Viewmagic Aligning Prints

If you are starting with prints for the Viewmagic viewer this is a method of aligning them.  Alternatively, you can align the prints using Stereo Photo Maker and output aligned prints which is easier.  

Your Viewmagic 3-D Viewer is designed to  work with a vertical image spacing of 4 inches. Method This spacing accommodates all popular print sizes up to 4 inches high. 

1. First locate the left and right prints for a particular scene. Place them on the mounting card in rough alignment. This can be done by eye. The right print goes on top, the left goes on the bottom. Check this step using the viewer. Slide the prints around a little to see the view in 3-D since they are not accurately aligned. Continue when you are sure you have the left and right prints correctly identified. From here on, the right print is the top print and the left is the bottom. 

2. Keep the prints in rough alignment; slide them until you have even margins on the card. Mark the locations of the corners of the bottom print. Fasten the bottom print with your favorite mounting system. 

3. Next align the images vertically with the alignment guide. Place the guide over both prints. Find some distinctive features² near the left and right sides on both prints. Move the lower horizontal (left to right) guideline to the features on the bottom print. Hold the alignment guide in place on the bottom print with one hand. Now use the upper set of horizontal lines on the guide for reference. Rotate or slide the top print until the same features fall directly under the horizontal lines. Then mark the corner positions of the top print and fasten it. This step makes the spacing 4 inches between the images, across the entire image. Aligning Horizons 

4. Check the alignment in several places on the image with the guide. Now do a final check with the viewer. If you find a problem, remove one print and repeat step 3 - also see below for alignment troubleshooting.

Alignment Troubleshooting 

Problem - Aligning the backgrounds 4 inches apart causes the foreground objects to be more or less than 4 inches apart. 

Solution -Taking the pictures from two different heights causes this problem. The best solution is to adjust the picture spacing. First take out the rotation in the pictures by selecting points in the background as the main alignment points. Next, move the alignment guide to some foreground objects. Move one picture halfway to the 4 inch spacing. Pictures that vary by more than 1/16th inch from the ideal 4 inches in foreground or background spacing will be difficult to view. 

Problem - Only the foreground or background is in 3-D, but not both at the same time. 

Solution -This problem is caused by taking the shots with too wide a camera spacing. It can also be caused by not centering both shots on the same background points. The best solution is to adjust the left/right alignment of the pictures. Slide one print left or right until the same foreground point is directly in line above the other print. Mark the location. Next, do the same for a background point. Split the left/right difference between the two. Finally, realign the spacing with the alignment guide. Prints that have more than ' 1 4 inch shift between foreground in the top print and background in the bottom print, are difficult to view. 

Alignment Masking Trick 

Some stereographs will look better if they pop out of the page at you. Others will look better if they sink into the page. To get the "pop-out" effect, crop or mask the right edge of one picture and the left edge of the other picture to frame the same background points (left). To get the "sink-in" effect, crop or mask the right or left edge of each picture to frame the same foreground point

²The distinctive features can be anything - an object, a shadow or the horizon. The same points must appear in both prints.

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