Paint by Reference Improvement: Camera Frame Should Match Canvas Size/Shape

I love the "Paint by Reference" feature—it's one of the best ways to create custom art for your Sim's home. However, there's a persistent issue with the framing that makes getting the perfect composition needlessly difficult.

1. What area of gameplay is your feedback about?

• Skills (Painting Skill)
• Objects/Activities (Easel Painting)

1. What works well right now?
   The "Paint by Reference" feature is fantastic in concept. It allows Sims to create unique paintings of their surroundings, their family, or a beautiful landscape. It's much more engaging and personal than the randomly generated paintings. The ability to move the camera around to frame your shot is essential and works well.
2. What isn’t working or feels frustrating?
   The major frustration is the mismatch between the camera's viewfinder and the final canvas. The camera UI shows a standard, rectangular (widescreen) frame, but the canvases Sims use are often square. This means that what you see in the camera is not what you get on the canvas. Important parts of your composition get cropped out, or there's unexpected empty space. It forces you to guess how the image will be translated, leading to a lot of trial, error, and wasted paintings.
3. What new ideas or improvements would you suggest?
   I suggest updating the "Paint by Reference" camera UI to visually match the aspect ratio of the selected canvas.

For example:

• If your Sim is using a Small Square Canvas, the camera's viewfinder should be a square overlay.
• If they are using a Large Rectangle Canvas, the viewfinder should change to a rectangular overlay that matches its proportions.

This overlay would show the exact boundaries of the future painting, so you can compose your shot accurately.

1. Why would this improve your gameplay experience?
   This change would make the "Paint by Reference" feature more intuitive, reliable, and enjoyable.

• Accurate Composition: It would allow players to compose their shots perfectly the first time, eliminating the guesswork and frustration of misplaced subjects.
• Respects Player Effort: It acknowledges the time and care a player puts into framing a shot and ensures that effort is reflected in the final artwork.
• More Professional Feel: It would make the painting process feel truer to life, as a real artist would always be aware of their canvas's dimensions while composing.
• Reduces Waste: It would prevent Sims from creating paintings that are "ruined" by bad cropping, saving both in-game time and simoleons on canvases.

This is a focused, logical improvement that would turn a good feature into a great one by making it work in the way players naturally expect it to.

Please upvote 👍 this post so we can get this feature in the game.