How to Create and Print Lenticular Photos in FMX for Windows

Updated Today · 11 min readAdvanced

FMX can combine two or three photos into a 4×6 lenticular print. After the matching lenticular lens is attached, tilting the finished card reveals a different photo at each viewing angle.

This guide covers the complete process: building the workflow, configuring a local printer, calibrating the printer and lens, testing the guest experience, and attaching the lens to the print.

Important: A lenticular print is made of very fine interlaced lines. The bare print may look striped or distorted. This is expected—the image-changing effect appears only when the correctly calibrated lens is aligned over the print.

Before You Start

Prepare the following:

Requirement	What you need
FMX	The latest FMX for Windows release with the Photos to Lenticular workflow feature
Source photos	Two or three different Raw Photos or AI Photos from the same session
Printer	A local printer route configured for 4×6 media
Lenticular lens	A 4×6 lens sheet marked 40, 50, 60, 75, or 100 LPI
Measuring tool	A millimeter ruler for the geometry calibration sheet
Lens mounting	Adhesive-backed lens stock, clear tape, a laminating method, or a repeatable alignment jig

Use the same printer, driver settings, paper, finish, and physical lens stock during calibration that you will use at the event. Changing part of the physical print path can change the alignment.

1. Build the Lenticular Workflow in Foto Master Cloud

The workflow must create all source photos before it creates or prints the lenticular image.

Use this sequence:

Take Photo or AI Photo sources → Photos to Lenticular → Lenticular Preview (optional) → Print Copies

Add the source photos

Add the Take Photo steps required for the effect.
If the effect will use AI results, place each AI Photo step after its source photo.
Keep the photos in the order in which they should appear while the finished card is tilted.

The sources must be unique. A two-photo lenticular requires exactly two selected sources, and a three-photo lenticular requires exactly three.

Add Photos to Lenticular

Add Photos to Lenticular after all of its source photos.
Choose 2 or 3 photos.
Select each Raw Photo or AI Photo in the required viewing order.
Set Output Orientation to Portrait or Landscape.

For a production event, use an explicit orientation instead of Auto. The selected orientation must match the card orientation approved during printer calibration. Auto follows the first selected image and can change if the source image orientation changes.

FMX center-crops the selected images to fill the 4×6 card without stretching them. Keep important faces, text, and details away from the extreme edges of the source photos.

Add an optional Lenticular Preview

Add a Preview step and set Preview Type to Lenticular if guests should see the image-changing effect on screen.

The preview animates the original source frames; it does not display the striped print raster. It is useful for confirming photo order and letting guests accept or retake the session, but it does not replace a physical calibration test.

Add Print Copies

Add Print Copies after Photos to Lenticular.
Set Media to Print to Lenticular.
Select Photo 4×6 as the paper size.
Choose whether FMX should print directly or let the guest select the number of copies.
Configure the minimum, maximum, and Skip behavior required for the event.

Save the experience, then sync it to FMX. For more general printer settings, see Printing from FMX.

2. Configure the 4×6 Printer Route

Open Global Settings → Devices → Printer.

Windows printer route

Create or enable a 4×6 local printer assignment.
Select the physical printer by name. Do not leave the route set to the changing Windows default printer.
Confirm that the assignment is for Photo 4×6 media.
Click Save Changes before opening calibration.

FMX ties the calibration to the selected physical route. A route that follows the Windows default printer cannot be calibrated safely because the default could later point to a different device.

Choose the lenticular output method

An explicit 4×6 assignment can show a Lenticular output option:

Windows driver (compatible) is the default and works through the installed Windows printer driver.
DNP RX1/RX1HS exact command (opt-in) is a dedicated lenticular path for supported RX1/RX1HS setups. Use it only after testing the complete booth setup.

Changing this setting changes the physical print path. Recalibrate the lens after switching between the Windows driver and exact-command output.

