Let’s face it, Nintendo did not make it terribly easy for us to make custom user-generated content. There are limitations you need to adhere to, to make 3D content that looks good and is easily accessible. Don’t worry, I feel like I’ve figured out most of the kinks one would have to go through: so here are some guidelines for making 3DS friendly images!

First off, let’s consider aspect ratio. Nintendo does not seem to acknowledge or adhere to the aspect ratio of the top screen (which is where all 3D content is shown.) The system takes pictures that are 640:480, and video that is 480:240. None of these match the top screen ratio. Now, when taking a picture via the 3DS camera, this is never an issue. But custom-making images in photoshop or other programs might create an issue in actually seeing the image properly. This is especially true when viewing images online in the web browser; the 3DS always zooms in on images, and does not allow you to zoom out unless you save the image to your system. And let’s face it, people do not always want to save images and will only view the zoomed-in version.

This guide will help you make an image look good whether it’s zoomed in or out!

First, consider the image provided.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11328482/

It is roughly the aspect ratio of the 3DS top-screen. 1070:640 for this image, anything bigger or smaller should work so long as it’s the same ratio. Width divided by height should come to around 1.67. It’s not exact, but if the image is this ratio, then it will fill up the screen even if you zoom out.

Ok, fine. But remember, if people don’t save your image, then they can’t zoom out. Do everyone a favor by making sure the image looks good zoomed in. See that little blue area? That’s the action-safe area. Keep all the important stuff in there because that is ALL that will be seen if the image is zoomed in. The outer area is what will be cropped out.

But how to do this? Well as for myself, I make 3D images using screencaps from Gmod or minecraft or something. When I take a screencap of a subject, I make sure all the important stuff is in the middle, so it’s ok if the edges are cropped off.

“But I can’t afford to crop off any of my picture! Even the edges are important!” Ok ok, I got you there. I have some pics where the important stuff ranges from the top to the bottom, or even to the sides. Then just shrink the whole image to fit in the action-safe area, simple as that! You will then be left with a black border, which is only visible if someone zooms out. That’s fine; many of my pics are like that. Now I, personally, prefer to use my own border instead of plain black.

For the following picture, http://d.facdn.net/art/koinuchan/13.....d_0001_mpo.jpg

I made a cutie-mark border. It’s pointless, but I feel like it shows I’m thinking about the viewer. I like for the 3DS screen to always be filled.

I can’t tell if I included too little or too much info in this guide. If you’re trying to make use of this guide, please leave some feedback; thanks!