Printable PDF pattern
Cross stitch PDF pattern export
When a PixVix chart is ready, PDF export writes a multi-page pattern: a cover, section dividers, colour symbol charts, black-and-white symbol charts with a minimap, and a thread legend. The same finish step can also save a preview image, a chart image, a thread-list CSV, and an OXS file.
Export a pattern
- 1
Finish the chart in the editor
Colours, crop, and lettering should be right before you export. The PDF is a picture of the chart you have, not a second design.
- 2
Build the PDF
The export step creates the multi-page file: cover, sections, colour symbols, black-and-white symbols, and the legend.
- 3
Save the extras if you need them
A stitched preview, a single chart image, a CSV of the thread list, and an OXS file are separate downloads on that same step. They are not extra pages hidden inside the PDF.
- 4
Print or stitch from the screen
Print the symbol pages, or follow the chart in the workspace. Section labels in the PDF match the way the workspace can split the design into pages.
What is inside the PDF
The pattern PDF is built by the exporter in the pattern model, not by a screenshot of the editor. The file starts with a cover. Section dividers break the chart into pages you can stitch one at a time. Each section is drawn as a symbol grid. By default you get the colour symbol charts and a black-and-white symbol set, and the black-and-white pages include a minimap so you can see where that page sits in the whole design. A thread legend lists the symbols and the floss codes.
That is the printable pattern. It is the file you put on paper, or the file you keep on a tablet next to the hoop. It is not the editor project itself. If you change a colour later, export again. Old PDFs do not update themselves.
What is next to the PDF, not inside it
The finish step also offers a stitched preview image, a chart image, a thread-list CSV, and an OXS file. The preview is a picture of the stitched piece for a listing or a gift note. The CSV is the floss list in a spreadsheet, which is useful if you already have a shopping list going. OXS is a chart-file format other software can open. The OXS viewer on this site can open an OXS file in the browser and print it. Do not expect those four files to appear as extra chapters of the PDF. They are separate saves.
A shop pattern you bought is delivered as its own PDF, made the same way, with the design’s legend. Free patterns on the shop can be downloaded as PDF without an account.
Sections, paper, and symbols
Large charts are tiled. The workspace can follow those same PDF pages, so a mark on page C3 is the same region in the app and on paper. You still choose the paper size and how dense the symbols are when you export. Tiny symbols save pages and strain eyes. Large symbols are kinder and use more paper. There is no single correct setting. Print one page before you print forty.
Colour pages are easier when you are learning a confetti area. Black-and-white pages survive a printer that lies about red. Many stitchers keep both, which is why the exporter includes both unless you turn the black-and-white set off. The legend is what you take to the shop. The DMC colour chart on this site is the same numbering, if you want to see a swatch before you buy. It is not a substitute for the legend of your file.
Graph paper is the tool for people who still draft by hand. PDF export is the tool for a chart that already exists in PixVix.
If the PDF is also a product
Designers who sell patterns need more than the stitcher’s PDF. Listing photos, a short video, a title, a description, and tags are the Etsy listing tool. The stitcher’s file and the listing are different jobs. Export the PDF for the buyer. Build the listing from the finished chart when the shop is connected. Pricing and what a seller plan includes are on the pricing page and the Etsy page, not guessed here.
Export from a chart you made
The PDF is the last step of the pattern maker. Graph paper and the OXS viewer are there if you are still drafting or you already have an OXS file.
Start a chart to exportQuestions
- What pages does the PDF include?
- A cover, section dividers, colour symbol charts, black-and-white symbol charts with a minimap, and a thread legend. Preview images, the CSV thread list, and OXS are separate downloads.
- Can I print only symbols, without colour?
- Yes. Black-and-white symbol charts are included by default. You can turn that set off if you only want the colour pages.
- Does the PDF update if I edit the chart?
- No. Export again after you change stitches or colours. The file you already downloaded stays as it was.
- Is the thread list in the PDF?
- The PDF includes a thread legend. A spreadsheet of that list is the separate CSV download on the same export step.
- Can I open someone else’s PDF here?
- PixVix exports its own charts. An OXS file can be opened in the OXS viewer. A random PDF from another program is not an import format.