First of all I must thank all the Etsy sellers who I contacted over the weekend. You all graciously answered my query without asking me why I wanted to know the answer.
The reason for my impromptu research was because a friend had bought a pattern and when she came to print it it was 10 pages long although the actual pattern was on only 2 pages.
This set me off on my quest to find out the average size of patterns of the same type and complexity (small coaster/doily size). The reasoning was because from the 'get go' I've always tried sooooo hard to save on paper and ink when I produce a pattern. This has and always will be a big factor for me as we're destroying our planet and I want to do a bit to save it. I do spend a lot of time trying to fit all the instructions on as few pages as possible.
The most interesting result of my research was the number of designers who hadn't even thought about that side of things as they (like me) mostly work digitally. I haven't printed off any of my own patterns for many, many years. Several designers were very surprised to learn that people actually do print but I have quite a lot of friends who like to work from paper just like they also prefer a paper book.
One or two said that they put in a lot of instructions on how to make the pattern too. Now this is fine for somebody who is just starting on their journey in our craft but for old timers then it's so annoying. I had a pattern shown to me not long ago and because of the amount of 'help' that was given the actual pattern itself was lost and I honestly couldn't follow it. It was also in two languages as well. A great effort on the part of the designer but REALLY confusing to read and follow. I gave up!!!
Personally I think a pattern of a small coaster/doily size should be at the very most two or three pages long and just stick to giving the instructions to work the design. I don't see the point of so many pictures or explanations let alone a 'front page' and fancy large fonts. If you come across something you don't understand then just ask Mr Google or the designer for help. Also coloured backgrounds (particularly black) are a real ‘no, no’.
Just my opinion - what do you think?
7 comments:
I once bought a pattern that turned out to be 30 pages!! Usually the seller indicates how large the file is, but this one didn’t.
I am definitely someone who prefers books and paper, but our ancient printer stopped working a few weeks ago and that has ended my pattern purchasing.
Very sadly the new one doesn’t talk to the computer. It’s tantalising to see all the new designs and not being able to print anything.
I will enlist a grandson to help eventually, but the first jacaranda has bloomed so it’s Exam Time in Brisbane and I must wait,
30 pages? Sheeesh. I once test tatted a 33 page one but gave up because it was too longwinded and I couldn’t understand parts of it. Hope your grandson manages to help you out eventually!!!
I think brevity is a virtue! But it’s up to the reader to choose which parts to print , or whether to print at all.
I am one of those people who likes 'real' books, and I have trouble working from a screen, so I definitely print any pattern I'm tatting. Long-winded ones don't get printed, so they don't get tatted - not by me, anyway. If there is a genuine NEED for more than 2 or 3 pages, as in a long, very complex pattern with no real 'repeats' to speak of, I'll consider printing it. if it's just pictures and lots of 'filler' material with large, fancy (often hard to read) fonts or dark backgrounds with light letters, forget it. I agree with you completely!
StephanieW
I agree about the fonts too. I gave up on one designer who uses strange fonts as my poor old BC3 just couldn’t read them. Perhaps today’s blog post may make other sellers think twice about what they’re doing. Who knows?
I work from the digital pattern most of the time but very occasionally print if I'm going to be tatting on the go. I usually work only from the diagram though, so I will print just the page that has the diagram on it. It's an easy solution for me but of course it only works for people who don't want the written part of the instructions, and also requires some fiddling to find the option to print selected pages only. I quite agree that having to print 10+ pages for a small pattern is a bad situation.
I work from a photo and a visual diagram printed back-to-back on one page. If either needs enlarging, I do it with my printer. I agree about long-winded patterns.
Post a Comment