Thread: changing pictures & names on skins

I know this thread is old but I have the PSD's for the brushed metal skin and i do not know anything about Photoshop. What I would like to do is edit the RIP, RADIO, PHONE, & TV Buttons on the Main Menu. I have opened the menu psd and can see the layers and all but i don't see how to edit the text or the icon for the buttons. Could someone help me out? Thank you.

Can somebody help me out with the above question? I really want to get this finished before I put it in the vehicle.

When you say "edit" the buttons what exactly does that mean? Do you want to change the text the color the size?? It is very hard for people to help you when the question is so general. Please be way more specific!

If you just want to change the text to something else, it's not that hard. Go through each layer (the ones marked with the icon "T") and toggle it until you find the right one. Seriously, if you want to graphically edit skins, start learning some basic Photoshop functions.

Ok, for starters I so know that I need to learn some basic PS skills. This is what I want to do:

I have the PSDs for the Skin. I open the MENU one in PS and this is what I get:



1. What I would like to do is change the icon and the text for the RADIO button to an EMULATOR icon and the text to EMULATOR or EMUL.

2. I want to change the RIP text to WX for weather.

3. I want to extend the volume bar all the way across like in Mediacar, thus elimanating the TV and PHOCON icons.

4. How would i make an icon to replace the RADIO one and look like the others and blend in well?

How do I do all that? Is there a place to go and learn some basic PS skills just for skinning? I know there are tutorials on PS for some basic stuff, but that mostly deals with photos.

Also I can see the Layers box down on the right and i can check and uncheck the "eye" and remove and put things back but what else can i do with it?



I hope I described everything thouroughly enough??? And I apologize for being a noob when it comes to skining. I am trying to learn. Plus when you go to search in the forum for stuff like this, there isn't enough, IMO.

Well..... First off no need to apologize. We all started somewhere. Now what you are asking is fairly simple I could get it done in About 20 min. But to explain it to someone else that could be a chore but I am about to give it a try so hang on to your seat.

First off some basics: The most esential element in photochop is the layer pretty much everything is a layer. The layer window in the lower right corner is your friend your very best friend. I suggest making it as big as you can get it while still leaving enough room to work on your "photo". The ">f" after the layer names is the effects applied to the layer. Most of the down, on, off states you will see on skins are just changes in the effects on a layer. These effects can be coppied and pasted from one layer to another (by right clicking the layer). Most layers have an thumbnail icon of what that layer contains. Text layers usally just contain a "[T]" icon (unless the layer has been rasterized but that is for the advanced lession hehe). Layers can be duplicated which is what I would suggest if you do any changes (i.e. duplicate the layer you want to change, rename the new layer, hide the original layer, then do all your editing to the new one so if you mess up you can just delete it and duplicate the original again and start over). Lastly is linking layers. The small layer window pic you posted shows one layer selected. Indicated by the highlighted name and the small paint brush icon next to it. Clicking another layer selects it but clicking the second check box(the one to the right of the "eye") will link the two layers together so that you can perform many operations on both layers. Not all actions will be done to both layers but most will. Be careful with this cause it can cause a bit of heart ache if you leave a layer linked on accident and have to undo a bunch of work. Now on to you questions one by one.

1) Most of the Icons you see for buttons on skins are really just text. You can find several font packages on the web for free that have icons instead of letters when you type. some of them are two layers combined (for instance the tv icon in the picture you posted, the tv itself is really just text at a very large font size. I can't remember the font name but I have seen it before. The letters "TV' inside the tv are a very small size standard font. These were at on time (or still are I'm not sure I don't have the PSD's) two seperate layers. To combine layers click "Layer>Merge Down". To change the text and icon for the radio button find the correct layer by turning on and off visability on every layer til you find the right one. On the tools pane on the far left select the text tool. Duplicate the original layer (right click) and hide it. Select the new layer. Now move over the image window and click on the text "RADIO" (note: the cursor will change a bit when you are over top of it make sure the cursor changes or you will make another layer.) Once the cursor starts flashing to indicate you are ready for text entry double check the layer window to ensure you are still editing the correct text layer. If you were able to click at the end of the word just backspace to the front and type the new text. If not at the end just throw in a couple "Deletes" and your good to go. Finally you will have to click the move tool in the left tool bar to position the new text I sugest using the left or right arrow keys as to not mess up the up and down alignment of the text. As far as the icon goes I am pretty sure this is just text too. Think I have seen it before also. To get some thing that you like for an emul icon you will have to just look around. Windows does come with a few icon based fonts. In my PSD's I have two text layers all the way at the top of the list of layers. I will type every key on the keyboard then hit enter and type every key again this time holding the shift. Then duplicate this layer to give me the two layers. I use one layer for a base and the other one I just run down the list of fonts installed on my machine to see if I already have an icon that will work.

2) This is the simplest task on the list. Find the right layer (using the "eye" to find it) select the text tool from the left tool bar. Duplicate the layer and hide it. the click the text on the image and edit it. Select the move tool and move it with the arrow keys. Done!

3) This is the most difficult task to explain but fairly simple to do. We will start with phoco. Find the text layer(s) that make up the icon and hide or if you want delete them. Now find the layer that is the button itself expand the effects tab (">f") there should be a list of one or more effects there using the "eye" turn off the "Outer Glow" effect so that the button looks just like the bar under the volume slider. Next we have to relocate the mute and vol - buttons. Find all the layers concerned text, buttons, everything and link them as described above. If my guess is right it should be four mabye five layers (not sure about the red dot you will just have to look with the "eye" hehe). Once all the layers for those two buttons are selected click the move tool and use the arrow keys to slide everything to the left (holding shift makes them move faster). If you forgot something just ctrll-z and find the layer you forgot. Next is the tv icon repeat the steps above to get the vol+ and tools button slid over. For the final step find and select the volume slider itself once it is selected click "Edit>Free Transform" at the tool bar across the top change the width percentage until you like the size of the thing. To accept the changes double click on the rectangle box around the slider image. That should get you fixed up there.

4) Again the radio icon already on the skin is probably just text. So to change it find some other text.(a icon/text that comes with windows comes to mind it is a key board but if you were to "Edit>Transform>Rotate 180" it might look like a old SNES controller check it out) If you can't find anything you like that is text you will have to draw out some thing or find a picture from the web to use and this is a bit more work, just a bit but deffinately doable. the only thing I can really add on this is that if you find something new copy the layer effects from the original icon and paste them to the new one to get the same look. If the pic you find is color there are many adjustments under "Image>Adjust" to remove colors from the pic or make it black and white so it looks like the other icons.

As far as where to go to learn I went to Barnes & Noble


I hope this helped and I hope the spelling isn't too bad Cause I am not about to spend the time to check it all good luck.