[Sarvi]

Wow, that’s responsive service!

[Todd Gibson]

We took feedback very seriously from the survey we asked people to complete last December. We’re making a few changes to our digital patterns for this spring as a result of feedback (one change is in the inclusion of A0 sheets), and we’ll be making a major enhancement to them starting with our next collection.

I have it on my list to do a series of blog posts talking about what we learned from everyone’s feedback on the survey and things we’re changing as a result. Once our spring collections get released I hope to have time to do that.

[Lightning McStitch]

@todd that’s fabulous news about the paper size change/addition. now I just have to work out how to split PDF files so that I can put all my large pattern sheets into one file. The local printer has a $15 per job minimum so printing one file would still be too expensive.

far be it for me to pick an argument 🙂 but I’m afraid the list of countries who HAVEN’T adopted the ISO standard paper sizes (A series) is much shorter than the list of those who have. Essentially it’s you lot, some indecisive Canucks and the central Americas. Link: http://www.paper-sizes.com/iso-standard-paper-sizes/a-series-paper-sizes

[Rosie]

That’s great!!!! I think the thing that was more disappointing was the Australian company I bought it from had it listed as being able to print on A1. I knew it was too big for A1 but did think it might fit on A0 :-(. I have had some print with no issues but not this one.

[with love Heidi]

Thank you so much for listening! Being able to print A0 will be fantastic!

[Sarvi]

The relevant set isn’t “most countries” though, it’s “most customers” — thus, since it sounds like there was a proven customer base in AUS, it made sense to go to the extra trouble. Though at this point I’m probably backseat-driving somebody else’s business decisions, which I imagine could be annoying — sorry, I’ll zip it!

Either way, I know a lot of my AUS pals will welcome the expanded options, so that’s cool!

[Kerrilyn]

A0 is excellent news! My husband too will appreciate not having to convert them for me!

[Todd Gibson]

It’s really only been with customers from Australia that we have heard about issues with printing the larger format sizes. And I haven’t yet been able to figure out exactly what the issue is. My current assumption is that it’s not a hardware-related issue but it’s due to the paper that print shops stock in Australia–or with the inability of Australian print shop employees to think outside the A0 box….

A0 paper is 33.1″ x 46.8″. To print on A0 paper, you need a wide format printer. All the wide format printers I have been able to find that can print on A0 paper can also print from a 36″ wide roll of paper–some with a maximum length of 50 feet!

If you really want to geek out over this, take a look at the specs for one current printer model on the market–the HP DesignJet T920. You can find a page for this on HP’s USA site and HP’s Australian site. Specs for what the printer can handle are the same for both markets–but measurements are given in inches on the US site and mm on the Australian site. Both sites say the printer can handle A0 sheets of paper. And both sites say the printer can use a 36″-wide (or in Australia a 914mm-wide) roll.

So I have no idea why our Australian customers can’t find a print shop that can print our 36″ wide, variable length PDFs. The hardware used to print A0 sheets is the same as the hardware used to print from a 36″ wide roll. My current assumption is that because A0 is a standard in Australia, shops stock that size paper and when employees see a 36″-wide file come in they print it on A0 because that’s what they know or have on hand. But since A0 isn’t a standard in the US, shops don’t stock it and print from the 36″-wide roll instead.

Anyone in Australia know of a shop that says it can’t print our patterns because it can only print A0 sized sheets? Could you call them up and ask if they can print a job from a 914mm roll instead of on A0 sheets? I’m genuinely interested in what the response would be. Like I said, I think their technology can handle it and that it’s an issue of the paper they stock or the employees not understanding the difference between using A0 sheets and a 914mm roll.

And @lightningmcstitch, buy yourself a full-featured copy of Adobe Acrobat. That will allow you to very easily split the full sized sheets out from a PDF and create your own new PDFs that combine multiple full sized sheets. Someone in the forums a while ago mentioned a free piece of software that does the same thing. But I’ve had enough experience with non-Adobe products changing the scale of the files slightly to be really gun shy of using any other products.

[Lightning McStitch]

You’ve nailed it re the paper situation @todd. First time I asked the local print shop (franchise of a well known chain) they looked blank. Suggested printing sideways on A0 and taping two sheets together.
Second time I asked they recognised existence of 36″ rolls but said they didn’t stock them.
A year later, with new management, they now stock 36″ roll paper. I just need to do as you said and batch some files to make it economical.
Do the kiwis and the Singaporeans and all the corners of the empire not complain as much as us Aussies, or do you have some untapped markets?…..

[Todd Gibson]

You Aussies are more crafty per capita than most other countries. You’re our second largest market, by far. The volume we sell into NZ and Singapore is tiny compared to what we do in Australia. You always have to assume the complaint rate for things like this is low (2-5%). We sell enough into Australia for that to become a real number and to inspire us to do something. We sell so little into the smaller Asia-Pacific former empire countries that it never hits the radar.

[Rosie]

My shop printed it on the A0 sheet but a little bit was cut off. I can forward your question to them, but as I a in a regional town, they might not have the rolls.

I personally prefer print patterns and stock up when they are 50% off. Most retail here for around $25 so the range of digital patterns would have definitely increased the affordability for most here.

[Kerrilyn]

Mine does not stock the 36″ rolls. A0 is the largest size. And when they did try to print it out on A0 is was heaps smaller than it should have been.

For printing patterns on A0 they charge $3 per sheet. (Officeworks)

[Rhythm]

Just a query to Aussies, what about places that do architectural prints and advertisement hoardings? Would they restrict to A0? That’s how I located almost four to five places that print large scale in my tiny Indian town! Very economical as well, about INR 80 or USD 1.25 for one meter.

[Todd Gibson]

So here’s a crazy suggestion for you Aussie die-hard digital fans. Purchase your own roll of 36″-wide paper!

Seriously, it just might work. We don’t have our own 36″-wide printer here in the studio. As much use as we would get out of it, we just don’t have the space for one. We do a lot of 36″-wide printing when we’re developing new styles. We either send our jobs to an architectural blueprint facility that is a short walk from the studio (they are inexpensive and charge by the square foot so our print outs come out to less than $3 each usually) or have our downstairs neighbors print for us. They have a 36″-wide printer in their space and are happy to do it for us. Problem is they are not always in the office, and sometimes they don’t have the right kind of paper on hand. So we keep a roll of paper here in the studio and bring it down when we need them to print something. They drop it in the printer, and we’re off to the races.

If you’re friendly with your local shop and you plan to do a good deal of digital pattern printing with them, it might make sense for your to BYOP (bring your own paper). You could possibly negotiate a lower print rate as a result, too.

Just a thought….

[Sarvi]

Oh, that’s clever! Mine come out to $3-7 depending on the size. I could probably find them a bit cheaper but the shop’s located near the area where my favorite farmer’s market is held, so I pay a bit more for the convenience.