If your booth uses the DNP hot-folder backend, configure the 4×6 default or matte hot folder before calibration. The calibration wizard will show that hot-folder route as the target.

FMPrint is not supported for lenticular printing. Lenticular rasters are local print assets and are not uploaded as Final Photos. Use a local Windows-driver or configured DNP hot-folder route.

If printer load balancing is enabled, calibrate every 4×6 printer that may receive a job. A profile measured on one physical printer must not be reused for another printer.

3. Calibrate the Printer and Lens

Open Global Settings → Devices → Printer → Lenticular Calibration, then select Calibrate 4×6 Lens.

The wizard saves one active calibration for a physical printer route and lens setup. Follow all nine stages before using the effect at an event.

Stage 1: Select the route and lens

Select the exact 4×6 printer or DNP hot-folder route.
Select the nominal LPI printed on the lens package.
Choose the lens placement method:
- Manual placement when an operator aligns each loose lens sheet by hand.
- Fixed jig only when physical stops return every print and lens to the same position.
Optionally enter a profile label to distinguish this lens stock from other sheets.

A profile name is only an identifier. Entering a manufacturer or product name does not load a preset.

Stage 2: Measure print geometry and choose orientation

Select Print Geometry Sheet in the wizard.
Measure between the horizontal marker centers and enter the result in millimeters.
Measure between the vertical marker centers and enter the result.
Select the customer card orientation: Portrait or Landscape.
Select the physical lens-line orientation:
- Vertical when the ridges run from top to bottom on the finished card.
- Horizontal when the ridges run from left to right.

Do not assume that the markers printed exactly 80 × 120 mm. Some printer drivers enlarge a nominal 4×6 page. The measurements let FMX compensate for that scaling before it creates the pitch tests.

Always print calibration sheets from the wizard. Printing an exported PNG through an image viewer can add scaling and invalidate the test.

Stage 3: Find the coarse pitch

Print the coarse pitch sheet.
Place the smooth side of the lens against the print, with the ridges facing you.
Keep the lens ridges parallel to the printed interlace lines.
Tilt across the ridges and inspect every labeled candidate.

The winning row or column changes as one solid area from blue to red. A candidate that shows repeated red and blue bars is off pitch. Fewer bars means that candidate is closer.

If the best candidate is at the first or last edge of the sheet, return to the geometry stage and recheck the measurements. The correct pitch may be outside the printed test range because the route scaling was entered incorrectly.

Stage 4: Fine-tune the pitch

Print the fine pitch sheet and repeat the same test. Choose the exact labeled value whose full row or column changes together with the least visible wave or color mixing.

The printed result under the real lens is authoritative. Do not select a value only because it matches the number printed on the lens package.

Stage 5: Choose the cleaner edge mode

Print the optional boundary comparison sheet and compare Blended with Hard Edge through the real lens.

Select the side that produces the cleanest separation between complete views with the least ghosting. If both appear equal, Blended is a good starting choice.

Stage 6: Complete lens registration

The correct procedure depends on the placement method selected in Stage 1.

Fixed jig

Lock the lens and print against the same physical stops that will be used in production.
Print the phase sheet for the selected card orientation.
Tilt each numbered patch.
Select the patch that shows a clean blue view at one angle and a clean red view at the other, with the least mixing or drift.

Do not reposition the lens separately for each patch. The phase is reusable only when the jig returns every lens to the same position.

Manual placement

FMX does not add alignment marks to customer prints. For every production print:

Keep the lens ridges parallel to the printed interlace lines.
Slide the lens perpendicular to its ridges until one complete source image is clean across the card.
Hold the lens in position before taping, laminating, or exposing the adhesive.

Stage 7: Balance the first two images

Choose 45/55, 50/50, or 55/45. Use the optional balance sheet if one of the first two views appears stronger or clearer than the other.

Three-photo lenticular jobs always divide the viewing area equally among all three images.

