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How to zoom in Dressmaker: camera and controls

To zoom in Dressmaker, tap Z (don't hold it), or hold Ctrl and roll the mouse wheel. On the mannequin screen, point at the spot you want to see and tap Z, or press the mouse wheel down like a button. Keep it quick: a press longer than 0.25 seconds won't zoom.

Zoom on the mannequin

These hints show up on the mannequin screen:

CTRLZoom
CTRLWSADOrbit Camera
WSADPan Camera

Zoom closer or back out

Tap the same spot again, or anywhere off the mannequin, to zoom back out. To look at another part of the dress, just tap it. For a closer look, hold Ctrl and roll the mouse wheel up: the view moves in smoothly. Roll it down to go back, and one more roll down leaves the zoom. Ctrl and the wheel also start a zoom at the pointer.

So to zoom out, point at an empty spot beside the dress and tap Z once more.

For a smooth zoom, hold Ctrl and roll the mouse wheel. Roll up to zoom in on the spot under the pointer, and keep rolling to get closer. Roll down to back out again.

Look around the dress

While you're zoomed in, hold Z or the middle mouse button and move the mouse to look around the dress. The view tilts as far as 88 degrees up or down and swings 60 degrees to either side. Move the mouse up to see the dress from below.

Slide the view

Zoomed in, W and S slide the view up and down, and A and D slide it sideways (the game's Pan Camera hint). Hold the left Ctrl key as well, and the same keys tilt and turn the view instead. You can also hold the right mouse button and drag to slide the view.

On a trackpad, the Ctrl keys are the comfy way to look around, with no need to hold Z and slide your finger at once.

Turn the mannequin

Rolling the mouse wheel turns the mannequin around. Hold Ctrl as you roll, and it zooms instead. While the pointer is on a menu, the wheel leaves the mannequin alone.
A and D turn the mannequin too, but only until you zoom in. You can also drag it round with the left mouse, starting from any spot that isn't a menu, an accessory or a piece you haven't sewn yet. Zoomed in, hold the right mouse button and drag to slide the view.

Rotate and resize accessories

Zoom in before you place a tiny accessory. The dress fills more of the screen, so each nudge of the mouse moves it less.

QERotate
Place
Finish Placement
SHIFTPlace Multiple

While you place it

While you're placing an accessory, hold Q or E to turn it.

Once it's on the dress

On the accessories tab, click a placed accessory (a click, not a drag) to select it, and its buttons appear. Hold one down to keep it going: the rotate buttons turn the accessory any way you like, Raise and Lower move it out from the dress or back in, and Increase size and Decrease size do just what they say. Reset position sets it flat on the dress again, facing straight out, and keeps its size. Duplicate gives you a copy to place, if you have another in stock.

The Accessory Rotation Gizmo

The Accessory Rotation Gizmo starts switched off. Turn it on in the pause menu, or press left Ctrl and R while the Accessories tab is open. Then a selected accessory gets three rings and four little arrows. Drag a ring to spin the accessory around it, and hold Shift as you drag to turn it in 15-degree steps. Hold left Ctrl and the rings line up with the accessory itself instead of the dress. Click an arrow to nudge the accessory a tiny step along the dress, or hold it down to keep it sliding. Lace and trim don't get the gizmo.

Trims

Trims are the accessories you lay as a line, and they have buttons of their own. Click a trim to select it: Raise trim, Lower trim, Tilt up and Tilt down adjust it, Increase size and Decrease size change its width, Duplicate starts a matching new line, and Remove item takes it off. Drag a pin to move that point of the line.

Measuring and sizing screens

On the measuring and mannequin sizing screens, the view moves in by itself as soon as the tape touches the body. Drag the body up or down to see another part. Click the backdrop to step back out, and click the body to move in again.

The mannequin guide walks you through the gears.

In the cutting room

The cutting room has no zoom. To slide along the roll of fabric, press A or D, click the round arrow buttons in the bottom panel, or drag an empty part of the fabric. While you hold the scissors, the mouse wheel slides it too.
In the cutting room, roll the mouse wheel to turn the selected piece, 9 degrees at a time.

At the sewing machine

There's no zoom key at the sewing machine. The view moves in by itself while the fabric runs, a little closer at top speed, and drifts back out when you stop. Turn on Less Animation in the settings and the view stays still.

SpaceSew
ADRotate (at the sewing machine)
WSChange Speed (at the sewing machine)
RReset

In the sketchbook and the shop

Your sketchbook's finished dress pages have a little mannequin too. Turn it with the mouse wheel or a drag, and press Photo Mode to take that dress to the photo screen. In the sketchbook, A and D (or the arrow keys) turn the pages.
At the International Emporium, rest the pointer on a fabric's picture to see the fabric up close, and move the pointer to look around it. Accessory pictures sway gently by themselves.

On the photo screen

Tutorial

Adjust camera angle with the Camera Controls

The photo screen has its own camera buttons. Hold one down and the camera keeps moving: the magnifiers zoom in and out, the curved arrows circle the mannequin or raise and lower the camera, and the small triangles aim it higher or lower. The house button resets the camera. The mannequin itself turns with the mouse wheel, A and D, or a drag.

Zooming in with Z doesn't work?

Holding Z down? A long press doesn't zoom, so make it a quick tap.
Is the pointer on the dress? Z zooms on the spot under the pointer, so rest it on the dress first.
Scrolling the wheel on its own turns the mannequin. Hold Ctrl while you scroll to zoom, or press the wheel down like a button.
Z and the middle mouse button zoom on the mannequin screen and nowhere else.
On a trackpad there's no pinch to zoom. Tap Z, then hold Ctrl with W, A, S or D to look around.
Got an AZERTY or QWERTZ keyboard? Players say the zoom key sits where Z is on an English keyboard: W on AZERTY, Y on QWERTZ. If one key does nothing, try the other, or press the mouse wheel. The controls page has more of what players found.
Want to stop the zoom at the sewing machine? Turn on Less Animation in the settings. The controls page has the other motion settings.
Playing on a Steam Deck? See the Steam Deck notes.

Controls that are easy to miss

Players often miss these, so here they are in one place:

Zoomed in on the mannequin, hold the left Ctrl key with W, A, S or D to tilt and turn the view. See Slide the view.
Zoomed in, hold the right mouse button and drag to slide the view.
Hold Shift as you click an accessory onto the dress, and a copy stays in your hand, ready for the next spot.
With the Accessories tab open, press left Ctrl and R to switch the Accessory Rotation Gizmo on or off.
In the cutting room, A and D slide you along the fabric, and so does dragging an empty spot of the fabric. With the scissors in your hand, the mouse wheel slides it too.
Measuring a client you've measured before? Your old numbers are already on the paper, so Confirm works straight away. The mannequin guide has the details.

Every other key is on the controls page.