Installing the Tool. Contents. Starting the Tool

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2 Contents Installing the Tool... Starting the Tool... Key Commands... General... Camera Controls... Introduction... Starting a New Project... User Interface Overview... Canvas... Layers Panel... Layers... Layer Properties Panel... Sticker Library... 6 Preview Mode... 7 Options... 7 Saving... 7 Creating Patterns... 7 Creating a Freezer Bunny Pattern... 8 Creating a Leafy Pattern for Wallpaper... 9 Exporting... 0 Using Your Patterns In-game... 0 Sharing Your Patterns... 0 Hints and Tips... Installing the Tool To install The Sims Create a Pattern Tool:. Go to The Sims Community site at From the Games pull-down menu at the top of the page, choose The Sims Create a Pattern Tool. Your browser brings up The Sims Create a Pattern Tool page.. Select PC or Mac.. Click the DOWNLOAD NOW button and follow the on-screen instructions. Note: You must have registered a copy of The Sims to download the tool. Starting the Tool To start the tool: Games on Windows are located in the Start > Programs (or All Programs) menu.

3 Key Commands General New project Open project CTRL-N CTRL-O Save project CTRL -S Save project as Close project Export Import Select all stickers Cut Copy Paste Undo/redo action Help menu Cancel/Close/ De-select sticker Apply/Accept dialogue CTRL-SHIFT-S CTRL-W CTRL-E CTRL-I CTRL-A CTRL-X CTRL-C CTRL-V CTRL-Z/CTRL-Y F ESC ENTER Starting a New Project Starting a new project is easy! Just open The Sims Create a Pattern Tool. It automatically starts you off with an untitled project. If you want to work on up to four projects at once, you can click the Options button and then choose NEW to open another untitled project. After you save your pattern(s), its tab shows the file names you gave them. User Interface Overview Camera Controls Right/Left/Zoom in/out Tilt up/down Right/Left/Tilt up/down Zoom in/out Introduction Arrow keys HOME/END Left Mouse Button Mouse Wheel The Sims Create a Pattern Tool lets you easily use your own patterns in The Sims and displays your custom pattern in the Create a Style UI panel. Whether you ve been hankering for a new plaid for your Sims PJs or an exquisite flourish of tiles for their floors, everything you want to create is now within your grasp! Design a pattern quickly using dozens of images available in the Sticker Library or add your own images (either bitmaps, jpegs, or pngs) for even more freedom. You can even adjust your images within the tool. 9 Your canvas 0 6 Layers Panel Click the eye to show/ hide a layer, erase layer contents, toggle between sticker and stencil mode, and more (p. ). Zoom in or out. Layer Properties panel Adjust the color, opacity, and more for the selected layer (p. ). Edit mode Create and edit layers (p. 7). 6 Undo/Redo 7 Add a new sticker ( p. 6) Eraser tool Erase stickers on the selected layer. Select tool Move, resize, rotate, or delete stickers on the selected layer. Show/Hide grid See how your pattern will repeat on larger surfaces. Options Start a new project, save a project, or export a pattern, and more (p. 7). Preview mode Preview your pattern as wallpaper, upholstery, art, and more (p. 7). Access the Help Menu.

