Template Help

Now, as there isn't a comprehensive Dummies Guide to all this, at least as far as I can tell, I could be idiotic enough to have missed it in the FAQ list sticked in this forum.

Not too entirely swift here as I am having a wee bit of a problem using the default Upper Body template in Photoshop 6 (I know it's old, and this is a 'lite' version that came with one of my printers), while Robin Sojouner's tshirt template and guide (bless her! <kisses her feet> is giving me no problems at all.

Trying to make a jacket. I put up the graphic and text as I want it, downloaded and turned a leather texture into something the Texturizer can use, put in a color layer, looks good, so I put up the Jacket Overlay and the color vanishs and I have a white jacket. Text and all that left alone, just the jacket color is white, I turn off the Jacket overlay layer and the color returns.

Now, as I said, I am not entirely swift here, but isn't this Layer suppose to be black with the white bits being invisible so that the white halo is removed? I mean, that is the whole purpose of having a Jacket Overlay layer, no? So why is my color being removed no matter if I put it above or below the Jacket Overlay layer? Be slow, please, in your explination as I have *no* clue what is going on here, it would seem obvious to me if you make a jacket, use the jacket overlay, make a shirt use the shirt overlay, etc. Otherwise why was it included in the Upper Body Template PSD? Ya know?

Any help be appreciated, thanks!

Rose Evans

What exactly do you mean by "Jacket Overlay" and "T-shirt Overlay"? If you're using the LL templates, they come with one layer called "Overlay", which is just a copy of the lines from the background layer, so that you can still see where the lines are as you work underneath them (notice the "working layer" is inbetween the background and the overlay). The overlay layer is meant to be turned off before final output to TGA. It's just a guide.

Beyond that, I'm not sure what "overlays" you might be referring to. Do you perhaps mean the sample alphas that come with LL's templates?

The sample alphas are labeled "Tee Shirt Alpha" and "Jeans Jacket Alpha". They are not meant to be visible in the image as layers, which is why their visibility is turned off by default. They are simply there as samples of what the alpha channel should look like for the included T-shirt and Jeans Jacket samples. The way to use either one of them is to copy it onto the alpha channel, not to make it visible as a layer.

The fact that they're saved as layers and not channels is confusing (and it's probably what led to the use of the nonsensical term "alpha layer" that exists nowhere else on Earth but in this forum), but there is good reason for it being done that way. It makes them absolutely benign and harmless if you're not using them. Had they been saved as actual channels, one or the other (or both) would need to be deleted before final output in order for the image to work properly since you can only have one alpha channel in the TGA. By putting them as "copies" on hidden layers, LL made it possible for you to work less destructively than you'd have to otherwise.

If you want to use one of those sample alphas, simply copy it and paste it onto a real alpha channel. Otherwise, just leave them where they are, as an invisible layers so that they don't affect the image in any way.

If you were talking about something other than those alpha samples, please explain what you meant. Unless I'm unaware of a possible change/update, none of the three commonly used template packages (Chip's, Robin's, and LL's) come with layers called "Jacket Overlay" or "T-shirt Overlay".

First a deep apology, I usually get messages telling me posts are replied to... So I never got the message and thought everyone thought I was too dumb and not bother replying to this message... Ok... Let me see...

> What exactly do you mean by "Jacket Overlay" and "T-shirt Overlay"?

Yes, the <name> Alpha, the one that you use to prevent white bleed along the edges. It says Jacket Alpha and I am making, or trying to make, a jacket, so I use the right alpha so there is no bleed though...

> Beyond that, I'm not sure what "overlays" you might be referring to. Do you perhaps mean the sample alphas that come with LL's templates?

<noddles!> Yes, as I said, it's a jacket alpha, I am making a jacket, thus I am using the jacket alpha.

> The way to use either one of them is to copy it onto the alpha channel, not to make it visible as a layer.

Oh! How do I do that? Not something I have had to do, Robin's tshirt template is pretty easy for someone who is inexperienced with PS, it all works together very well... Learning things bit by bit, like now I am fussing with paths trying to stretch the tshirt collars down into deep scoop necks for halter tops. That isn't easy, a lot of erasing and putting white back in. The back decided to really skew requiring erasing on both sides. Ya know, there should be a set of templates, seperated out, instead of all in one comprehensive, for us dummies. Tshirt for tshirts, Jacket for jackets, gloves for gloves, etc... Looking at the Lower Body Template and the shoe section is confusing, it's one big blob stuck together. Thank you! And again, I apologize, I didn't think anyone answered. <checks the settings to be sure it's set to notify her of replies.>

Rose