Animal Crossing: New Horizons is all about the fun of creativity and altering things more and more. Players who enjoy the game, across all age groups, enjoy making and altering things to their liking. Given that so many enjoy what this game has to offer, it only makes sense that there are tons of customization options. One of the more freeing elements is the Custom Designs, which allows you to make literally anything in pixel art form.
With this guide you can learn how to use the Custom Design Editor, as well as how to unlock the features on the Pro Editor upgrade in Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) for the Nintendo Switch. That way, you can alter the surroundings of your island in unlimited ways. The first thing you need to do is unlock the Pro Editor, this is key.
How to place Custom Signs
You will need to push ZL first, this will open your Nook Phone. From there choose the Custom Designs app. When you open it you can choose an option to place an existing Pro Design you have saved. When saving, be sure to save over a blank tile or a design you no longer wish to use and have removed from your island.
You can either use the design tools to make your own designs or browse for other players designs using the terminal in the Able Sister shop. When you find a design you like, you will be able to save it and use it to decorate homes and outdoor areas. Just use the on-screen prompts to save the design. If it’s a design you made yourself, click the ‘+’ button, give your design a name, then click ‘+’ again to confirm and save. Designs found via codes or searches have a visible save button.
There are two ways to make a custom sign in the game, either as a canvas or as a floor-based decal. When you have your design you want to place, have the Custom Design app open and browse for the design you want. Press ‘A’ on it to select it. This will bring up an options menu where you can choose either select ‘Display Here’ or ‘Display on Ground’. Display Here will cause the decal to spawn on an easel and appear as a sign. If you have a fruit orchard, maybe make a cute little piece of art advertising fruit trees, then place it in this manner along the path to your orchard.
You can also choose to place a design as a clothing item, face paint, painting or a floor decal. You can use any design in any way, but a design needs to fit the template for the item type or it won’t look right. If you place an item on a canvas and it’s meant for a shirt, it will be distorted.
How to unlock the Pro Editor
You can unlock the Custom Pro Editor after upgrading to Nook Miles+. Once you reach that stage, but the upgrade for 800 Nook Miles from the Nook Terminal in Resident Services.
With that done, you could also use the search function (via the designs terminal in the back of the Able Sister shop) to find custom designs that other players have made. You can also find Design Codes online and check out other people’s designs. Save a design to use it later. The biggest downside to this approach is that you’re limited to a certain amount of slots. The Pro Editor can only store 50 designs in total. And if you replace or delete a placed design, the instances of that design will be lost or replaced. Maybe Nintendo will increase it in a future patch, who knows.
