Make Clothes for Sims2 with Photoshop

Creating Clothes
using BodyShop and Photoshop
a French translation of this tutorial is available at GenSimsCorner

***NOTE: Please do not email me and ask where you can download Photoshop. You can NOT download Photoshop for free, unless you want to do something illegal. Photoshop is a program you BUY.***
If you want a free graphics editing program, try GIMP. I don't use it, but I know others do. Or, if you just want to use Microsoft's Paint program, which is on every computer, read MikeInside's tutorial.

It doesn't really matter what graphics program you use to design clothes for The Sims2 ... that's your choice ... Since I'm a Photoshop user myself, I decided to put a little tutorial here for others who may use Photoshop also. This tutorial is based on Photoshop 7 on Windows XP and assumes you have a basic knowledge of how to use Photoshop. This is NOT a PhotoShop tutorial ... this is a BodyShop tutorial.

Before you start, if you would like to learn the basics about how Photoshop handles "layers", here's two tutorials I wrote about that in my ezine, ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers

Or, if you would like to take an inexpensive online class in Photoshop, PaintShopPro, Photoshop Elements, or any other graphics software, check out Eclectic Academy:

These are the basics, step by step. Click on the small pictures to enlarge them when needed:

	Go to your Start menu and choose All Programs> EA Games> The Sims 2> The Sims 2 Body Shop
	When BodyShop opens (it may take a while, so be patient), you will see this screen. Click on "Create Parts" at the top and click on "Start New Project".
	Now click on "Create Clothing".
	In this box, click on the gender, age, and body type of your choice. Then choose which type of clothing you want to make.
	All of the clothing of this type that you have installed in your game will now appear. Notice that some have an asterisk symbol on them. These indicate that they were created by someone other than EA games. If they are not your creations, be sure you have permission to use them before you just "steal" them from some other creator. For this tutorial, scroll thru them til you find one without the asterisk and click on that to select it.
	Notice I chose the first non-custom bikini, which is basic black and when I clicked on it, the model on the left is shown wearing it. Now click on the button at the bottom that says "Export Selected Textures"
	The next screen is where you name this Project. Give it a name that reminds you of what it is, so you can always identify it later. Do not use any spaces in the name if you plan to upload this creation to any website. See I named mine "TutorialUndies". Then click on the checkmark to accept the name.
	After BodyShop finishes creating your Project, you see this screen which tells you where the Project is located in your computer. Now it's time to leave BodyShop and open the Project in Photoshop. But, DO NOT CLOSE BODYSHOP! Leave this screen right where it is and open Photoshop.
	Once Photoshop is open, go to Photoshop's File menu and choose "Open" then locate the project folder that BodyShop created. It will be in the location shown in the BodyShop window and it will be named whatever you named it. See that my folder is named "TutorialUndies" Double click on this folder to open it.
	Inside this folder you will see two or more files. For this tutorial, the only two you need to use are the first two in the list. Hold down your ctrl key and click on both of them so they are both selected, then click the Open button. (For more advanced clothing design, you can use any additional files in there for creating different depths, etc., but I'm not teaching that here.)
	Notice that the file with "alpha" at the end of its name shows the design all in white. This alpha file is what determines the shape of the design. To remove parts of the shape, you simply need to select any white parts and make them black. To add to the shape, you change some of the black to white. The only thing this alpha file does is determine shape...adding any other color to this file does nothing. Use Photoshop's marquee selection tools and magic wand to select different parts of your alpha picture and add or remove white stuff. When you have a shape you like, save this file by using ctrl+S or going to Photoshop's File menu and choosing "Save". DO NOT USE SAVE AS TO RENAME THE FILE, MOVE THE FILE, OR CHANGE THE FILE TYPE. It must remain exactly the same as it was when you opened it. ****** NOTE: I keep getting emails from people asking why parts that they blacken in the alpha file still show on the sim. You cannot blacken out something that is at the edge of the mesh ... like the bottom of a skirt to make it shorter, or add white outside the limits of the mesh to make a skirt longer. You can only blacken out or whiten parts that are in the middle of the mesh, or parts where the mesh is not raised. If you want to remove actual raised parts of the mesh, you would have to create a new mesh, and that is way beyond the scope of this tutorial and requires 3D editing tools. If you want to do that, read NeptuneSuzy's great tutorial here.
	TIP: Go to Photoshop's View menu and turn on your rulers and gridlines. This makes it a lot easier to line things up appropriately.
	Once you've adjusted your alpha file to your liking and saved it, hit ctrl+A to Select all of the file, then hit ctrl+C to copy the file, then click on the other file (the non-alpha one) and hit ctrl+V to paste the shape right on top of that file. Notice in your Layers palette, you now have two layers and the white one is on top. See that the white layer is "flat" looking, while the background layer shows some texture. Adjust the opacity of the white layer so the textured one shows thru a bit, if you want this texture.
	Once you've got the shape and texture you like on this file, you can flatten it, or leave it in layers if you are a more experienced Photoshop user and comfortable using layers. Just remember that you MUST eventually flatten it before you save it. In this example, I will flatten mine now.
	Now it's time to add some color. Use your magic wand to select the parts you want to color. You can see in this picture that I adjusted the white parts of my alpha file to make a strapless, thong bikini. You can fill this bikini with color, an image, a pattern, or anything you like. See that I adjusted the opacity on my fill color to allow some of that texture to show thru my new color.
	Once you've got a color you like, be sure your image is flattened, then SAVE it. It's time to go back into BodyShop and see how it looks so far. Go to your Windows Taskbar at the bottom of your screen and click on the BodyShop button to bring it up. Click on the circular arrow button to "Refresh/Preview" your sim.
	Here's what I have so far. The pink is pretty, but I want something with a little more pizazz and this is why I LOVE Photoshop.
	Unlike many other programs, Photoshop lets you "undo" stuff you did, EVEN AFTER YOU'VE SAVED IT, as long as you haven't closed the file. So, I can just move back to the Photoshop window (without closing the BodyShop window) and go to my History Palette, right click on any step I want removed and choose "Delete" to get back to how the image looked before I did this step. From this point on, I make changes in Photoshop, flatten the image, save the image, go back into BodyShop and Refresh/Preview the image, then go back to Photoshop and undo anything I don't like, make more changes and flatten/save them and preview them. This is the trial and error process I use until I get to something I like.
	Try filling different parts of the bikini with different colors, patterns, and/or images. Then use Photoshop's filters to add texture and effects. Or, use the Custom Shapes tool to add shapes and fill them with colors and patterns, etc.
	Here's what I ended up with. A slate blue strapless thong bikini, with heart shapes in all the right places. Pretty sexy, eh?
	The last step is to give your creation a tool tip that will show in a little pop-up in the game when you hover your mouse over it, either in the "Create a Sim" screen or when you go shopping in a community lot. Once that's done, click on the categories to select/deselect which clothing categories you want this creation to be available in. Then, click on the folder button at the bottom to "Import" your new clothing into the game.
And that's it!! If you would like to download this bikini I made here, just click here. Enjoy!