Digitization Guide

Digitization of a pattern requires a solid capture of the pattern with as little distortion as possible. There’s two routes you can take to get good captures to work with. Scans and Photos. Which you pick depends on the tools you have and the pattern itself.

NOTE: Please include a ruler or known measurement on the pattern! This scale information is important for us to correctly convert and document it! It can also help with correcting distortion when patterns aren’t in great shape or poor captures were made.

Scans

Requires a Scanner of some type, if you don’t have one use Photos instead. Pattern scans are the easiest option for loose pages while helping keep them flat. Oversized patterns will be difficult to scan though requiring tiled scans that are then stitched back together. Books do not scan well without harming the book in many cases, use photos for books instead as we don’t want to destroy the books either.

Simply placing the pattern in the scanner should in most cases result in a useable image. When dealing with multiple scans for oversized patterns use something to mark the edges of the pattern so when you go back to reassemble the pattern from the parts it’s easier to align them. Shapes cut from post-it notes stuck to the scanner bed is a good way to handle this.

Photos

Photos will be the most universal option for getting a decent digital version to work with. You can use any camera or even your phone to take the pictures. When taking photos of patterns take a large sheet of smooth clear glass and lay it over the top of the patterns if they are folded/wrinkled or otherwise to flatten them out. Once the pattern is ready to be photographed, make sure the camera is directly over the pattern, taking images at angles will skew the pattern making it more difficult to vectorize later.