When it comes to grading, it is confusing. Furthermore, there is no clear explanation for it. Many years of being a seamstress combined with technology such as CLO3D and Adobe Illustrator allow me to create this simple and efficient way to grade clothing patterns. Now, pattern grading is not only fast and efficient, but it is also fun and exciting. I hope to share this method of pattern grading with you here, I’m Rose, from Encoder Fashion.
How to Grade Pants Pattern Multiple Sizes Easy Step-by-step Tutorial
CLO3D | Ai Pants Granding Course Links Tutorial 1 – 6
- How to Grade Pants Pattern CLO3D | Adobe Illustrator Part 1
- How to Grade Pants Pattern CLO3D | Adobe Illustrator Part 2
- How to Grade Pants Pattern CLO3D | Adobe Illustrator Part 3
- How to Grade Pants Pattern CLO3D | Adobe Illustrator Part 4
- How to Grade Pants Pattern CLO3D | Adobe Illustrator Part 5
- How to Grade Pants Pattern CLO3D | Adobe Illustrator Part 6
Quick Guide and a Finished Pattern Should Be
How to Align to Key Object in Adobe Illustrator
To align the patterns together in Adobe Illustrator has this useful function is called Align to Key Object.
Select as many objects you want to align others, be sure they are in order the way you want it to happen. For example, I want to place a size Small above all the sizes in this case we only have Small, Medium, and Large.
- Top: Small
- Middle: Medium
- Large: Last
Ok, so with Selection Tool active, I will marquee select the 3 patterns, and then click one on the last (Large) pattern. Now, we see the blue highlight appears. Next, there are two ways to go to the Alignment Tool.
Option #1: Go to this Top Menu here and select Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center.
Option #2: Go to this Properties Panel here and select Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center. Then repeat this step to all the pattern pieces.
A Finished Look for Pants Pattern
Pants Pattern Grading Pacakges
What are in the pants grading package: you can buy this for $4.50 see this link via Gumroad Online Store.
- 1 pants pattern clo3d project file
- 5 EF Petite sizes: XS to XL
- A quick guideline with all the tutotial links 1-6
CLO3D Pants Pattern Grading Guideline
- Save the Pants Project as a Garment File
- Add the Pants Garment File to CLO3D
- Using the auto-grading function in clo3d
- Exporting the Pants pattern as an (Adobe PDF)
- Bring the pattern into Adobe Illustrator
Important Note: to arrange the patterns properly with all the correct notches, you must export the graded pattern one-by-one see the video for export the pattern…
Software Required CLO3D and Adobe Illustrator Discount Links
- CLO3D: 1-month Free Trial download and a 50% percent of if you have student email see this link CLO3D Software
- Adobe Illustrator: 40% discount click (Creative Cloud) or 50% percent of with student email Adobe Creative Cloud Software
Pants Pattern Grading Guideline and a Step-by-step
Critical Points for this Pants Patterns Grading Course
CLO3D
- Save Patterns as a Garment File
- Bring the Garment File back to CLO3D
- Change the Particle Distance to 20 mm
- Assign the size onto the patterns
- Change the avatar’s size
- Apply the grading (auto function)
Adobe Illustrator
- Bring the patterns (3 pants patterns) to Adobe Illustrator
- Lock all the (Clip Groups) layers
- Group and hide the text
- Remove the bounding box
- Remove the Fill
- Remove unnecessary lines
- Apply stroke color
- Align the patterns (3 pants patterns) together: large (bottom), medium (middle), and small (above).
How to Save the Patterns as a Garment File in CLO3D
Before we can start grading the patterns, we need to save these patterns as a Garment file. And to do that, we will go File Save As and select Garment. I will name the File Ready to Grade Pants. After that, we will navigate to the location to save the File. In this case, I will save it in my Pants Grading folder.
Now, we need to delete these pants patterns in the CLO workspace. To do so, I will come to this Transform Pattern Tool (A) right here in this 2D Toolbar. Click on to select, then I can either marquee select all the pattern pieces, or I can command/control + letter to select all the patterns and then press the delete/backspace on the keyboard to delete it.
How to Bring the Garment File into CLO3D
Next, we need to bring the garment file back to the CLO workspace. To bring the garment file back, I will go to file, add, and select the pants File that I saved earlier by clicking on it and selecting open. By default, the patterns are selected. I will go to the Property Editor, change the Particle Distance to 20, and press return/enter on the keyboard to confirm.
How to Assign the Grading to the Patterns in CLO3D
Now, it is the fun part of the grading process. No, numbers need it, nor headache involved because CLO has this function is called the auto-grading function, which is an excellent function for the designers like us. As long you have the sizes for the avatar, we are ready to grade the pattern to any sizes you would like.
We start grading the pants size small. Okay, this is a little tricky. Since we want to bring these patterns to Adobe Illustrator, we need to grade them one by one. To do this, I will go to this Object Browser and click on this Grading icon to select. And then, I will click on this Add button here to create a size group.
Next, I will change the name to S and press return/backspace on the keyboard to confirm the changes. After that, as you can see, my Transform Pattern Tool is still active because it has this blue highlight that appears, so all I need to do is command/control + letter A to select the pattern pieces. After that, I click on this Apply to Selected Pattern icon to apply the grading.
This will bring up this Information Window and warn us that this will convert any Besier curve point to just curve point. We will click on OK to allow it.
