Pattern Layout (layout view)

Purpose of the layout view

The layout view allows you to customize the way the individual patterns parts are laid out on the page(s).

tip

Placing pattern parts on page to use as little paper as possible – aka the bin packing problem – is one of those challenges where humans are (still) much better at than computers.

Every time you tweak your pattern, FreeSewing needs to re-draft it, calculate the new layout, and render it on screen. For this reason, we wrote a packing algorithm that prioritizes speed.
As a result, it is often trivial for a human to come up with a more optimized layout. This view lets you accomplish this without requiring any additional software.

If you want more control over your pattern, you can also export it as SVG and use Inkscape to edit it locally.

Layout of the layout view

On Desktop

A screenshot of the FreeSewing editor in inspect view, on a desktop.

On Tablet

A screenshot of the FreeSewing editor in inspect view, on a tablet.

On Mobile

A screenshot of the FreeSewing editor in inspect view, on mobile.

• The layout view has the ribbon area at the top where we will find:
  • The view menu (not view-specific, it is the one with the Pattern Layout label)
  • The view-specific menus, including:
    • The layout menu (highlighted in yellow)
    • The layout icons (highlighted in green)
• In the main working area, we have:
  • The pattern area on the left (highlighted in yellow)
  • The aside area on the right, holding:
    • The Layout menu (highlighted in yellow, same as in the ribbon area)

Layout icons

The layout icons in the ribbon area hold:

• A summary about the number of pages required for the current layout
• A Apply Layout button to apply the current layout
• A icon that takes you to the export view
• A icon the resets the layout changes