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Oragami
Test Subject
#226 Old 30th May 2013 at 11:50 AM
Does this apply if I want to make a black (or single color only) tattoo?
CmarNYC
Ms. Byte (Deceased)
Original Poster
#227 Old 30th May 2013 at 12:11 PM
@Vanessa: most likely your background is not pure black.

@Oragami: It's best to make a single color tattoo in the red channel with an all-transparent alpha.
Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
SassinPr0ph3cy
Test Subject
#228 Old 12th Dec 2013 at 10:48 PM
is there a vid tut for this because im following whats written but when i preview its all black...
CmarNYC
Ms. Byte (Deceased)
Original Poster
#229 Old 13th Dec 2013 at 4:59 AM
Quote: Originally posted by SassinPr0ph3cy
is there a vid tut for this because im following whats written but when i preview its all black...


You probably haven't done the alpha channel correctly. It should be black/transparent. I don't do video tutorials, sorry. When I finish the new version of Tattooinator it'll be easier to fix this kind of thing, and I'll do a new tutorial.
Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
offroadkitty
Test Subject
#230 Old 13th Jun 2014 at 10:38 AM Last edited by offroadkitty : 14th Jun 2014 at 2:22 AM.
I seem to be having some trouble with a particular tattoo that I have been working on. At first it was showing up as two halves instead of a whole tattoo. After some tinkering I got it to show up as one piece in the Tattooinator, however it does not show up in game when I go to put it on. The other 4 that I made are working fine. I'm unsure what the issue is. Perhaps I could email you the files I have so you could take a look and figure out what I've been doing wrong on this one?


EDIT: I have attached the files I used for the various stages.
Attached files:
File Type: rar  Pictures.rar (221.3 KB, 17 downloads) - View custom content
Description: Base Image/Gimp Image/DDS File
CmarNYC
Ms. Byte (Deceased)
Original Poster
#231 Old 13th Jun 2014 at 2:10 PM
The easiest thing would be for you to upload your files here. If you prefer not to, pm me and I'll give you my email address.
Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
offroadkitty
Test Subject
#232 Old 16th Jun 2014 at 4:22 AM
Dunno what I was doing wrong the first few attempts at it but I seem to have it working now. If you do happen to figure out where I went wrong with it feel free to point it out. Thanks anyways
Furfur47
Test Subject
#233 Old 2nd Sep 2016 at 4:42 AM
I got to the part where it says to invert... Nothing happens. Help please? I'm super frustrated with this program (I am not a GIMP user).
On that note...is there also a tutorial with pictures? I'm getting so confused over what to do when it comes to even the simplest things with this program.
Lyralei
Virtual gardener
retired moderator
#234 Old 2nd Sep 2016 at 10:42 AM
darkrhino
Test Subject
#235 Old 15th Aug 2017 at 11:48 PM Last edited by darkrhino : 16th Aug 2017 at 1:34 AM.
Thank you for the tutorial but i still can;t figure out how to get it to work can som one please help me
Lyralei
Virtual gardener
retired moderator
#236 Old 21st Aug 2017 at 4:17 PM
darkrhino
Test Subject
#237 Old 13th Sep 2017 at 1:52 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Greenplumbbob
@darkrhino, what kind of issue are you facing?
@Greenplumbbob i can get through it okay it's just the final product doesn't look right or they have a background
jameskinsella
Test Subject
#238 Old 13th Sep 2017 at 3:05 PM
Wow, How can I do it? I don't get this things
If you want to know more cool fiches, visit my profile, there you can find brand new site with great things
Lyralei
Virtual gardener
retired moderator
#239 Old 13th Sep 2017 at 6:56 PM
@darkrhino when it comes to the background... I guess it's a white one, right? I think its'because you haven't applied an alpha channel either correctly or haven't yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9aZdPqs17M
BulleCore
Test Subject
#240 Old 27th Jan 2021 at 1:06 PM Last edited by BulleCore : 27th Jan 2021 at 5:08 PM. Reason: Driver maybe found
Quote: Originally posted by CmarNYC
This will illustrate the process of creating a simple rosebud tattoo starting with a line drawing. I'm going to use a pretty drawing of a rose to make a three-color tattoo with black outlines.

GIMP is an excellent free image editor. Get it here: http://www.gimp.org/

And the GIMP plugin you'll need to read/write DDS images: http://registry.gimp.org/node/70

Hello Cmar You've made this tutorial a long time ago but I'm trying to get the process , I've the latest GIMP version (2.10 22) and I don't find the good dds plugin to convert my pic in a dxt file all I get is an xcf file and no option even if it's a new version. I hope You will see my request lol have a great day.

Ps: Edit : I think I've found a solution but I'm still preparing my drawing in Gimp. I think it would be great if this tutorial was updated . Sims3 is still an awesome game afterall!
reysero
Test Subject
#241 Old 30th Jan 2023 at 7:18 PM
Quote: Originally posted by CmarNYC
This will illustrate the process of creating a simple rosebud tattoo starting with a line drawing. I'm going to use a pretty drawing of a rose to make a three-color tattoo with black outlines.