4 Canvas You can view the canvas at 00% or zoom out to see how it repeats over a larger surface. You can also turn the grid on to view the boundaries of your canvas, or off to see your pattern without the grid overlay. Layers Panel 6 Click the eye to show/hide that layer on your canvas. You can only make changes to a layer when the content is visible. Specular Layer This top layer lets you add shininess to your pattern (p. ). This layer is not required. Base Layer This layer sets the background color for your pattern (p. ). The background color will not change in Create a Style (in-game). Clear all content from the current layer ( p. ). Toggle between sticker and stencil modes ( p. ) 6 Displays a preview of all stickers in the layer. You can click and drag the Preview Pane to move the contents to the specular layer or any other layer. Note: You can move layers up and down to change their order on the canvas (which overlaps which). You cannot move layers to the specular layer, but the contents within a layer can be moved to the specular layer by moving the layer panel. Sticker Mode Take stickers (images) and stick them on your canvas wherever and however you want. Sticker mode is a full color mode. You can change the color (hue-shift) of the stickers while in this mode. The color change is based on an average value for the entire layer. For example, if you have two different colored stickers on a single layer, the cursor in the color wheel corresponds to the dominant color for the layer, but adjusts the color by moving the cursor results in a relative hue shift for both stickers. Stencil Mode Stencil mode turns stickers into black silhouettes that can be filled with a solid color. When you choose INVERT from the Layer Properties panel, color changes are applied to everything except your image, as if your stencils were cut out. This is only available in Stencil mode. Layers There are four main layers, plus a specular layer and a base layer. The base layer is the background of your pattern. You can only change the color of the base layer. You cannot add any stickers or stencils. The specular layer is a shiny lighting layer that appears on many Create a Sim assets (shirts, pants, etc.) and Build/Buy Mode objects. This layer is optional, but if you do have one, whatever shape/content you include in this layer will be reflective on any assets that have a specular layer in-game. If the object does not have a specular layer in-game, it is not reflective and won t show up shiny/reflective in-game. The pattern itself will show up, just not shiny. For example, if you create a star pattern and then add a specular layer, when you apply it to an item that by default has a specular layer in-game, the areas that appear in the specular layer will appear shiny. Clearing Layer Contents To remove all content on the selected layer, click the Clear Layer Contents button. This is not undoable, but you are warned before it is cleared. If you really want to clear the layer, click OK. Moving Layers You can reposition all layers except the base layer and the specular layer, moving them up or down in relation to the other layers. As you move a layer up, it moves to the top of the canvas and will overlap any stickers on lower layers. To move a layer, just grab the layer you want to move in the Layers panel and drag it up or down. You can also grab the Preview Pane in the Layers panel and drag it to a new location (you cannot move a Layer Preview Pane to the base layer). Layer Properties Panel Each layer can be designed separately. You can alter the color of, resize or rotate any stickers, and more. Choose a color from the pre-set color palette, from the color wheel, or by entering an RGB or Hex number. Move the slider toward the left for more brightness or to the right for less. Make this layer more see-through by moving the Opacity slider to the left or entering a lower number in the box. When this box is checked, you see how the currently selected color affects the contents of this layer. When unchecked, you see the original color(s) of your content. When this box is checked, any color selection is applied to everything except the content. Invert only works in Stencil mode.

