Cross Stitch PDF Pattern: What a Good Chart Includes

You downloaded a chart, hit print, and ended up with a grid that is two pages wide, cut off in the middle of a thread. Or the key sits on page 5 and the chart on page 1. A bad file turns stitching into hunting.

A good cross stitch PDF pattern is easy to follow. Below we take our own PDF kit apart, give page counts from three real builds, and list what to check in any chart before you print it.

What is in a cross stitch PDF pattern?

Open a well made file and you should find these parts, in order.

1. A cover page. It gives the design sizes, so you know what you are about to stitch.
2. A key. Each thread has a symbol, a code and a name.
3. A shopping checklist. It is a list of threads to buy, so you can tick off what you already own.
4. The chart. The grid is divided into pages that you can lay side by side.

In the chart itself, a handful of details save you effort:

• A bold line every 10 stitches. You count in tens, not ones.
• Numbered edges. They let you find stitch 47 across without counting from the corner.
• Center marks. You start from the middle, and you need to know where that is. The guide to reading a cross stitch pattern explains why.
• Clear symbols. Each thread has its own, large enough to read at arm's length.

In our PDF kit we add one more: an asterisk on any other-brand thread match that is loose. If you stitch in DMC, the asterisk warns you where the Anchor swap is only approximate. DMC's own video on how to read a chart shows how the symbols and lines fit together.

How many pages is a cross stitch PDF chart?

It depends on size. Our kit uses US Letter pages, and each chart page holds a tile of 60 stitches wide by 80 high, with every square 0.1 inch. That makes one tile 6 by 8 inches on the page.

We built three real kits with our PDF builder:

Table 1. Three kits from the Threadhood PDF builder. Figures from the Threadhood converter, run on 3 November 2026.

Every kit has two front pages, then the chart. The Labrador chart is 80 wide, so it needs two tiles across (60 plus 20), but only one down, since 53 is under 80. That makes 2 chart pages and 4 in all.

Page counts follow from the tile rule, so you can work out any chart yourself. Divide the width by 60 and the height by 80, round each up, and multiply. By that rule our biggest chart, 300 x 300 stitches, would need 5 x 4 = 20 chart pages, plus the front pages.

Why page breaks matter

Look at the Great Wave row. The chart is 120 wide, which is exactly two tiles across. But it is 81 high, one stitch more than a tile. That single extra row pushes the chart onto a second row of tiles, so we get 4 chart pages, not 2. By the same rule a 120 x 80 chart would have needed 2.

That is a quirk of our tile size, but it shows something real. Where a chart breaks across pages affects how it feels to stitch. A sliver of one row on its own page is awkward. If you are free to choose the size, set a width and height that fit the tiles, and your pattern prints on fewer sheets.

For breaks that do fall mid-design, look for overlap or clear edge numbers. With numbered edges and a bold line every 10 stitches, you can line up page 1 with page 2 without guessing.

Print at 100 percent

A cross stitch PDF pattern only works on paper if the scale is right. Open the print dialog and look for the scaling option. Choose actual size or 100 percent. If you leave it on "fit to page", the printer may shrink the grid, and then the 0.1 inch squares are no longer 0.1 inch. That matters if you want to hold the page against your fabric.

Use US Letter paper, as the tiles are sized for it. If you print in A4, check the margins before you commit.

Can I use a cross stitch PDF on a tablet?

Yes, and for many stitchers it beats paper. A tablet or phone lets you zoom in on a busy block, and some apps keep your place.

Pattern Keeper is one option. It is an Android app that reads cross stitch PDFs. Its page says you can highlight a symbol, and:

"Mark stitches as finished and get a tally of how many stitches you finished."

Pattern Keeper, patternkeeper.app

It also shows stitches left per thread. It is a one-time in-app purchase with a free trial. It works with many designers' PDFs, but not all, and the iOS version has limited functionality: you photograph a chart and import it, with no searching or adding thread numbers. We have not tested Pattern Keeper with our PDFs, so we make no claim that they work. Test with the free trial first.

In Threadhood you can also mark stitches inside Studio, stitch by stitch, without a PDF app. The PDF is for people who want paper in their hands.

Free image or PDF kit?

The free Download in Threadhood gives you the chart and key as one image. It is good for a quick look or a screenshot on your phone. The printable PDF kit is part of the Studio plan, which costs $4.99 a month or $29 a year. Studio also adds unlimited saved charts, progress marking and a thread stash with shopping lists. See Studio pricing for the full list.

Other makers have their own route. Pic2Pat, for example, says it turns a photo into a free PDF chart that lists floss and skeins, with an optional kit. We checked its home page on 3 November 2026, and it does not state limits there. Read the Pic2Pat page yourself to see what you get.

A short check before you print any PDF chart

Use this list on any cross stitch PDF pattern, ours or not.

• Is there a key with a code, name and symbol for each thread?
• Are there bold lines every 10 stitches and numbers on the edges?
• Can you tell where the center is?
• Does the file say how many skeins to buy, and for which fabric and strands? Our floss calculator can check it.
• Does it print on the paper you own, at 100 percent?

If the answer is yes to all five, the chart will be pleasant to stitch from.

Ready to make a chart worth printing? Create your own cross stitch pattern in the Threadhood pattern maker free, then upgrade to Studio when you want the PDF kit.