How to scale a template in VMP

[Decal_Designs]

Hello VMP users,

I'm trying to get a template to scale in VMP and can't seem to get it done.
I've tried following the help topic on this, but I must be missing something here.

What I have is a digital photo of a Real Estate sign that was laying flat on the floor. The sign is 18"h x 30"w. Part of the layout and information needs to be changed so I want to work with the photo as a template.

In VMP, I've opened a new document, created a page 25"h x 35"w to start with, and then loaded the template photo which VMP stretches to the page size. Then I clicked on the Proportional button so the photo goes back to it’s original width and height ratio. So far, so good.

Now according to the help files, I’m supposed to draw a rectangle the same size as something in the template that has a known measurement. In this case, the 30” wide sign, so I click on the shape tools and select the square and draw a rectangle onto the sign from edge to edge, (shown in green) not including the background of the floor of course.

Now the green shape is 33.824” wide, and this is where I start to lose track of what I’m supposed to do. The instructions say to select the shape and resize it to 30” in this case, and then select the template some how and click the proportional resize button again.

I can’t get it to work. How do you VMP pros do it? :

Thanks!

 

[Fred Weiss]

You should be able to resize your green rectangle to 30" wide and come up with a reading of 88.69% of original size.

Now if you select everything else and enter 88.69% in the percent box for width with proportional checked, it should downsize it all to the correct 1 to 1 scale.

If you have an image editor such as Photoshop or Corel Photopaint, you could save all this by cropping your image first and sizing it there to 18 x 30. Then just bring it into VMP and set your workspace to the same 18 x 30.

 

[Decal_Designs]

That would make sense, but it didn't seem to work. When I resize my green rectangle with proportional checked, it reduces to the correct measurement, but when I take that percent and try it on the template, everything gets larger, including the green rectangle.

Cropping the image in Photoshop in this case would work since it's a simple shape laid flat on the floor, and if I made my page 18"h x 30"w it would indeed scale the template correctly, but I want to know how to do it by scaling the template using measurements so when I have a photo that cannot be cropped edge to edge it still works. If I have a picture with background that I'd like to leave in for some reason, like maybe a building or something, I'd like to scale the whole picture.

 

[giantsfan1951]

once you size your rectangle at 30" proportionallly, then select the picture of the sign and click on the proportional resize button. The sign, just the sign, will then be the dimensions that you want.

 

[Decal_Designs]

This is an old post, but it's been so long since I've had to scale a template in VMP that I forgot what I did. After reading this post again, I found that it still doesn't work if you use the Tools/Templates/ and then click on the Load Template button. You cannot scale the template this way as far as I can tell.
VMP doesn't seem to treat the template as a scale-able layer if you do this.

For those that are new to trying this,...

You have to use the File/Import method to scale a background/template image.

Starting with a new page - say 100"x100", go to File/Import and then browse to your background image, which must be either a .jpg or .bmp

When it loads, you can resize your page to fit the background/template better.

Now you have a background/template that you can actually work with, like centering it on the page, and scaling it.

You have to know the actual measurement of something that's in your template picture to scale it. Like the width of a door, or window or something depending on your picture.

With your background picture loaded, click on the zoom tool and drag it over the area of the picture that you know the measurement of.

Now on the left, click on Shape Tools and select the square. Drag a square over the area that you know the measurement of so that the square is the same width.

With the square still selected, go to the bottom left of the program and click the Tools button to pop up the tools if they are not already open. Click on the Size button and resize the width of the square so it's the same as your known measurement.

Now click on the background image and click the Proportion Reapply button, which is the little square under the % size boxes in the tool tray at the bottom of the program.

Your background should now be correctly scaled, and you can delete the square and continue your work. It would be a good idea to save it at this point too.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Thank you for an excellent step-by-step.