I use FSrepaint but one thing I always seem to have a problem with is when adding text and numbers to an aircraft either the first letter or number doesn't show and sometimes if it does show in the program it doesn't show in the sim.
Other stuff like the decals are OK.
What I have to do is go in to a word processor and type the text in that, do a screenshot, then cut and paste the text from the screenshot, save it as a jpg then copy it in to FSrepaint, which long winded I know but it is the only way I get get text to show properly.

On a side issue I found out through this happening in the past, sometimes FSrepaint freezes and the only way out is to close the program and if you are in the middle of a paint you have lost it, so now I do constant saves after each part I have done.
Funny because I did one today and it froze on me, but luckily I had it saved so I hadn't lost anything, otherwise I would have given up on the paint.

I have tried Photoshop but I am not that good with it, I know with practice it gets easier but I just use FSrepaint because it is easy.

Hi Col1948, i use FSRepaint quite a bit but not for painting, i use it for viewing my paints as im going along, unfortunately it doesnt have an automatic save function built in like Paint Shop pro & Photoshop, i would really suggest having a go at Paint Shop Pro Version 7, the later versions started to get more complex like Photoshop, i understand sometimes its difficult to let go of a program you are so used to but to make life easier for you, you could always give it a try, i actually find myself using FSRepaint less now and just use the viewer in ModelconverterX to view my repaints!

Much thanks

Mark

Hi Mark, Yes you are right it is hard to let go when used to it, I think I may have my old copy of PS Pro but not certain what version it is/was, I will try and dig it out if I can find it.
If I remember rightly it was the different types of channels like Alpha and Noise or something, I used to get mixed up and end up not bothering.

I am using the freeware PaintNET for all my repaints since I started doing repaints for flight simulator.
A few months ago I discovered the Model Viewer that is integrated into the AI-Aircraft Editor by Martin Gossmann.
This really made my work much more effective since you can force a model to reload a new texture.
Before that I used FS9 to preview my textures. Resetting the flight normally reloads the texture but this does not work reliable. Using the AI-Aircraft Editor Model Viewer I have not even started FS9 for a few weeks now although doing dozens of new repaints.

I also use the AI-Aircraft Editor to check on paints and aircraft reg when i'm doing flight plans, so quick and easy.

Good to know info from what the repaint "pros" are using. I continue to have issues with FSRepaint locking up with .dds files from FSX. I do have the Paint.net program and of course MCX via Martin's program.

I saw a YouTube clip one time where a guy had the side view of a plain bare metal aircraft, he got a photo from the internet and slid it over the aircraft, resized it till it fit then just pasted it on, then the repaint was done more or less.

I will try and find it and see what program and technique he was using, it looked very simple.

@Mark Tranquil, I located my Photoshop disk, it is Photosop CS ver8.
Is that any good or is it complicated, I seem to remember getting stuck with it last time I used it?


Col.

Col, if you can get a copy of Paint Shop Pro 7 i would suggest that or even the free one Hartwig mentioned, PaintNET, although im very photoshop friendly it can be somewhat harder for people who just want to start using it to produce textures!

Much thanks

Mark

And then there's the open source freeware, GIMP. Works very well for me.

I'm a Paintshop pro 7 user but use Photoshop to add the Alpha channel. As Mark says it's a much of a muchness. It's hard to give up summat you've been used to but there's plus points to variety. The only thing I would say about PSP7 is if you need to skew a registration to fit on the other side it doesn't do a very good job leaving it very jagged so I use PSP9 to sort that. I spent a fair few quid trying to find a program that worked for me but it's worth it to do the job well. That said Mark's a clever sod and knows his way round Photoshop whereas I'm just thick as 2 short ones! . Cheers. Ross

http://rossrepaints.jimdo.com/