the car's color & the background color is too close....

I really don't see your problem. care to elaborate?

The BF1 default skin is a replica of the car it is based on, I don't imagine it could be a different color.

The background of the skin image is almost white instead of gray / black, which makes it pretty hard to see the outline of the car.

There's a BF1 kit here: http://www.lfs-gear.com/kitz.html but i don't have Photoshop so i can't see if it's better.

Quote from kingfag :

The background of the skin image is almost white instead of gray / black, which makes it pretty hard to see the outline of the car.

There's a BF1 kit here: http://www.lfs-gear.com/kitz.html but i don't have Photoshop so i can't see if it's better.

If you have gimp or paint.net you can open them too, but you may need to install something extra.

Quote from ALT0160 :

If you have gimp or paint.net you can open them too, but you may need to install something extra.

nope, gimp dont require anyhing extra to open psd

I have had a mess around with brightness/contrast settings using the default skin in photofiltre and have come up with this, it looks a bit grainy in places and the shading on the skin has gone a bit too dark but the outline is a lot more defined.

why not just open that psd(bf1 pro-kit) and add those car shadows into it. if someone doesnt know how its done, make new layer, add the default skin onto it. than make everything white transpernt and place that layer below black mask. i dont know is that what you mean cos i didnt read the post propelly.