This tutorial will show you how to change the existing stencil on a shirt and replace it with the font of your choice. I will be using the TSR Workshop v2.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS4. Please keep in mind that this tutorial assumes you have a general knowledge of meshes, the TSR Workshop and Adobe Photoshop.
*NOTE: We will be working with DirectDraw Surface (.dds) file formats. To be able to edit them in Photoshop, you must download and install the NVIDIA DDS Plugins if you have not already done so.
**For a tutorial on changing existing stencils on shirts using graphics, please CLICK HERE.
Open up the TSR Workshop and go to Create New Project > Clothing, then click on the Next > button down in the right bottom corner.
You should now see a list of categories for babies, toddlers, etc. Select the plus sign beside Child > Male and choose Athletic. This should bring up a selection of clothing in the right window. Scroll down and select cmTopShirtTee, then click on the Next > button in the bottom right corner.
This will take you to the project details page. Here, you will give your project a name and title. Before filling out this information, we need to choose a font for our t-shirt. I have chosen the Ghostbusters font for this particular project. It can be downloaded, along with a large selection of other themed fonts for free at TypeNow.net.
Choose an original name that goes with the graphic and shirt we have chosen. You must do this step so you don’t overwrite the original file. After you have selected your project name and title, click on the Next > button. The screen that comes up should say Finished. Click on the OK button in the bottom right corner.
You will now see the meshes being loaded so we can edit the shirt. Click on the Texture tab in the upper right corner. This will show us the various sections of the shirt that are available for editing. Scroll down and select the plus sign beside Stencils > Stencil C. This will open up the texture we will be changing.
Click on the Edit button beside the texture. This will pop up the Image Editor window. Here you will see the original stencil that is currently on the shirt. This is what we will be replacing with our font.
Now it is time to export the texture so we can edit the graphic. Click on the Export button in the upper left corner. This will bring up a window where you can choose the location to save your file. I like to create a folder on my hard drive where I can store all of my working files and name it the same as the project name I chose earlier. As you can see in the screenshot below, it will save your project file in DDS (DirectDraw Surface) format. Leave the current default file name and click Save.
Now it’s time to open up Adobe Photoshop. If you haven’t already, you will need to download and install the Photoshop DDS plugins. Open up the DDS file we just exported and make sure that Convert Images to 16 bits is selected in the NVIDIA DDS Read Properties box. Click OK to open the file. You will see the original stencil with a white background. We will now need to create a new layer for the font. Go to Layers > New > Layer. Click the OK button on the window that pops up, leaving all of the default settings.
Using the Horizontal Font Tool in the left tool menu, click somewhere on the new layer. Make sure you have chosen the Ghostbusters font from the dropdown menu. Set the font size to 96 pt and the anti-aliasing method to Smooth. Type the Ghostbusters symbol using a capital O. Move the font over top of the original stencil. Next, go down to the Layers/Channels/Paths box and select the Background layer. Click on the trash can icon at the bottom of the window to delete the layer.
In the next step, we will be creating an Alpha channel for our new stencil. To do this, go up to the top menu and choose Image > Duplicate and click OK on the box that pops up. This will make a copy of our original texture.
With the font tool, select the Ghostbusters symbol and change the color to white (#ffffff).
Next, go to the left tool menu and select the Paint Bucket Tool. Now, go to the Color Picker tool at the bottom and change the foreground color to black (#000000). Using the paint bucket tool, click somewhere on the transparent part of the image. Before allowing you to do this, Photoshop will ask you if you would like to rasterize the type. Click OK. It should now be all black except for the font, which should still be white. You might have to zoom in on the font a little and fill in the parts that did not turn black the first time.
Go up to Select > All. Once the entire image is selected, go to Edit > Copy. Now, switch back to the original image. Using the font tool, select the Ghostbuster symbol that we created earlier and change its color to red (#ff0000). Go up to Layer > Flatten Image. Next, go up to Layer > New > Layer and click on the OK button on the box that pops up. This will create a new layer for our Alpha image. After you have created the new layer, go to your Layers/Channels/Paths box and make sure the new layer is selected. Click on the Channels tab and select Alpha 1.
Go up to the top menu and choose Select > All. Next, go to Edit > Paste. This will paste our new Alpha channel over top of the old one. After you have completed this step, click on the Layers tab and make sure the Background layer is selected. Go up to Layer > Flatten Image. The image should now look like the screenshot below.
Now it is time to save our new image. Go up to File > Save. A NVIDIA dds format box will pop up. Make sure that DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha is selected from the dropdown menu. Click Save.
Go back to the TSR Workshop. Now we need to import our new image. Make sure the image editor is open if it isn’t already and click on the Import button in the upper right corner. The folder where you saved your image should pop up. Select the new DDS file and click OK. You should now see your new stencil where the old one used to be. Click the Done button.
You should now see the new stencil on the preview Sim in the left window. Now that we have our new stencil in place, it is time to change the color of the shirt so it matches the graphic. Scroll up to Patterns and click on the color swatch next to Pattern A. Click on the Edit button and the Pattern Editor window should pop up. Open the color dropdown menu and change the RBG colors to whatever you would like. I’m using white for the main part of the shirt. After you are happy with the color, click the Done button.
Repeat the same process with patterns B and C. If you would like to create a ringer tee, you can change the color swatch on Pattern B to a different color. I am using black for the bottom of the sleeves and neck.
Once you are satisfied with the colors of your t-shirt, we need to change one more thing in the Texture tab. At the top, you will see a dropdown menu with the name cmTopShirtTee. If you click the arrow to open the menu, you will see 4 different variations of our shirt. Since we only want to have the shirt with the stencil that we changed, choose the second variation and click on the dropdown menu next to the Advanced Mode (A) icon. Select Delete. Do this for the remaining variations, making sure you do not delete the first one.
It is now time to save our project. Go up to File > Save. Navigate to your project folder and save your file using the name you chose earlier. You should not need to change anything. It will save your file in WRK (workshop file) format. Click the Save button. Now we need to export our file into Sims3Pack format. Go up to File > Export > To Sims3Pack. The CreatorDetails box should pop up. Fill in your details and click OK. The Save As window should pop up next. Choose a name for your Sims3Pack file and click Save. After it is finished, a box saying Export Done! should pop up. Click OK.
Now it is time to test our new shirt out in the game. Go to your project folder and double-click on the Sims3Pack file to install it. Open up your game and go to Create a Sim to preview your new shirt. It should show up in the everyday, formal, sleepwear and athletic clothing categories under Tops for a male child Sim.
You’re all done!
*For a similar tutorial using older versions of the TSR Workshop and Adobe Photoshop, please CLICK HERE.