I have just ordered a used UST Projector on eBay. I’m now a mixture of excited and terrified (percentages to be determined).
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Oh exciting! I love my projector (I’ve had a Yoton Y3 mini for about a year) and would never, ever go back to paper patterns now. Which projector have you ordered?
Have you got a dedicated space for sewing or do you have to pack/unpack each time?
If you’ve not already seen it, have a look at Pattern Projector and the corresponding FB group Projectors for Sewing , they are brilliant resources 
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eeee keep us posted! i just spent time with a friend who uses a projector to watch tv/movies (4 episodes of buffy projected onto a giant wall, it was pretty convincing!) and it upped my percentage of wanting a projector (for both sewing and tv/movies)…would love to hear what it’s like to get used to sewing with one.
It arrived last night, an Epson EB-570, 9 years since release, and has been fitted with a new lamp. Preliminary usage is mixed.
I had made a template (used Corel Draw SE as it was bundled with my embroidery digitising software) for cutting a bit of wood that I want to use to hold dies and cutters for my Green Machine. Pattern Projector is awesome. I felt that the lines could be a little crisper, and for some reason were missing in places. I’m going to put in a photo in so you can see what I mean. That isn’t bad enough to not use it though, using a paper pattern the lines are fairly thick anyway, and with paper movement we never get 100% accuracy either.
I am a little disappointed that the image projected is landscape (it’s obvious that this is the orientation, but of course I hadn’t thought that through. My cutting table is 2m x 1m, and if I place the projector on the table so that the long side of the image and the long side of the table are parallel, I don’t have space for a folded width of fabric. As my table is only 1m wide, this means that I wouldn’t be able to cut a piece that is more than 1m long, so need a plan B for trousers and dresses. Planning on moving to a smaller cutting table will need to be reassessed too.
This one is useless for TV, the bottom is in focus, but the top isn’t, it is recommended for business and education, so TV was probably never it’s primary goal, but we may not have had it positioned close enough to the wall. More tinkering to be done with that, although I usually have the TV on in the background while cutting, so would either need another projector for that or just keep the TV.
I do have a dedicated space for sewing, but not for cutting. My cutting table lives in the kitchen/living room, and gets opened out for cutting (it’s the focal point of the living room in use 
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Have you altered the focus lever to see if it improves the crispness of the lines? On mine the focus lever is under the filter cover on the side (I can’t remember which model number mine is off the top of my head).
You can change the weight (thickness) of the lines in the pattern in Pattern Projector. It’s worth playing with that to find the thickness that works best for you.
Is your table movable? Could you pull it forward away from the wall when you’re projecting? If so you could have the projector mounted on the wall/ a small shelf just above the table, then pull the table forward so you can use the full space when you’re cutting.
Hi Lucy,
Yes, we have fiddled with the focus, and that is as good as it gets.
The table is moveable, and I have 360 deg access. There isn’t a wall shelf anywhere near it. it’s in the middle of a very large open plan room.
I have learned while using it yesterday for wood, that if I’m projecting onto something thick, the image is reduced in size, so I will put my cutting mat on top of the wood next time for calibration, and thicker fabric like fleece I will cut with a paper pattern. On a 12mm height, my rectangular outline was 5mm off in one direction and 3mm in the other (approx).
Cheers,
Lesley
USTs are particularly affected by thickness of material - it would be worth recalibrating if it’s an unusually thick material. With the current software it’s quick to recalibrate so doable.
I’ve seen people mount the USTs on movable TV Stands. If you’ve got room that might be an option? Then you can position it on the landscape side. There are some posts in the Projectors for Sewing FB group that show what people have used.
One final random thought - does the lens cover look dusty? I remember someone in the Projectors for Sewing Pattern saying they cleaned theirs which helped with focus - there’s was particularly dusty though - I’ve not seen it mentioned often.