Creating a Stencil Outline of the Background "Window"

The viewing window or “room” of the Fashionmaker is not the same size as a finished makeover.  So how do you know how far out to place details for backgrounds or props?  You make a stencil outline of a finished makeover's background, and use it to guide you in the FM! Here’s how:

1. Do a makeover with a model wearing a dress of the same shape that you usually use when creating backgrounds. (It's important to use a Fashionmaker dress so you can line up your stencil perfectly later.) 
2. Save the makeover and then view it in full view. 
3. Minimize your screen to 90% (a finished makeover is 110% of the size of the “dress” view in the Fashionmaker, so that’s why you need to minimize to 90%). See below for details on how.
4. Trace the outline of the model’s full body, dress, and then all four outer edges of the makeover's background. (You trace the model’s full body so you will know how far the head goes up and arms/hands go down in relation to the background.)
5. Now you have a stencil to use in the FM of the correct background “window” size and model! 

IF THIS DOESN'T RESULT IN AN ACCURATE BACKGROUND STENCIL...

One reader told me that the above percentages did not work for her computer and thus the background stencil was not accurate. If this is the case for you, you'll need to work out the correct percentages for your computer. So here's how to do that and create the stencil:


1. Create a fashionmaker dress that you typically use for making backgrounds and save it.
2. Do a makeover with the dress and save it.
3. View the makeover in full-size and trace the model and dress as a stencil.
4. Go back into the fashionmaker and choose the same dress.
5. Now using your stencil, enlarge the screen until the dress in the fashionmaker matches the size of the one in your stencil. You'll do a lot of adjusting here until you perfectly match the sizes.
6. Now make note of the percentage you enlarged the screen to. It will be somewhere over 100 %.
7. Reset your screen to 100%. Now go back into the makeover you created previously with the fashionmaker dress.
8. Remember the percentage you made note of in the fashionmaker? Say it was 110% for example. Subtract 100 from that number, and you're left with the number 10.
9. Now that you are in the makeover, I want you to take that resulting number (10 in this case), and subtract that number from 100. In my example, you'd be left with 90. So 90% is what you would re-size the screen to in the makeover. Now the makeover is the perfect size for the dress and "room" in the fashionmaker!
10. Discard your previous stencil, and make a new one in this size. Trace the body, dress and outline of the background, and now you have your background stencil!
11. Somewhere on your stencil, make note of the percentages you calculated so if your stencil ever gets ripped or smudged, you can make a new one without having to calculate everything again. It's a good idea to write it down someplace else too in case you lose the stencil.

HOW TO MINIMIZE YOUR SCREEN TO 90% IN INTERNET EXPLORER:

1. Locate the zooming area on the bottom right of the browser (has the zoom icon, percentage and black arrow).  Here’s a pic: 
2. Click on the little black arrow.
3. A little box will pop up. Click on “Custom” at the bottom of it.
4. Another box will pop up that looks like this: 
5.  
6. Delete “100” and type in “90” in the white area. Then click “OK.”
7. Now you’re zoomed in! When you want to return your screen to 100%, just repeat the above steps and replace “90” with “100.” Alternatively, you can click “Control” + “0” to get back to 100%.

:) tmck18