I've been asked to re-do my note explaining how to make the "pink" parts of a template invisible. Glad to help -- I can muddle through things and get the job done but have no idea how to explain what I did.
First, I'm using Photoshop 9.0 (CS2) but probably older and newer versions are pretty much the same.
1. The file in question for the Pilbeam is xxxEXTRA1.dds. It's best if you don't try to repaint the pink sections because if you do, it makes it difficult or impossible to do the masking process.
2. Open the file and then click on Image and in the drop-down menu select mode, then click on 16-bit. If you don't do this, you can't paint or use the magic wand.
3. Next, in the tools on the left, select the magic wand -- in mine, its the second from the top, right column. Click on one of the pink areas and you should get a marquee (scrolling dashes) indicating it has been selected. To select all of the pink areas, hold down the shift key while you click on the pink spots -- there are five total on the EXTRA1.dds.
4. Next, look over on the right side, there should be several windows open showing history, etc. One of them should have tabs for Layers, Channels and Paths. If this window is not there, go to the top, click Windows, and on the drop-down menu, click Layers and it should appear.
5. In that window, click on Channels. At the bottom of the list, there may or may not be an Alpha layer. If there is one, right-click on it and delete. If there is not one (or after you deleted the old), go to the bottom of that window and you'll see a circle, a circle in a square and a square with a corner dog-eared. Click on the dog-eared square and it should create a new Alpha channel. Click on that channel.
6. That alpha channel should have the areas you selected with the magic wand selected. In the right column, near the top, there should be a window with a tab labelled Color and a grey-scale slider. in the tools menu on the left, choose Fill (the paint bucket). Move the slider to 50 and click on one of the selected areas. When you do, *all* the selected areas should turn 50% grey.
7. Next you need to de-select the Alpha channel. Go to the top, click on Select and in the drop-down menu, click Deselect. The marquees should disappear.
8. Still working with the Alpha channel, You now need to change the greyscale colors to create the mask. I believe the mask is black when you create a new one so change the non-grey areas to some color other than 50% grey. Next, change the formerly selected areas (which are now 50% grey to 100% black, and that is the mask. The other areas of the Alpha channel can be whatever you prefer so long as it's not 100% black. The lower the number, the shinier the appearance. I like my car to look shiny so I use 45%. If it's much lower than that, the colors wash out. If you prefer a more matte finish, use a higher number -- 75 to 85 is usual. Move the slider to 45% (or whatever you want) and click on all the non-black areas.
9. Now you need to convert the image back to 32-bit. Go to the top, click Image, then Mode in the drop down menu, then 32-bit.
10. Save the image and check it in the showroom or whatever car viewer you use. The pink should be gone.
If you have any other questions, please ask.
Mail me your EXTRA1.dds file and I'll try to fix it for you.