Stage 8: Validate the finished orientation

Print the optional validation card that matches the selected portrait or landscape orientation. Testing a physical card is strongly recommended before an event.

Confirm that:

One angle shows the complete blue VIEW A image.
The opposite angle shows the complete red VIEW B image.
Text, grid lines, and color change together as one full view.
There is no persistent wave, repeating bands, mixed color, or edge-to-edge drift.

Approve the selected card orientation in the wizard. A profile approved for portrait cards does not authorize landscape jobs, and vice versa.

Stage 9: Review, save, and activate

Review the printer route, card orientation, LPI, scale, ridge direction, registration method, edge mode, and image balance. Select Save Profile to store and activate the calibration.

Saved profiles can later be activated, renamed, recalibrated, or deleted from the Lenticular Calibration section.

4. Test the Complete Experience

Run at least one full session before the event:

Confirm that all two or three source photos are captured or generated.
Confirm that the on-screen Lenticular Preview changes through the photos in the intended order.
Print through the workflow's Print Copies step.
Confirm that the job reaches the same 4×6 route used for calibration.
Align the production lens and inspect every viewing angle.
Attach the lens only after the complete card passes the physical check.

Do not manually open and print files from the event's Lenticular folder. Only the FMX lenticular Print Copies path preserves the calibrated printer route and raster handling.

5. Run the Effect at an Event

During each session, FMX:

Captures or generates the selected source photos.
Creates the lenticular print asset in the configured order.
Shows the animated source-frame preview, if included.
Queues the requested number of calibrated 4×6 lenticular copies.

For manual placement, leave the lens backing in place while aligning it. Slide the lens across the ridges until a complete source view appears clean across the card. Secure one edge, then expose and press the adhesive gradually without allowing the lens to shift.

For a fixed jig, keep the same stops, lens orientation, and placement process that were used during phase calibration.

Troubleshooting

The Lenticular Preview shows the Final Photo instead

Confirm that Photos to Lenticular appears before the Preview step.
Confirm that the selected source photos were successfully created.
Confirm that the number of selected sources matches the configured two- or three-photo count.
Confirm that the Preview Type is Lenticular.

FMX does not create a lenticular print job

Confirm that Print Copies appears after Photos to Lenticular.
Set Media to Print to Lenticular, not Final Photo.
Set the paper size to 4×6.
Use a local Windows or DNP hot-folder route; FMPrint cannot print lenticular output.

Calibration cannot select the printer

Select the physical printer explicitly in the 4×6 assignment.
Do not use Default Printer for the calibrated route.
Click Save Changes, then reopen Lenticular Calibration.
For a DNP hot-folder route, configure the 4×6 folder first.

The print shows a moving wave

The effective pitch is incorrect. Recheck the geometry measurements, then repeat the coarse and fine pitch stages under the actual production lens.

Both photos remain visible at the same angle

Confirm that the lens ridges match the selected line orientation.
Recheck the fine pitch and edge mode.
For a fixed jig, repeat phase calibration without moving the lens between patches.
For manual placement, slide the lens perpendicular to the ridges before attaching it.

The job reports an orientation mismatch

Set the workflow's output orientation to the same portrait or landscape orientation approved in the active profile. Recalibrate if you need to offer the other card orientation.

Results vary between prints or printers

Confirm that the same physical printer route handled every job.
Calibrate every printer in a load-balanced pool.
Check that the driver, media, finish, and Lenticular output transport have not changed.
Confirm that a fixed jig still returns the print and lens to the calibrated stops.

When to Recalibrate

Recalibrate after changing any of the following:

Physical printer or printer route
Printer driver, page settings, or scaling behavior
Windows-driver versus RX1/RX1HS exact-command output
Lens stock, nominal LPI, or supplier batch
Portrait versus landscape card orientation
Lens ridge direction
Fixed-jig stops or mounting method

Always complete a physical validation print after recalibration and before serving guests.

Was this helpful?