Tazskool

Tazskool’s Guide To Skinning FM
Using Adobe Photoshop CS
www.FMFormation.net
Guide Guru

Download Site
Download AlsoHere!!! It's a 5.7meg file


As you probably have seen that I have done a previous guide to this on skinning using Paint Shop Pro and since a lot of people use Adobe products I took the time to learn how to use PhotoShop and write this guide.

If you do have any questions please come to www.fmformation.net and in the Guides Section you will see a thread about this guide. Please leave all questions in there!! I shall answer them as soon as I can! 

If you wish to have this guide in your forum PLEASE ask as I do like to know where it is being copied and read as I can then give the best help possible!!!

Why this guide differs from others? It’s simple in the fact I write it with little knowledge of Photoshop and everything is simple to read and understand and I also see, as a beginner, that templates are also the easiest thing to use and understand. I shall also aim to point out where every piece of graphics are stored and used in the game. Then at the end of this guide I shall explain simple colouring and how to make the changed image save correctly and appear into your FM game.

I shall be dealing with the default graphics directory within FM. Then you will be able to move these files to a separate folder to create your own skin as we work through the guide.

This guide will be updated for every section of the game I write so it will have many sections such as “Skinning the Title Bar and “Skinning the Tree Table” and many others.

Please make a backup of C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2006\data\graphics by right clicking on the folder GRAPHICS and then selecting COPY. If you are using Windows XP then click in a blank section of the screen and select PASTE. This will create a new folder called “Copy Of Graphics”

This is all my own works so please do NOT try and pass this off as you have done this cause I do know that some people try and take credit for others work. This is a copywritten FAQ!


Now Let’s Begin!

Index:
Part 1 – Skinning the Tree Table
Part 2 – Skinning the Dialog Box
Part 3 - Skinning the Info Bar
Part 4 – Skinning the Background
Part 5 – Skinning the Buttons
Part 6 – Skinning the Side Buttons
Part 7 - Skinning the Match Title Section 1
Part 8 - Skinning the Match Title Section 2


Part - Colouring Your Template
Part - Cutting Templates and Making New Image
Part - Setting Opacity
Part - Saving Changed Image


I have created a lot of templates in the rar file which are not covered in this guide YET.

I will get around to writing this all up and what the exact templates cover in FM but for now this is a good start on what to look for and how to do it!!

So more templates and more written sections to follow!!!!

waytey

Please can you post this guide on Goal Kick or alternatively if you don't wish to register can I please post the guide on your behalf? Credit will of course be given. ;) I am in the process of reading through it at the moment and feel it could benefit many GK members.

Thanks for writing this, I have been waiting for around a year for someone to do a good guide on skinning and now I have finally found one.

Many thanks. ;)

Tazskool

no problem.... I am happy to post it there since you asked :)

also I am glad to see the feedback Ive had is good.. Over the next week or two I will add more templates. (Yes Ter I shall learn splicing) and add more readable info to the guide as well..

I shall also inform everyone when I made changes :)

Feedback is welcome as long as its constructrive so I can re-write areas of the guide that are hard to understand and anything I have missed out! :)

Tazskool

More templates to be added by Friday...also a few more sections written up as well will be out by then!!! I love SI adn the confusing way they do their graphics!! :)

Tazskool

Once I have learnt the Slicing tool well enough on Photoshop I shall re-write the cutting your image section!! :)

Atty

I have downloaded the Rar file but when i open the templates in Photoshop they are all in light green.

but when you view the thumb nails in xp they look the right colour im using photoshop 7 do i need to use 8 cs

Tazskool

I used 9 CS I think

Mercer

Sorry if it seems I'm rushing you but I was wondering how long it's going to take.

Thanks and am looking foward to being able to make a skin.

Tazskool

The majority of the skinning is covered along with templates... and after you have done these you will get a verygood idea how things look and feel in FM skins :)

Mercer

No, sorry, I ment the FAQ, when will you get around to doing it?

Tazskool

the instrcutions are all in the download as well... :)

the advanced FAQ on slicing I have not even started yet (due ot lack of time and popup making and tryin to get my liverpool skin working and also a basic xml setup)

Mercer

Ahh, OK. Thanks for letting me know.

EDIT: Oh yeah, never noticed the Word Pad document. Sorry 'bout that.

Tazskool

no problems :) here to help!

Borgetti9

Nice Guide.

I do have a quick question, Where do I save the graphic when I'm done editing it? In the the new "Copy of Graphics" Folder or in the original graphics folder?

Tazskool

When you make a back up of hte graphics folder it will call it "Copy of"...

Since FM does not use this the back up folder you can save teh graphics you made to the original graphics folder which will then load straight into your game when you start.

JackR

Ok, i'm guessing, Tazskool you download the rar and it has the guide inside it?

Sounds like it's a good guide, I need something to get started. :bolt:

JackR

Tazskool

Yes.. downlaod the rar or zip file..(cant remember how i complressed it) lol..
Inside that file is the guide and a good few templates (completed and not) so you can see how they fit together

JackR

Thank you, I think I should look a bit harder. :bolt:

EDIT

Oh oh, I think it's corrupt or something! When I open it it says stuff about graphics conversion, I have to click no, then it says something about an error.:smash:

JackR:peep:

Tazskool

There are some graphics in the actual word doc.. What version of word do you have?

euroglobe

same happens to me,