I've never done dots on my cake (I'm brand new at decorating) but wanted to give it a try. All the pictures I've seen have the dots so perfectly aligned and I was wondering if you use an impression mat for a guideline, or if you just eye ball it (or is there another way of doing it?)
Any help would be appreciated.
I mean the little icing dots on the cake.
I think she means swiss dots on the sides of the cake. I believe some people eyeball it and some use toothpicks to mark the cake first before piping. You can also use a dot impression mat for that. I'll go with the cheaper alternative... toothpicks! 
HTH
I drew a template on a piece of paper and punched out the pattern with toothpicks and rubbed it onto a cake once.. instant cheap impression mat. I kept 2 toothpick in the paper to help line up the seams.. the picture is the white one white cake in my pictures.
I drew a template on a piece of paper and punched out the pattern with toothpicks and rubbed it onto a cake once.. instant cheap impression mat. I kept 2 toothpick in the paper to help line up the seams.. the picture is the white one white cake in my pictures.
Oooh even better 
I eyeball it.
Let's say that I want a "diamond" pattern (i.e., squares standing on their points). First, I start with one row, spacing the dots evenly in a straight, vertical line. The row next to that would have dots in another vertically straight line, as far to the right (or left) of the original line of dots as the space between the dots. The dots in this 2nd line are spaced evenly like the first row, but mid-way between the two previous dots. (Does this make sense so far?)
You essentially repeat those two rows, alternating them around the cake. You should be able to look on a diagonal and see if everything is lining up correctly, or on the straight and you will have horizontal rows that line up perfectly well.
The result should look something like this (I'm hoping it will work!):
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Another alternative is to just repeat the same dot pattern, line-for-line:
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Practice with some icing on a covered board (so you can scrape the icing off and re-use) until you get the look and the feel you want. The more you practice, the better you'll get.
HTH,
Odessa
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