How to Apply a Size Small onto the Avatar in CLO3D
Applying the size small onto the avatar is very simple. I will go to the Library Tab and slide this slider down until I see my avatar folder, and then I will double-click on it to open the folder.
After that, I can either double-click to apply the size onto the avatar or click on the avatar’s size and then drag and drop it onto the avatar. Let me press command/control + letter Z to undo here.
Now, I will go to this 2D Toolbar and select the Auto-grading Function. This will bring up this Auto-grading Window, and by default, Maintain Pattern Curvature 100% and Maintain Graphic Size box is un-checked. Then, I will click on OK to confirm.
How to Export Pattern as a PDF Format in CLO3D
After grading the pattern, now it is time to export it to a pdf format. Then, we can bring the pants pattern to Adobe Illustrator for improvement. So far, this is the best function to grade multiple size patterns in clo3d.
So, to export the pattern as a pdf format, I will go to File, then Export and Adobe (PDF) click on it to select. I will name the File S. Then, navigate to my folder called Pants Sizes S-M-L. After that, I will click on Save to confirm.
This will bring up this Export PDF window, and by default, I have listed below:
Basic
- Scale: Millimeter
- Percentage (%): 100.00%
- Rotation: Do Not Rotate
Page Margins
- Left: 5 cm
- Right: 5 cm
- Top: 5 cm
- Bottom: 5 cm
Options
- Show Lines: Check the box
- Show Images: Uncheck the box
Show Add’l Information
- Check most of the boxes except Pattern Numbers
After that, I will click on OK to confirm.
How to Grade Pants Pattern Size Medium in CLO3D
Before we can start grading a size Medium, we need to delete the graded pants patterns and the graded size. To delete the pants patterns, I will press down the command/control + letter A on the keyboard to select all the pattern pieces, then press on the delete/backspace on the keyboard to delete them. Next, I will go to the Object Browser over here then click on this Delete Icon to delete the size S.
After that, I will go to File and repeat the step by adding the garment file into the workspace. And then, I will change the particle distance to 20 mm. Then, assign the size to the selected pants patterns.
Next, I will name the size M. Now, and I will apply the size medium onto the avatar by double-clicking on it. Finally, I will click on this auto-grading function in this 2D Toolbar to grade the patterns.
Then, I will go to File export these patterns as a PDF file. I will speed up the process for the next size to save us time.
Grading Size Large (Time-laps)
Okay, now we will bring our graded pants patterns to the Adobe Illustrator
Prepare Graded Pants Patterns for a PDF in Adobe Illustrator
How to prepare graded pants patterns for a pdf in adobe illustrator easy step-by-step. I will share with you some tips and tricks on preparing pants patterns quickly and efficiently.
Begin with sizes S, M, and L
- Lock all Clip Group layers
- Group all the Numbers (name it Numbers)
- Hide that (Numbers) layer
- Un-lock all the Clip Group layers
- Delete a bounding box
- Remove Fill
- Remove lines we don’t need
- Apply a stroke color (3pt, green)
- Repeat this step with sizes M and L
Note: Stroke color M (red), L (blue)
How to Bring Graded Patterns to Adobe Illustrator
Okay, now we are here in this Adobe Illustrator. I can either go to Open right here or go to File and Open click on it to select. And then, I will go to the pattern folder double click on it to open the folder. Next, I will marquee select these three pants patterns and click on Open to confirm.
How to Group Layer in Adobe Illustrator
Before we can change the stroke colors and align the patterns together, we need to do a few things here. First, I’m going to group all the number layers. To group the layers of the numbers, I will go to this Layer Tab, then click on this twirling arrow to expand the Sublayers. Next, I will click on this slider to slide down until I see these (clip group) layers. Then, I’m going to hover the mouse over this area here, and then the mouse pointer changes from an arrow to a hand tool. This means I can click on this first (clip group) layer to lock. Then, I will slide my mouse down to lock all these layers.
Okay, after I locked all these layers, now I can press command or control plus letter A to select all these numbers and then press command or control + letter G to group the numbers. And then, I will name that layer Numbers. Then, I will click on this eyeball here to hide this Numbers layer.
How to Remove Lines and Apply Stroke Color to Patterns in Adobe Illustrator
Before we can start to remove the lines and apply the stroke color to the pattern outline, we need to delete the bounding boxes and remove the fill from the patterns.
How to Remove the Bounding Box in Adobe Illustrator
I will go to the Toolbar right here on the left and click on this twirling arrow right here to expand because it hides behind this Direct Selection Tool. I will click on it to select, and then I’m going to marquee select just this corner right here, then press on the delete or backspace on the keyboard to delete.
How to Remove Fill from the Pattern in Adobe Illustrator
After removing the bounding box, we can now remove the fill from the pattern. To do that, we can either use the Selection or Group Selection Tool, whichever is easier for you, and then I’m going to press down command/control plus letter A, select all the patterns, and click on this.
And then, we can either go to this Top Menu and click on the Fill Icon to change the fill color. It is the same with this Stroke color icon here. Click on it and go to the Library Swatch Menu > Color Books > Panton, and so on…or I can come to this Toolbar and click on the Fill color icon to bring this Color Picker window, and I can select any color I want. According to our quick guide, we need to choose the (green) color for the small size…
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