Layering

This might sound a little weird but here goes. I've been attempting to go through Nephaline's tutorial on how to make t-shirt and its frustrating the heck out of me. I went through the tutorial in Photoshop to get the idea how layering is done and I've got the idea. My problem is that when I open the upperbody template it opens in its own layer window with all of the other upper body template options - and then when I open the fabric of choice (denim) it opens in its own window alone and I cannot seem to get them into the same one. Is there something Im missing or does this make any sense at all? Im fairly sure they are supposed to be in the same window because when I get to the step where you select the background of the template and then go to the fabric its supposed to paste and that option isnt even available. HELP!!

Jena, Photoshop has opened both files. Make sure they are both the same size, (Image, Image Size) Make sure both files are either 512X512 or 1024X1024 or even 2048X2048. They just should be the same size.

Now, size the on-screen boxes so you can see parts of both files. Click on the Denim file, so it is active. Click on the layer you want and while holding the mouse button down, drag it over to the texture file. Before you release the mouse button, hold down the SHIFT key. When you release the mouse button your denim layer will be copied in the texture file and, it should be in perfect position.

You can then move it up or down as needed.

Hope this helps,

Jen

Hi Jena. Welcome to SL.

If I'm reading you right, you've got two seperate files (the upper body template, and a swatch of fabric) and you want to them both to be in the same file. Specifically, you want to insert a layer with the denim fabric on it into the upper body template layer stack.

If that's what you want to do, the method Jennifer outlined for dragging from one file to the other will work just fine. Here's another method, just so you're aware. It's just to copy & paste from one file to the other. (I'm assuming you're using Windows, by the way. If you're a Mac user, whenever I say to use the control key, use the command key instead.)

1. Open both images in Photoshop.
   
   
   
2. In the denim go Edit -> Select All (or use the shortcut ctrl-a). You should now see "marching ants" outlining the whole canvas.
   
   
   
3. Now go Edit -> Copy (or use the shortcut ctrl-c). This will copy the image to your Windows clipboard. If you don't know what the clipboard is, it's just the temporary file in your OS where things are stored whenever you copy or cut them.
   
   
   
4. Now go to the upper body template and go Edit -> Paste (or use the shortcut ctrl-v).

There you go. The denim image will now be pasted onto a new layer in the upper body template file. It won't be shirt yet by any means, but it will be in the document and you can do with it what you want from there.

Ok I got what you're saying and tried it although when I paste it into the upperbody layer it leaves the pattern of the upperbody underneathe it OR only pastes it into one window- which if Im following the tutorial correctly would make it impossible to use the "magic wand" tool to highlight the white areas outside the minimal bleed area and then go to the denim picture to edit it out. I think Im getting closer but Im missing something still and Im not sure what it is. The problem with dragging from one file to the other is that when the denim window is active it closes the upperbody template and vise versa so I cannot work with them at the same time. Yes I am using Windows and am decently computer savvy - although Photoshop is new to me. Any ideas? Im sure that once I can get those layers figured out the rest seems fairly simple. Thanks in advance!!

Don't fret, Jena. Photoshop isn't entirely intuitive at first, even for those who are computer savvy. It takes a bit before it "clicks" and you get to understand the logic behind it. There is a governing method to how the whole program is set up, but until it sinks in, it can feel pretty foreign and maybe even a little scary at first. That's perfectly normal, and you WILL get past it; I promise. Everyone goes through it.

I think the part you're missing is in how layers work. I'd suggest reading this thread for an overview of what layers and channels are and what they do.

If I'm reading you right, you've managed to paste the denim into the upper body template, but then you're lost because the denim is now covering the white area you wanted to select. No problem. You can turn individual layers on and off so you can get at what's beneath them. Here's what to do.

First, make sure the Layers Palette is showing. It should be by default, but if it's not, turn it on by going Window -> Layers.

Take a look at the Layers Palette, and you'll see that it lists all the layers in your document in the order in which they are "stacked". In the upper body template, you'll have a layer called "Overlay" on top, which is just some faint outlines of the upper body shape. On the bottom, you have the background, which shows most of the detail in the template itself. Inbetween, you've got some layers with sample garments on them (which are turned off by default), a layer with a UV map of the upper body (UV's are the lines where the polygonal faces meet on a 3D model), and a layer called "Working Layer", which is where LL expects you to do your work.

In addition to the layers I just mentioned, you should also see the layer into which you pasted your denim. It shoud be immediately above whatever layer you were working on before you did the pasting, so changes are it's inbetween "Working Layer" and "Overlay". Wherever it is though, locate it and turn it off for the time being by clicking on the the little eyeball symbol all the way at the left of the Layers Palette.

Now you should be able to see the background again. To select the white area you were talking about, first click on the word "Background" in the Layers Palette to activate the bacgkround layer ("activating" a layer means selecting it as the one you're working on). Now you can use your magic wand to select the white area, and you'll see the marching ants surrounding the selction.

Turn the denim layer back on by clicking on the Layers Palette the empty space where the little eyball was. Click on the name of the denim layer to activate it. Note that the marching ants are still showing on the canvase even though you can't see the background.

The selection is still there; it didn't go away when you covered up the background. All the background did was provide an easy way for you to make the selection, but the selection itself not dependant on the background in any way. It a selects an area of the document as a whole, not of any specific layer. Whatever layer happens to be active at the moment, is the layer the selection will affect, just as would be the case with any other tool. Since the denim layer is now active, the selection is affecting the denim. Were you to activate a different layer (or group of layers), the selection would be affecting that, but since you activated the denim layer, that's what you're affecting now.

If you erase at this point, you'll end up erasing the denim within the selection. Switch to a different layer, and you'll erase the part of that layer that's within the selection. Again, whatever layer you have active at the moment is the layer than any and all tools will affect, from selections to erasers to paint brushes, etc.

Hopefully that's enough info to get you on your way again. If you have any more questions, shoot.



Just so you know, I'm not a huge fan of that particular tutorial. It works, but there are a number of steps I would do differently. That's one of the beauties (and the frights) of Photoshop, by the way. There always are a million and one ways to do any one thing.

Probably out of topic but...You can use 1024x1024 texture as body texture? o.O I thought it fixed at 512x512???

Nargus, yes you can use a 1024x1024 texture size as a clothing template, BUT PLEASE DON'T UPLOAD it at that size!!! It's four times larger than 512x512 and in my tests in world makes no significant difference.

Chosen, Chip, Robin and others probably know this better, but since clothing layers are essentially 'baked' together before uploading, I'm wondering if they are baked at 512x512 anyway. I don't know, but like I said, I don't see a difference.

However, it's really nice to design at 1024x1024 because it's a larger image and you can be really precise, then you downsize to 512x512 before saving as a targa and uploading.

Thanks so much for the replies! It's been very helpful. I'll just keep playing with it and see what I can come up with.