All the pros are free to ignore this one cause this is strictly backyard…
If I did a lot of templates I’d buy an inexpensive printer that would print as a banner on continuous feed paper. But since I already have a printer for my day job I use that. As a backyard hack I use another method - it’s really only suitable for 1-time use templates. If you reuse templates then I think it’s better to do them in masonite:
I cut a length of construction paper that comes on the 30" rolls
Fold it in half - lengthwise. Get a straight crease in there.
Open it up and spritz the edge of one half on the inside with spray adhesive so that when I close it back up the two halves stick together. I more or less spritz where I think the outer template line will hit. Now I have the construction-paper equivalent of a 15" wide piece of masonite.
Spritz the outside of one side with spray adhesive - you only need enough to make it tacky, particularly at the crease, which will become your stringer line
Print in Boardcad to get the grid - that will help you line the pieces up regardless of how straight your printer feeds the paper. The bottom line of the grid goes at the crease.
After the pages are all tacked down run a line of masking tape at the outer edge - you’ll still be able to see the line of your template through the tape. Because I’ve got more time than common sense I also tape the edge of each of the pages down so they won’t move. But that’s really a redundant effort.
Cut the template out with a razor or scissors and open the two halves up. For better or worse both halves will be the same. If you’re halfway decent with the CAD software in getting the curves you want then the computer will draw a cleaner curve than what you would get with he conventional method.
You can spritz the inside with a little more spray adhesive so it will stick to your blank when you lay it down. You only ever need just a little bit - enough to make it a little tacky.
The process takes maybe 15 minutes from start to finish, which is way faster than making a reusable masonite template. It’s way faster and cheaper than taking a pdf to the copy shop, too; and you won’t be bummed if you go to the effort only to find out you don’t like the shape.
Again - this is really only suitable for the one-off templates you would use. If you resuse templates and like to mix-n-match then doing them in masonite makes more sense for that.