5 Sticker Library Stickers are images that you can stick on to your pattern. You can resize, rotate, flip, and recolor stickers. You can also use them as stencils (see below). Sticker Categories 6 7 Preview Mode This is a handy way to take a gander at how your pattern looks applied to various surfaces and representative objects from the game. To preview the pattern, simply click the Preview Mode button and then apply the pattern. You can switch back and forth between Edit and Preview modes. The changes that you make while editing automatically appear in Preview when you go back to that view. Note: All of the preview objects were created with a specular layer for testing purposes, but may not have the shiny layer in the game. Note: You can view all of your open projects in Preview mode. Select a tab to make it the active tab in the preview window. This is great if you want to see how one pattern looks on the sofa with another pattern for the walls, etc. Basic Shapes Simple shapes like stars, circles, squares, hearts, and more. Decorative Flourishes, scrolls, and more. Animals Butterflies, bunnies, and more. Objects Fun objects from everyday life. 6 7 Nature Leaves, flowers, and more. Sims Favorites Some of your favorites from The Sims. Miscellaneous More fun stuff that didn t fit in the other categories. The Sticker Properties panel is beneath the Layer Properties panel. When you have a sticker selected, it shows you the properties of that sticker. You can alter the width, height, and position on the canvas, flip the sticker, and more. Adding Stickers You can also use your own images with The Sims Create a Pattern Tool. Just import your image files and use them as stickers. You can use BMP, JPEG, and PNG files. To add a new sticker:. Click the Add a New Sticker button and then browse to the location of your desired file and click that. If the file is too big, it is automatically resized.. Once the file is added, click a custom sticker to bring up the sticker properties panel and you can adjust the saturation and assign it to a category. Deleting Custom Stickers You can also delete custom stickers. If you delete a custom sticker, all instances of that sticker will also be deleted from any saved projects when you re-open them in the tool. A prompt reminds you of this. To delete a sticker:. Choose a custom sticker from the Sticker Library.. Click the delete icon in the bottom right of the Sticker Library.. At the prompt, confirm that you want to in fact delete this sticker. To preview your pattern:. Click the Preview Mode button and then choose an object from the pull-down menu on which you d like to view your pattern. Some objects have more than one part to which the pattern may be applied.. Once you have your item selected, click APPLY. To return the object to its default appearance, select it from the menu and click RESET. If you leave your pattern applied to an object and return to Edit Mode to make adjustments, when you return to Preview Mode, the changes will be visible without any additional adjustments. Press CTRL- /CTRL- to zoom in and out on the room in Preview mode. Press CTRL- / to pan around the room. You can also use your mouse to adjust the view. Options From the Options menu, choose OPTIONS to enable/disable full screen mode, set your screen size, change the refresh rate (only in full screen mode), or reset the default graphics settings. Saving You can save your file at any time. To save a pattern:. Click the Options button and then choose SAVE.. Browse to the location in which you d like to save your file and click the checkmark. A pop-up confirms that your file was saved. Click OK. Creating Patterns Creating patterns is easy with The Sims Create a Pattern Tool. Let s go through two simple examples to see how it s done. 6 7

6 Creating a Freezer Bunny Pattern Let s create a funky Freezer Bunny pattern that will work great on young Sims clothing. Creating a Leafy Pattern for Wallpaper If a floral pattern just seems too feminine, but you want a touch of nature, how about a nice leafy pattern? To make a Freezer Bunny pattern:. Open a new project by pressing CTRL-N (or z-n on Mac) or choosing NEW from the Options menu.. Choose the Freezer Bunny sticker from the Sims Favorites category and place it on your canvas. (canvas ). Add another Freezer Bunny sticker and rotate it by clicking the circle on the sticker boundary and dragging until it is rotated as much as you want (or using the controls in the Sticker Library. You can cut and paste stickers already on your canvas by selecting one or more and then pressing CTRL-C (z-c) and CTRL-V (z-v). To select more than one sticker, use CTRL-click or z-click on Mac or simply click-drag your mouse to lasso them all. You can also flip stickers by using the two flip buttons in the Sticker Properties panel. (canvas ). Now, click another layer and then add more Freezer Bunny stickers to it.. Add more Freezer Bunnies to the third and fourth layers too. When you have your stickers all placed as you like, it s a good idea to zoom out to see how your pattern repeats. 6. Let s make the second layer of Freezer Bunnies a different color. Click that layer and then move the cursor on the color wheel to a new spot (we used light blue). You can make it a darker (or lighter brown) by moving the brightness slider. (canvas ) 7. Click the third and fourth layers and move the cursor on the color wheel to change those stickers to a different color as well (we chose green and purple). 8. Are you happy with the pattern? You can click on any of the layers to adjust sticker placement, color, or brightness. When you re happy with your work, from the Options menu choose SAVE if you want to be able go back into your Create a Pattern files and tweak them or EXPORT to package the files up so that you can install them in-game. 9. Now let s add a specular layer. Copy one of the layers by clicking the Preview Layer in the Layer panel and dragging it to the top (or Specular) layer (we used the original pink Freezer Bunny layer).you ll notice that it appears gray in the tool, but when you use it in game, the pink Freezer Bunnies will have a shine to them. Fancy! (canvas ) To make a leafy pattern:. Open a new project by pressing CTRL-N (or z-n on Mac).. Let s first change the background color to something warmer. Click the background layer in the Layers panel and then move the cursor on the color wheel towards a nice, soft yellow.. Choose a leaf sticker from the Nature category and place it on your canvas. (canvas ). Add another leaf sticker and rotate or flip it.. Continue adding stickers, placing them as you like. (canvas ) 6. Now, click another layer and then choose another leaf sticker (we chose the thin twiggy one with small berries on it). Place those as desired on your canvas. When you have your stickers all placed as you like, it s a good idea to zoom out to see how the pattern repeats. (canvas ) 7. Let s make the first leaf layer a bit more autumnal. Click that layer and then move the cursor on the color wheel to a spot in the yellowish-brown area. You can make it a darker (or lighter) brown by moving the brightness slider. (canvas ) 8. Click the second layer and move the cursor on the color wheel toward the reddish-brown area. 9. Are you happy with the pattern? You can click any of the layers to adjust sticker placement, color, or brightness. When you re happy with your work, from the Options menu choose SAVE if you want to be able go back into your Create a Pattern files and tweak them or EXPORT to package the files up so that you can install them in-game. 8 9

