Printable Knitting Charts: PNG or PDF?

Choose the format for how you will use it

Use PDF when you want to review a page layout, print a working copy or keep the chart check with its results. You can inspect the pages before using paper and return to that saved version later. Check the layout again if you switch paper sizes or printers.

Use PNG when you want one image to view on screen or insert into a document beside your own notes. PNG uses lossless compression, which preserves the exported pixels. It still has a fixed pixel count: enlarging it cannot recover details that were missing from the export.

Find the export your Purlgrid tool actually offers

The knitting chart checker offers “Download PNG” and “Print or save as PDF”. Its PNG contains the displayed grid, row and stitch numbers, visible warning or repair markings, and a footer with the check verdict. It does not include the full lists under “What to fix” and “What passed”. The print view includes those results alongside the chart.

In the colourwork editor, “Download image” saves the knitted preview as PNG; showing the back saves the back view. Under “Download another format”, “Chart table (CSV)” exports stitch color numbers with a color key, and “Written instructions (TXT)” exports written rows. This editor has no dedicated PDF export. Its image download does not export the separate numbered editing grid.

Save a printable chart from the checker

Open the knitting chart checker and prepare the chart there. You can paint it, choose an example under “Start from”, or open “Paste a chart as text”. Text input uses one line per row, top row first: . for background, # for the second color, or digits 0–3 for up to four colors. Select “Check this chart” to load the text.

The checker supports grids up to 80 stitches wide and 80 rows high, with up to four colors. Its text field does not import a PNG, PDF or the editor’s CSV directly. Do not paste a large design expecting it to transfer intact beyond those limits.

Review the current chart and any proposed repair before exporting. Select “Print or save as PDF”, choose your printer or a PDF destination in the browser’s dialog, and inspect the preview. In Chrome, the PDF destination is “Save as PDF”. Check the paper size, orientation, margins and every page edge, then save and reopen the file.

Check readability before printing the whole chart

Look for the first and last columns, the top and bottom rows, readable numbers and distinct grid lines. Compare neighboring colors in the preview, especially if you will print in grayscale. The checker uses colored cells rather than a different symbol for each color, so add a handwritten key if your print makes two colors hard to distinguish.

Print one test page first. If cells are too small, try landscape orientation for a wide chart or a larger print scale while watching for clipped edges. The checker does not provide an automatic chart-tiling control. For an oversized PDF, Acrobat’s “Poster” print option can divide the page across sheets; “Overlap” gives adjoining sheets a shared strip for assembly.

A smaller print keeps the same stitch count

The checker’s “Blank 16 × 12” example contains 16 × 12 = 192 cells. For an illustrative print layout, suppose the grid itself is 80 mm wide, excluding its labels: 80 ÷ 16 = 5 mm per cell. Printing that layout at 50% makes the grid 40 mm wide and each cell 2.5 mm wide. These are calculated paper dimensions, not a required print setting.

Both copies still describe 16 stitches across and 12 rows. Choose the scale that lets you track cells comfortably; paper size does not set the knitted dimensions. Keep print adjustments separate from changes to the design’s stitch count or your knitting gauge.

Keep an editable version with the printout

Use “Copy link” in the checker and keep that link with your project notes so you can reopen the chart for changes. Give each exported file a name that identifies the design and revision. After editing, export again and put the older working copy aside to avoid following two versions.

Keep your yarn color key and any repeat instructions with the chart, particularly if they are absent from the image. In the colourwork editor, the CSV represents one repeat and notes the horizontal and vertical repeat settings separately. Check those notes before treating a table or image as the entire piece.

Before you continue

1. Choose a working grid, knitted preview or written rows before choosing the file type.
2. Resolve or understand visible warning and repair markings before exporting.
3. Check every page edge, row number and stitch number in the saved file.
4. Print a test page and confirm that colors and individual cells remain distinguishable.
5. Keep the editable link, color key and repeat notes with the final working copy.