GIMP is an excellent free image editor. Get it here: http://www.gimp.org/

And the GIMP plugin you'll need to read/write DDS images: http://registry.gimp.org/node/70

Get Tattooinator here: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=410592 (Grab the 8/13/2010 update to make tattoos compatible with base game as well as Ambitions.)

1. I create a new 512 x 512 image in GIMP, keeping the white background for now.

After pasting the drawing into the image I do a little editing to clean it up and resize it. After the black and white drawing is just the way I want, I do a 'Copy visible' to copy the uncolored drawing for use later. (To be safe, you may want to paste it into a second, temporary 512 x 512 drawing.)



2. Now I use the paintbrush to fill the petals with pure red, the leaves with pure green, and the stems with pure blue. In most cases you should stick with pure colors. You can ensure pure colors by using the 'HTML notation' box in the color selection tool - red = ff0000, green = 00ff00, blue = 0000ff. In most cases red should be your main color, followed by green, followed by blue. Keep in mind these are not intended to be realistic or final colors - you'll pick the actual colors later in the CAS presets.

Don't worry about painting over the black lines - you're going to put them in the alpha channel where they will be layered on top of the image. Just don't color outside the borders of the tattoo into where the skin will show.





3. With the coloring all done, I switch to black and use bucket fill with a high threshold (like 150) to fill the background with black. If you get a white border around your image your threshold isn't high enough.



4. I go to the Layers, Channel, Paths, Undo panel and select the Layers tab. I right-click the Background layer and click 'Add Alpha Channel'. Then I right-click the Background layer again and click 'Add Layer Mask'. In the popup that appears I select 'Transfer Layer's Alpha Channel'. And I right-click the Background layer a third time, and click 'Show Layer Mask'. The image should turn white and you should now have both 'Show Layer Mask' and 'Edit Layer Mask' checked. This procedure sets up a layer that lets me edit my alpha channel separately from the Red, Green, and Blue channels.



5. Now I paste in my original, uncolored line drawing, then click Colors in the menu bar, and Invert. Black and white in the image are reversed. To apply my changes, I right-click the pasted floating selection in the Layers tab and click Anchor Layer.

In the game the mask's white parts will be black (or any other color you assign to the alpha channel) and the black parts will be transparent.



6. Then I right-click the Background layer and click Apply Layer Mask. What was white in the mask disappears and lets the RGB channels show through, and what was black becomes transparency (looks like a checkerboard pattern in GIMP) as the mask is applied to the alpha channel.

The image now looks like a checkerboard with a black and colored outline of the flower.



7. Save your image. If you want to use compression, DXT5 is probably best. You can use DXT3 if you don't have any shading in your Alpha channel. DXT1 will basically just show your alpha channel in black. Be sure to check off 'Generate mipmaps'. (If you need to open the file again, make sure 'Load mipmaps' is NOT checked.)

8. Now for Tattooinator. Start it up and fill in a name for your tattoo. Select the DDS image you just saved. Click the Preview Tattoo Image button to see how your tattoo will look in the game and whether you've done anything wrong. If you change your DDS image, click the Reload button to refresh the preview. At this point you can fiddle with the preset colors to get three combinations you like.

Don't forget to click the Enable button for all the channels you want to be recolorable - in this case Red, Green, and Blue. Leaving a color disabled will not affect it in any other way than that it won't be recolorable. In the case of this tattoo, I'm leaving the alpha disabled so the outline will always be black.

When you're satisfied, click the button to make a package.



And here's the final tattoo in CAS. It would probably look better with thicker lines, especially at smaller sizes, but this is just an exercise.



You can use your own procedures for creating images as long as you follow these general principles:

The background, where the skin should show, must be pure black.

The alpha channel must be transparent/checkerboard where the colors of the tattoo should show, and black where you want black. It can be shaded for a contouring effect. It can also be used as a fourth color if you wish, in which case the black areas can be made recolorable. In some cases you can invert an image and paste it into the alpha to create shading.

You MUST have an alpha channel or your tattoo will be invisible or all black.

Use areas of pure colors when creating your tattoo. Pasting a photo into a tattoo will not give you the results you expect. (When I tried I got the Mona Lisa with white hair and blue-green skin.)

The Enable buttons in Tattooinator control whether or not a channel is recolorable. This has no other effect on appearance.

For single-color tattoos, it's best to use the Red channel alone - create your tattoo in pure red and erase the entire alpha channel to transparency. Your tattoo will look like a blank checkerboard in GIMP but the Tattooinator previewer will show you your image.

** Edit: *************

WolfoftheNyght has done a great tutorial on making tattoos using Paintshop Pro: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=414778

And an additional tip: Applying a blur to your tattoo, especially in the alpha, will reduce staircasing/pixellation at the edges and give you a smoother effect.

** Later edit: ********

Making large areas of your tattoo close to the edges of your image (especially the top) may result in strange lines appearing on the opposite side of the tattoo. You may need to make the tattoo a little smaller to stay away from the edges.

Thanks for bringing up the tattoo thread.
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