September 16th, 2009

I promised last segment that I would start a tutorial on repainting based on what I have learned while creating the Moritz series of trucks. The techniques I've been using seem to work with Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photo Shop. Since Photo Shop is handy at the moment, this particular article will be about using that program, with some references to how to perform the same steps in Paint Shop Pro (Version 6 or 7).

For this exercise I'm using the texture from Tim Muir's trailer vans. I started with a jpg file, but the same steps will work on any bmp, tga, gif or any other "flat" image. I had access to the original images, but the ACE file that comes with the model can be converted into one of the more common file formats using a program called TGATool. There are a few different versions on the web, but I think the latest is TGATool2 4.00.32 available here

Please note that there is TGATOOL3, but that has all the MSTS specific features removed.

I load the file into the editor, in this case Photo Shop. The first thing I do is eliminate all those nice colors!Before I do that, however, let's look at some of the features of the Photo Shop "work area". It's a bit different from Paint Shop Pro, but similar in many ways. At the top are the Menu selections, displayed horizontally. On the left is the Tool bar with tool icons displayed vertically. Just right of that is the main image area. On the right side of the image from top to bottom are the Navigator control, the color controls and the Layer control. You'll notice that each of these controls is divided into three areas that control other aspects of the image. Just to the left of the controls, between them and the image are a few other icons that display and control History, Tool Presets, Brush size and appearance, Text  and other items. Currently everything is pretty much at default with only one layer, Background, being displayed in the Layers control.

For the first step in this tutorial I will convert the image to black and white. There is actually more to the repainting operation than this, but more on that later. Going black and white In Paint Shop Pro is simply a matter of selecting the Color menu and clicking on Gray Scale. In Photo Shop you select the Image menu, highlight Adjustments, and select Black & White

There's a histogram displayed which looks like it allows color adjustment, but it actually controls the way those colors appear in black and white. If the red areas seem to dark, for instance, you can adjust the red settings to make them lighter...

Paint Shop Pro has a similar function, but it isn't part of the gray scale conversion process like it is here. Quite handy. As you can see it makes the red areas quite a bit "whiter" which will mean less trouble in the next step, changing the color of the trailer.

To change the color, I create a new layer called Colors so I know exactly what it's for. I usually use the menu Layer to create the new layer. There is an icon, but since I can read I tend to use menus (have to do something with all those years of school).  So I select the Layer menu, highlight New and select Layer (I rarely use hot keys but Shift Ctrl N also works). I leave the layer settings at the default. I do not set a color, because I don't want to color the entire image just areas of the one trailer.

With the new layer created I then use the Marquee tool to select the area I want to color. It's done in two steps, the first selection is everything on the right below the roof, but above the bumper. I then hold down the SHIFT key and select everything to the right of the bumper. This results in the combined selection shown here. After making the selection, I switch to the Paint Bucket Tool and select the color I want from the Color palette...

You can see that the green covers all the detail of the Background layer underneath. Kinda kills the idea of the repaint in the first place doesn't it? Not a problem, however, beacuse each layer has several adjustment controls. There is an Opacity setting, which controls the "density" of the layer in general, and a Fill setting, which is only for fills, such as the are we are doing here. There is also a third setting that controls how the layer affects layer below it. You can for instance, set this to Multiply. Multiply combines the charateristics of the two layers...

There is also a "Overlay" setting, which overlays the background layer with a tint of color

Since we may want different colors on this layer, as well as different "densities" of color, I'll use the Fill settings. I want to go with the darker green for the top trailer and still be able to use a different color (with a separate opacity value) for the lower trailer.

Now that the trailer is repainted, I want to add some text. Most trailers display a company name on the side. Back in the period when these trailers were used, they were more like rolling billboards. They bore the name, the phone number, the destinations, logo, slogan and anything else the company thought the public should know. It was their main media for advertising.

To letter the trailer I create a layer called "Lettering" (not too imaginative, but workable).  Once the layer is created, I just start creating text in various fonts and sizes. On this trailer, the company name is Turner - Ajax something I saw on a vehicle on the Interstate. The real ruck was a small van or pickup. On this trailer however, it represents a company that handles express shipments across North America. The major destinations are listed as well as the company slogan "Coast to coast, and then some". A truncated version of the blurbs appears on the rear of the trailer

When ever I added text I actually added a new layer. This has the benefit of allowing me to edit each bit of text independently, but then I must move all the same way. In order to allow me to move the lettering as a body, I use the Link Layer command. I select all the text layers and the Lettering layer in the layer control using Shift or Ctrl while I click with the mouse. I then link all the selected layers to the Lettering layer. When I move one layer all of the text moves, yet I can still edit each line independently. It also means that you can use the same lettering for both sides of the trailer. I don't know if Paint Shop Pro has a similar function.

You may have noticed that everything in the image, other than our paint and text is gray scale. While this gave us a nice base for our repaint, it means that little details such as the taillights and running lights are no longer amber or red. This is why I said earlier "There is actually more to the repainting operation than this". Before you do a lot of work, you have to decide what you want to preserve about the original. In this trailer set there are little details like the running lights, taillights, the chrome bezels for both, the raised "wing" on the front of the trailer, the tire and tread detail, etc. Ideally before you did anything else you would isolate each of these features to it's own layer. The light lenses could go to a layer called Lights. The wing and the bezels might go to layer called Chrome. I personally put the bezels and lenses on the same Light layer, but there may be some reason to separate them. I'll use the Allied trailer to give you some idea of what needs to be done...

I'll call up the original JPG again, but before I convert it to black and white I'll move the lights to their own layer. I use the Marquee tool again, but this time I set it to Ellipse (right click for options). I then put the cursor at the lower left corner of the left taillight and holding the Shift key, drag a circle to enclose the light and the surrounding bezel. I repeat this procedure for the right taillight and every other light on the Allied Trailer. I then Cut and Paste the lights to a new Layer called Lights.

Now I can make changes to the rest of the image without affecting the lights. I repeat this same process for everything I want to reuse in the texture.

To repaint the Allied trailer I also need to get rid of the lettering. While Tim's original image was created in layers, the ACE file does not retain these. All the various layers are flattened into one. I have to find another way to edit out the text without destroying the rest of the trailer. It's actually very simple, but requires a little time to get the best results...

Since the shading is pretty much the same vertically on the trailer side I just use the Rectangular Marquee tool and copy a section of the image from above or below the text area. I then paste it over the lettering (make sure you switch to layer Background). I line up the door lines and any other vertical feature, making sure I don't cover the "cigar band" at the trailer beltline....

I can repeat this step for most of the other ALLIED lettering, but the top of the door presents a challenge.

There are a few ways to do this. One is to copy and paste the small part of the door that isn't covered by lettering and repeat this all the way across. The rear corner of the door would just be a mirrored copy of the front corner. The door line could also be drawn in with a horizontal line and then "blurred" or softened to make it blend in. To change the appearance of the trailer even more, you could copy the area below the "wings" on the trailer front and paste it over the wings.

Changing the black beltline is just as easy. You can just copy the belt from either side (use a area with the same shading and paste it over the words. You could also eliminate the belt altogether by copying the area above it and pasting it over the black...

Finally, remember that you can arrange the various layers one atop the other. This is how you would get the lights (or anything else) to appear as you see it here. You simply make the Lights layer the topmost.

Well I think that's about it for now...Thanks for listening.