One of the features that makes Animal Crossing: New Horizons such a customizable, personalizable and creative game is the versatile design tool, which is no longer as reliant on QR codes as past games. People have used custom designs in a whole bunch of unique ways, including unique village paths.
The New Horizons community has gotten pretty creative with designs. Though the artistically inclined players may be able to work with the in-game design controls to make something interesting, there's certainly a wide group of players who might struggle to utilize the tool to its fullest potential. Luckily, plenty of third-party resources and tools have cropped up to help players make their island paradise their own.
To start using other players' custom designs, New Horizons players will first have to progress through the game's introduction until they can purchase the Custom Design Pro Editor from the Nook Miles kiosk at Resident Services. The second step is to download the official Nintendo Switch Online app from either the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store. Since the Nintendo Switch doesn't have its own built-in camera, players will have to use the app to scan QR codes to get fan-created designs.
Once the app is installed, players should navigate to the "Game-Specific Services" section and select New Horizons. From there, players can load up the main menu of New Horizons on their Switch and press the minus button to go to the game's settings. Picking "NookLink" settings will then let players link the app to their Switch. The "Designs" button in the Nintendo Switch Online app will let players scan QR codes, which means they can port designs from Animal Crossing: New Leaf or Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer.
Besides porting designs from older games, the QR code functionality can also be used in tandem with a third-party website, acpatterns.com. This website lets players create custom designs using a browser-based version of the in-game design tool, allowing players to use things like drawing tablets to get a little more intricate with their patterns. Of course, this website also features the ability to import pictures and convert them to compatible Animal Crossing designs.
Importing images is a little trickier than it sounds, mainly due to the smaller resolution of New Horizons's patterns. In short, if an image is too large or too complex, the end result is going to be very pixelated. Small images that use a square aspect ratio will work best with this website, though it's still worth giving larger images a try.
Acpatterns.com also happens to host a large database of fan-made designs that players can easily scan into their games. Everything from unique paths, clothing and even rugs are all able to be scanned and used in New Horizons.
For those looking for an in-game way to find custom patterns, they should first build the Able Sisters' clothing store. Once the store is built, a pink kiosk in the back corner will allow players with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to search for custom designs by Creator ID and even upload their own designs to share. Websites of note for finding custom designs and creator codes include customcrossing.com and nooksisland.com.
Utilizing creator IDs is a great way to get around having to use the Nintendo Switch app and scan QR codes, which can sometimes be a cumbersome process. However, this does limit players to using the in-game tools as the ID system is currently the only in-game way to share designs. Any design scanned through a QR code cannot be edited or shared in-game, including ones created on acpatterns.com.
QR Codes and the ID system are the two main ways to share patterns in New Horizons. These community resources and tools provided by Nintendo let any Animal Crossing player express their creative sides, regardless of artistic ability. In a way, the helpfulness of the community mimics the warm and open nature of the Animal Crossing world.
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