can still use AI to print? Or I don't know, but I can imagine that some fancy printers might do that? Or possibly you could take the file to a self service print shop (such as Kinkos in US) and have it printed like that, or even get it printed on large paper?

Happy Inkscaping

PS - I'm actually a "needle and thread" woman

For slicing up images, I'd use poseterazor: http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/

I use it regularly for large maps.

-Rob A>

Hey Rob A, Thanks for the tip. Looks pretty cool.

Pat Jr.

RobA wrote:For slicing up images, I'd use poseterazor...

Awesome!
And open source too?!

thanks and sorry brynn.

Hi amateursarto, et al.

No, I'm not a needle and thread guy, but I am a newb, so I was surfing around and found this topic... which is similar to a question I've had as well. Let me ask if I understand the question correctly (tiling issues aside), you need the Dimensions of your printed paper (however chopped or whole) to be ACTUAL real world dimensions you intend them to be as you've drawn the cloth-pattern in units in Inkscape?

Maybe RobA can answer as he is a map maker, but I'm from an architectural drafting background, and I keep finding myself trying to accomplish tasks as I would in AutoCad. However, this is one of the fundamental issues in drafting, to find your SCALE of Units. Some people draw in the Model Space that is 1 to 1, this is the simplest way. I emulated a model space in paper space by using a model file scaled 1 to 1 (1 drawing inch is 1 real world inch), essentially the same thing, and then you specify in 'sheets' (other files, still .dwgs) as to what scale the overall sheet would be (eg: 1/8" = 1'-0", 1/4" = 1'-0") and reference the model into the sheet, printing the areas of the model as needed. Enough of Drafting 101, sorry..(but I've worked in a shop where an architect refused to 'draw to scale', and placed dims ad hoc throughout the file, making it a nightmare for others to work on)

However, my question follows: With the "scalability" of SVG files, doesn't my traditional idea of dimensions go out the window?? We're counting pixels now for display, I guess one would need to understand their printers very well to do all this math, that Acad (print manager) performed for me in the past.

Sorry for jumping topics, good luck with the patterns.