7 Exporting Once you ve got your pattern just the way you want it, you can export it to The Sims and use it in-game! To export your pattern:. Click the Options button and choose EXPORT. The Export pop-up appears.. Type in a name for your pattern, assign it to the appropriate in-game Create a Style category, add a description, and then click the checkmark. A pop-up confirms that your pattern was successfully exported.. If you have the game installed on the same computer, the packaged file appears in The Sims Game Launcher Uploads panel. You can now share the pattern on the exchange (see Sharing Your Patterns, below). Using Your Patterns In-game Once you ve exported your patterns, you need to install them the next time you start The Sims to use them in Create a Style. You must have a registered copy of the game and be logged in to upload content. To install your pattern(s):. Find your exported pattern files in C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\my Documents\ Electronic Arts\The Sims \Exports and copy them into C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\my Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims \Downloads folder.. Start The Sims game launcher. Click DOWNLOADS. The Downloads screen appears.. Select the items that you want to install in your game by clicking the appropriate boxes and then click INSTALL. A confirmation appears to let you know that your files were successfully installed.. Start The Sims and look for your new patterns in Create a Style. You can also install the pattern to your game by going to \My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims \Exports and double-clicking the file you want to install. Sharing Your Patterns Show off your creations to Sims fans around the world. Upload your stuff to the community site and your patterns may end up in other players games around the world! Note: You must be logged in and have The Sims or The Sims Collector s Edition to share your patterns. To upload your pattern(s) to the community:. Find your exported pattern files in C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\my Documents\ Electronic Arts\The Sims \Exports and copy them into C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\my Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims \Downloads folder.. Start The Sims game launcher. Click INSTALL. The Uploads screen appears.. Select the items that you want to upload by clicking the appropriate boxes and then click UPLOAD. A confirmation appears to let you know that your files were successfully uploaded. Hints and Tips For a continuous pattern, make sure that some stickers overlap the border. If you keep everything within the main part of the canvas, you end up with more blank space. Before you start, think of the theme you d like to create. Want a nature pattern? Mix and match leaves and plants. The grid shows you how the pattern tiles in the game. You can turn the grid on and off by clicking the button. Even photographs can be used to create cool patterns. Advanced users may want to prepare their custom stickers by editing them with an image program (like Paint and Photoshop) prior to bringing them into the tool. Get crazy! Even mismatched graphics can be brought together to create a cool and unique pattern. Use basic shapes to build lettering or intricate designs by adjusting and layering the images. For specular layer stickers, the lighter the sticker is (original image), the better the shininess shows up in game. For optimal results, the desired (but not mandatory) custom sticker size is 6X6 or smaller. Use Preview mode to quickly get an idea of how your pattern will look in-game. 00 Electronic Arts Inc. EA, the EA logo, The Sims, and The Sims logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 0

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