Real size template - Tutorial.

[KevinCunningham]

My thought is the graph paper background will also help if there is any lens distortion, you can make sure teh graph lines are still equally spaced and parallel when printing it.

Not a bad idea if you don’t have access to a scanner. In procreate you could pull and tug on the edges until the distortion is mostly gone.

I thought I was being smart when I started trying to use procreate because I would take a picture of the item with a ruler. The idea was that I could make my canvas printer paper size with an inch grid and resize the drawing so the photo of the ruler matched the grid.

Turns out the fisheye lens distortion made it tricky (took me a while to figure out why) compounded by printer idiosyncrasies.

Now I just ballpark it and compare the actual size to the test print size with machinist calipers, then make a multiplication factor based on that fraction- eg if the object is 1” and the printout is 2” then you get 1/2 factor=.5 Click the corner of the object in arrow mode and it says 100 pixels so multiply that by x.5 and change it to 50 pixels. Boom the next printout is dead on the $.

 

[EngraverHand]

Some printers have "print to fit paper" features that will stretch or compress designs unless that feature is turned off.

Absolutely, this technique is not bullet proof.. but you should be pretty close or at least little adjustments. Of course it doesnt beat drawing directly on the piece. I often do that, but not for more complex designs or lets say watch designs that needs a certain symmetry

 

[EngraverHand]

My thought is the graph paper background will also help if there is any lens distortion, you can make sure teh graph lines are still equally spaced and parallel when printing it.

Absolutely, it doesn't hurt to be extra safe

 

[Gargoyle]

Absolutely, this technique is not bullet proof..

If you're working on knives, I don't believe it has to be bullet proof.