Numenor...I've been following the advice you gave me on making Wall Masks...and I've tried my hand at recoloring a few of my favorite custom contents. My dilema...
everything looks fine until I go to put them into the game...once I Commit and Save them...they turn out as Game Objects instead of recolors...I know..I know...it's something I'm doing wrong...but the recolors do atleast look great - I just can't get them to save as Recolors.
Your guidance is needed...once again. Thank you.

Hello???? Anybody there???

HAHAHAHA.... sorry---giddy laughter... I've been trying to make this work for hours now and i was afraid that i was never going to be able to see my beautiful recolors...but i figured it out... so thank you for the brilliant tutorial

Ok...it appears this mustev' been asked and resolved by someone else...because I get the feeling (with no response after a week) that I'm being a pain in the ass...so just delete my posts...I'll once again try to figure it out myself.
Thank you.

sleighill have you tried posting your object for someone to look at? If your object has more than the three files in it for a recolor then you must be accidentally selecting the clone option. The three files needed are TXTR, MMAT, and TXMT.

Thank you HugeLunatic for the response.
I'm trying to make wall stickers....using Aikea's half height wall mask in Adobe PS.

It all looks great...and after importing to SimPe...it makes the package for me...but when I go to load it into the game...it comes out as a Game Object...not a Object Recolor to go along with the other recolors using her mesh. This happens with either me using the Alpha Channel method...or just the plain old simple "paste on the mesh and save" method.

I can't figure out this part of my problem. Should they be Game Objects??? Should I clone the mesh first...then paste my image on it in SimPe...??? I'm so lost at just this end part of it.

Thank you for your interest...very much. I didn't paste an image...as it's only this end part I don't get.

My method:

I make a new canvas in Adobe...the size of the Mesh I'm using...512x512 Aikea Guineas' half wall height poster...then I paste my picture onto it...resize it if necessary...and save as PNG...

I then load the mesh image into SimPe...Import my image over it...
Update All Sizes...Commit...then save...but it comes out Game Object.

I never reload the mesh image...I just keep putting my images over the already loaded mesh in SimPe....until I've finished all of my images...so it somehow seems that the mesh is overriding my images each time. My images is there...but not as a recolor.

Also...should I be building DXT then updating and committing...and then saving?...Or should I just update/commit/save as I have been. There's a step I'm missing somewhere.

I've given up on the Alpha Channel method only because it wasn't working for me...but now...the simple method doesn't either.

Thanks loads for responding.

I am not familiar with the mesh but the process is the same regardless.

1. Select recolor in Object Workshop - not clone.
2. Export your TXTR image.
3. Fiddle in graphics program, save as PNG
4. Right click TXTR image in SimPE and build DXT, using DXT3(required for transparency).
5. Commit and Save.

Maybe it's just a comprehension issue with this tutorial? Try this one here. Lots of pictures, and there are 3 (one for single color Maxis, one for two color Maxis, and custom). You can find support for that tutorial at the forum. Because some of the wording your using is making me think your trying to adjust the mesh.

The clone option is used when you want to alter a mesh, not the texture. And you mention load mesh, so you shouldn't be doing that for a recolor. This should not appear as a new object, it should just be an additional color when using the design too on the original mesh.

And you really want to use the build DXT vs Import as it gives better quality images. If your making multiple colors of one mesh, you need to run object workshop separately for each one. This makes unique filenames inside each recolor package so that they are not the same as another and overwrite them.

Thanks so very much HugeLunatic...that was my problem...making multiple colors and not reloading object workshop...which overrode the previous one.

Your help is much appreciated indeed! From my heart.

Awesome! lol Glad it was simple.

I want to recolor a specific mesh but it is not showing up in object workshop's catalog.

Is it a Maxis mesh or custom? If it is custom select open instead of start, and then browse for the mesh. If it is Maxis, make sure to go into preferences > file table > tick the appropriate EP that the mesh is in > restart simpe.

thanks i tried to do a painting before i read this propley and i was wondering why i couldnt do my painting thanx i made some bedding going to go and cheack it out

Wonderfully clear tutorial and it worked on my first try! Thank you!

hi can u please tell me where do i extract UV maps so i can use them in SimPE thanx im a newbie

Thanks so much. Didn't work first time. But it was my bad... "COMMIT AND SAVE". Great words of advice.

takart - The UV maps are not something you can extract and import: they are part of the mesh. Therefore, if you are recolouring an object, you can't modify the UVmap. Your only option is to edit the existing texture.

If you need the UVmap for reference to know where to put parts of the texture, you can use UVmapper classic (free) and open the mesh in it by clicking flie ->load model and select the mesh. the picture that will come up is the uv map. you can extract it by clicking file-> export texture map and save it anywhere you like.

Some creators will give you Uvmaps and Photoshop files for easier recoloring when asked.

I'm sure this has been addressed before here, so many replies. But I was wondering if in build DXT is it good to select "none" for when you want to put a graphic on your object, like a smiley face on the side of a car.

Most of the time, "None" will give you the best result. This is actually addressed in the OP:

Thank you so, so much for this wonderful tutorial. I am a newbie and completely computer illiterate but it worked the first time for me. Recolored the lamp no prob. Then I tried a rug and had a prob but when I read through the threads I found someone else had the same problem and I fixed it (oops messed up the transparency of the background). I just finally got it right and now have a beautiful rug. This is really fun. Thank you again so much! You seem to give a lot of time to helping people with this stuff....very nice of you. You must get tired of hearing that the DXT didn't show up b/c somebody didn't follow the tutorial. Your time and effort are appreciated.

Loved the tutorial. Thanks.
I'm still having problems with step 3. It doesn't appeared the files in side box, so I only could edit one shade. But to who wasn't been able to open anything this is great! Now I'll practice.

I need halp. :P
I want to recolor one of the wall paintings that came with IKEA SP but it's not recolorable? Is there a way to change that?

Shady, have you sent me an email, too, by chance? In any case, the only IKEA objects that are recolourable are listed in the CEP documentation (section "Other SP and Add-ons"); the objects not listed there are not recolourable: they can only be cloned.

I hoped you could help me I did all the colloring and stuff so I put it in my game and looked, but the weard thing is when I look at it close I see the recoloring I made,but when I scroll back it go's back to the old colloring.
What should I do?

it seems just the largest texture was replaced.
May ensure to choose "Build DXT" instead of "replace" or others as mentioned in step 3 and right after the first hint.