sorry for being a noob but i cant find a thread to help me with this.

how do i apply layers and keep the skin like on the pro kits.

yet again sorry for being a total noob.


P.S i use paintshop pro 7 if that helps.

sorry for being an idiot, but what do you mean with apply? Just save as jpg and youre done

PS. or do you mean blend specific layers out?

sorry if i didnt explain it well enough in my first post.

see how on the prokits that can be downloaded at master skinnerz theres the layers where you can choose what ones to see like you can make them show or not.

well i want to be able to do that with bodykits aswell but i cant seem to do it correctly.

Create a new layer for each thing you draw, then you can show/hide it when you want.

Sorry I haven't used Paint Shop Pro so I can't tell you exactly how to create new layers.

when i open the layers popdown thing it says i can create a vector layer or a raster layer.

there are other thing but not about creating.

it doesnt have an option to open another layer.

Then create a vector layer or a raster layer - which one do you want?

Vectors are created with the pen tool, polygon tool, etc. "Raster" means pixel graphics - brush strokes, fills, gradients, etc.

Personally I stick to vectors for skins because they're easier to manipulate without losing quality (resizing, rotating, scaling to fit the aspect ratio of the skin, etc.). Raster graphics tend to look bad on the side of a car unless they're super high resolution.

well once i create a layer how do i get it to be the bodykit for the car im skinning.

when i open it it just shows a box with two tabs : General and Blend Ranges.
in general it has this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light box saying : Layer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name : layer name

Blend mode : has a dropdown list

Opacity : (from 0 to 100)

Group : ( from 0 to 23 )

tickable box : layer is visible

ticktickable : Lock transparency

--------------------------------------------------------------------
another light box saying mask this time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Tickable box : mask is enabled for this layer

tickable box : mask is locked with layer




thats all that there is there.
if you need a picture to help explain it ill upload one.



Edit : Heres a pic to help explain.

1) Create the layer.

2) Draw on it!

I don't know if I understand exactly what you're trying to achieve here, but it seems fairly simple to me. If you want to be able to show/hide different parts of your design then each part of the design needs to be on its own layer. So if you draw the bodykit on to one layer, you'll then be able to show/hide that layer and achieve (what I think is?) your goal.

If this isn't what you mean then I've misunderstood you.

From your image: Just click 'OK' and start using that layer.

im not sure either. save as jpg ^^

maybe try blend mode - multiply or something.

Do you see the skin, how you want it, in PS?

ill try explain it again.

on certain skins they have bodykits like hoods and grills and stuff and i sort of want to merge one of them and a skin together so that the background of the kit is invisible and can see the important parts like grills and can see the skin but be able to make it show and not.

when i make a new layer it doesnt do anything other than add a thing to the layers menu but i can click the hide thing and nothing goes away.

We kinda get what you want - skin with bodykit

A new layer is empty if you dont paste the bodykit in it.

Again do yousee the bodykit in the file?

PS. reading the thread again. im probably out because iv never used Paintshop

You have to put the bodykit pieces on new layers, in the file that your skin is in. Adding a new layer isn't magically going to add a bodykit on your skin.

You still haven't given enough information for us to be able to properly help; are you making your own bodykit or using pieces from an existing kit? Is the kit you want to use set up as a single transparent PNG file, or is it a layered PSD?


Slightly OT, but for the record, I'd recommend getting a newer program. I used to use PSP7 back in like 1999. It's very old. Try to get your hands on a newer version of Photoshop or Paintshop Pro (I forget what the name was changed to when Jasc was bought out by someone else).

i was wanting to use existing bodykits because i wouldnt be able to make my own.

the reason i use psp7 is because i know how to do most things on it.
im going to try get the latest one out though.

heres one of the kits im trying to use on an FZ5.
http://www.lfsforum.net/attach ... mp;stc=1&d=1260122987

P.S most of the bodykits i have are daloonie's.

mate, please answer the questions?

I`ll try again...
-open the bodykit and you skin in PS.
-select the bodykit and copy it.
-paste in PS (wich i guess adds a new layer.. at least thats what other programs (pain.net PS:CS ..) do :S)

Yes i can open the bodykit and skin in one page.
yes i can select the bodykit and copy it.
yes i can paste the bodykit.
the thing is most of the time the bodykit is all one layer and that layer is the whole thing so when i copy/paste it the background(if there is one) stays so i cant get it aligned correctly and im wondering how to change the background without getting rid of the whole bodykit.

In that case you need to select the area of the bodykit that you need, cut n' paste it to another layer. It could be quite a tricky job depending on how experienced you are with moving bezier curves around / whether the skin file you've got includes editable vector areas or it's just a jpeg, etc.

In short: It's not a straightforward job. You need to piss about with selection tools. I'm not sure what selection tools are available in Paint Shop Pro.

tools are :
Arrow
zoom
deformation
crop
mover
selection
freehand
magic wand
dropper
paintbrush
clone brush
colour replacer
retouch
scratch remover
eraser picture tube
airbrush
flood fill
text
draw
preset shapes
object remover

not sure what ones woulld be selection though.

as an alternative you could try to make the parts, you dont want, white... like the rest and paste it on your skin using layer blend - multiply.

Quote from Stikyiky :

i was wanting to use existing bodykits because i wouldnt be able to make my own.

the reason i use psp7 is because i know how to do most things on it.
im going to try get the latest one out though.

heres one of the kits im trying to use on an FZ5.
http://www.lfsforum.net/attach ... mp;stc=1&d=1260122987

P.S most of the bodykits i have are daloonie's.

By the sounds of it, you still don't know some of the basics with the program (don't know what the selection tools are?). That bodykit isn't so much a bodykit as it is a skin with a bodykit on it. You can paste that whole thing overtop of your skin and set it to "multiply" in the layer palette so only the dark shades show, super-imposed over your skin. The problem with that is the pink stripe, it will look bad.

If you have a layered kit just save a flat copy (like a jpg) of your skin, and put it on a low layer in the bodykit PSD file and save that as another jpg file. Voila, your skin with a bodykit on it.

thanks.