In reply to Using same font for background layer in Fontlab?:
Read the manual.
You can easily search the pdf; for example for 'background'.
Alternatively, you could have scanned the menu items. The very first option you see in Tools/background should do exactly what you want. Well, almost. It will give the complete shape of the object, but won't show the nodes or control points.
Incidentally, actually reading the manual (like a book, not just as a reference) isn't a bad idea. You find out things you never even thought about. And it's shorter than War and Peace (but not by much).
