SurClaro Flight Simulator Resources

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:49 am Post subject: locked PSD layers

Im trying to do a repaint for an Airbus A319 using the paint kit, the fuselage PSD & talfin.PSD files etc with separate layers are fine, however I need to paint the U/C Doors etc to match my paint scheme but when you open up the Misc.PSD & Gear2.PSD all you get is a locked background layer this appears to be the same for various other paintkits, what Id like to know is how do I make the repaint so the lines & "shadows" etc of the U/C doors show through my colour? as Im only able to paint on top of these items. Is there a way to do this?
Im using Photoshop 7.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:15 pm Post subject:

Make your paint layer. Then on the box where all the layers are, move your painted layer below the ones you want on top of yours.

Easy to do.

RD

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject:

Ive enclosed a couple of pics the first shows the master.psd (example1)which as you can see in the bottom right has the layers which Im quite happy working with, Ive done a few repaints before. the second pic (example2) as you can see is the U/C doors wich have the lines drawn on them & shading but the layers are locked therefore Im unable to paint the Background & have the lines etc on top on my background colour, so the colouring completely obscures the detail.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:16 pm Post subject:

RD's answer makes sense, but I believe he will still end up with his paint scheme underneath pretty solid looking panel lines, etc. He might try RD's method, then with the panel line, etc. layer on top of his paintjob - he could double-click on that layer in the 'Layer palette' and make the detail layer a little less opaque...maybe see if 85 or 90% opacity makes the paint job show through the detail layer a bit more, adding to realism.

EDIT: AmericanEagle, do you realize that you can go to the 'layers' toolbar and click 'save via copy' for the locked layer, and now you have two identical layers on top of each other. Make the top layer invisible while you are working on the bottom layer (to be your paint job) - then make the top layer visible again and play with those opacity settings..there's got to be a way to get the effect you want, even with layers locked up. Not to step on RD's toes or anything...I'm just discovering all this stuff for myself and couldn't help blabbing about it as if I know what I'm talking about. LOL, I'm experimenting with my own textures and layer possibilities big-time, have fun. Wink

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:56 pm Post subject:

What Im trying to say is the layers ARENT there for me to put my colour scheme underneath. Sorry the pics didnt seem to upload before. Im using the IFDG A319 paint kit the layers ARE there for the master.psd & engines etc but there ARENT any layers for the misc.psd or gear2.psd files

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:22 am Post subject:

Alrighty then, here's a great tutorial on how to use tools in PS to isolate different parts of a locked .PSD file and pull them up into layers of their own, to manipulate or layer as you like. With software like this where there's a will there's a way....it can just get a little meticulous. Lots of experimenting is sometimes the way to get there, too. I'm having a riot with textures lately, the tools are amazing. Hope this helps.

http://www.calclassic.com/repaint6.htm

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:20 am Post subject:

Post up the link for the paint kit.

If a PSD is locked, then it doesn't have any layers at all. So you can do one of two things.

1. Paint what you need to on the background. You can do it directly, or by layers.

2. As Hark linked, take the task of creating the layers you need, as this will take some time to do, and may be overwhelming to do.

If you you post up the link, I can take alook at it, and see what I can do.

Otherwise, when paint kits have locked PSD's, there are done because nothing there is worth painting, that will add to the detail of the overall a/c.

RD

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:14 am Post subject:

harkonnen, thanks for the link Ive seen it before but never read that far as I hadnt got paint shop at the time only photo shop of which I mangaed to find another tutorial for. For I need to do re-creating the layers wont be too much work so will probably try that route.
RD I hadnt thought of it like that, one of the items on the locked psd was for the cockpit frame of which is originally metal in colour but I needed it to match the colour of my Fuselage I just drew a rectangular box with the colour I needed over it completely obscuring the frame itself but when loaded into FS the frame was the correct colour with no noticable change in detail.
Thank you

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:32 am Post subject:

As long as your getting and doing what you need, that is cool.

Post up a screenshot of what you have done.

RD

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 9:11 am Post subject:

Will do Ive nearly finished it, its for my own VA Ive called Tropic Air, creating layers on a small scale was quite fun to do, Ive noticed that the locked layers also appear to have some kind of mask applied to them maybe in order for us to repaint the background colour without obscuring the detail must admit Im still only learning how to use certain things in photoshop so vectors & masks are new to me.

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:45 pm Post subject:

Just to start this off, I have Photoshop CS3, so I'm not sure if this will work with PS7.
If you double click on the locked layers name, it should come up with a rename layer dialog. Rename it whatever you want and it will be unlocked.

From what I've found about PS7, this should work.