mug design tool OR mock up?

[Anya]

Hello!  

I enjoy making mugs and know they are popular on Zazzle.  I am confused by the design tool green guide lines not correlating to how it looks in the mock up view when I want the same image on the front and back.  It is important, especially with it being such a popular product, that these align - both for the designer and customer.  I am not sure the the design tool or mockup is accurate.  How/when can this be fixed?   Many thanks! 

[ColsCreations]

Not sure what you're seeing, but this guide I made may help. It's for the standard 11oz mug.

Live Guidefile - 11oz Mug

If you add an object, you can see the previews do match the design tool view.

 
Here's the guide image you can download  to use as a guide layer on your mugs.

https://colscreations.com/SharedFiles/Guidefile_11ozMug.png

[Anya]

Hello!  ( I thought I replied to this earlier, but I don't see it, so I apologize if this is a duplicate message. ) 

Thanks for your reply, this is helpful.  There are a few things that have been throwing me off . . . 

- it seems as if the gray space starts more to the right of the mug than I though that it did and that the gray space is larger than the yellow, etc.  This is good to know.  

- unfortunately, we are not able to "snap" to the solid numbered lines, to confirm that the item is centered (ex., I can tell that the number 1 in your example is not centered on the green line, especially as it is asymmetrical).   However, I can "snap" to the dotted border lines.  I wonder if there a way that we can turn on the snap for the numbered lines, too, to ensure that our items are centered?

- this vague unknowing if our item is in the right spot is accentuated by not having ruler guidelines for our designing.  In the mug example, when I use my guidelines, there is a gray guideline that is just adjacent to the green numbered line, that makes it especially challenging to know if items are centered on the green line. 

-  I feel that many of the issues would be resolved if we, as designers, had a ruler for our guidelines to have more insight, knowledge and control over our spacing.  I have been designing in photoshop for years, and know this to be a great advantage and something that I have taken for granted.  I would so appreciate movement in this area and know that other designers would applaud this effort, as well!  

Thank you!

[NigelSutherland]

You can tell how it'll look by the product simulation photos in the bottom right. I use that to double-check once I've added the image to one side of the mug. Once you're happy with that, just copy and paste the design and move it across to the other side, ensuring that it sits in the corresponding position relative to that side's boundaries.

[Anya]

Yes, I agree, it is nice to have the preview option.  I am really hoping for ruler guides so that we can ensure accuracy as designers.  Maybe someday soon!  🙂  

[Jadendreamer13]

Ruler guides are a much-need addition to the Zazzle design tool.

[Anya]

Hello!

I was asked if I got the answer I needed . . . while I appreciate the community contributions, I would love to hear from a Zazzle staff member regarding

1.  the ability to "snap" to the green guides,

2.  as well as the progress of ruler guidelines?  I will paste my points from above again. . . . . 

- unfortunately, we are not able to "snap" to the solid numbered lines, to confirm that the item is centered (ex., I can tell that the number 1 in your example is not centered on the green line, especially as it is asymmetrical).   However, I can "snap" to the dotted border lines.  I wonder if there a way that we can turn on the snap for the numbered lines, too, to ensure that our items are centered?

- this vague unknowing if our item is in the right spot is accentuated by not having ruler guidelines for our designing.  In the mug example, when I use my guidelines, there is a gray guideline that is just adjacent to the green numbered line, that makes it especially challenging to know if items are centered on the green line. 

-  I feel that many of the issues would be resolved if we, as designers, had a ruler for our guidelines to have more insight, knowledge and control over our spacing.  I have been designing in photoshop for years, and know this to be a great advantage and something that I have taken for granted.  I would so appreciate movement in this area and know that other designers would applaud this effort, as well!  

3.  Also, to this same Zazzle person, I am confused why sometimes there is a blue midline and then closely adjacent there is a green midline.  Which one should we use?  

I so appreciate the follow through as I am figuring out the details to be the best I can be!  🙂  

[ColsCreations]

 However, I can "snap" to the dotted border lines

Huh. Manually moving an object, it won't snap in any way to the dotted green border. If I use the shortcut keys, such as Alt + W to snap to top edge, it snaps to the solid blue line. (Firefox on Win 10 computer). 

In the mug example, when I use my guidelines, there is a gray guideline that is just adjacent to the green numbered line, that makes it especially challenging to know if items are centered on the green line.

I think you're talking about the gray Grid lines. They are separate from Guidelines and both can be toggled on/off to see just one or the other or both or neither.

 I am confused why sometimes there is a blue midline and then closely adjacent there is a green midline. Which one should we use?

From inside the Design Tool, click Help --> Guidelines.

[Anya]

Hello!

Thanks for your reply.  It seems I was not communicating affectively - let me try again.  There are a lot of green and blue lines, which can be confusing.  If you were to pull up the mug design tool . . . 
- The guidelines I meant are those that are the green "numbered lines" in your layout provided above (NOT the green and blue border lines, shown in the recent pictures; I understand the bleed lines though your pictures are nice.) .  A designer cannot "snap" to these numbered lines to ensure they are centered on this line (nor do we have a ruler to help).  
- I am referring to the blue and green "centerlines" that appear temperarily when one hovers over the area that should be centered.  (I took a screen shot, but it says that I don't have permission to upload images.)
-When I add a triangle image on the mug, trying to center it vertically, a blue line appears temporarily as it falls center.  It will do the same when I center it horizontally, which happens to be #3.  Because this is the center of the whole image, it "snaps" into place.  However, sometimes in a design it will also provide a 2nd "centerline" parallel to the blue one that is actually accurate  (I am not sure why).  
- I am curious if there is a way to "snap" to all of the numbered lines AND I wonder what this 2nd centerline is for and which one am I supposed to use? 
- Finally, when I center my triangle vertically in the design tool, it does not show centered vertically in the preview (it shows too far down).  
(again, I wish I had the permissions to upload an image from my computer here - or sometimes a phone call is best!  ;))   

I am afraid my questions are going round and round without solution, perhaps because there is not one.  😉  I wonder if this can be forwarded by a Zazzle moderator?