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Inventor
Original Poster
#1 Old 8th Jul 2021 at 8:49 PM Last edited by Softlism : 12th Jul 2021 at 9:18 PM.
[SOLVED] Photoshop newbie: can you help me out how I can blend multiple alphas of a hair?
I want to edit the alpha of Maxis malemessy for personal use by blending parts of multiple alphas, but how can I warp multiple layers? (e.g. alpha + texture). And if I only want to take one part of an alpha, can I do that simply by painting the rest black? Alternatively, how can I make the black background transparent so blending layers will become easier?

So this is what I want to blend of each:

From the Simcribbling Bleech recolor, I want to use these parts of the alpha (their texture looks very similar to the Maxis one, but it's slightly blended with the Coris alpha below)


From Coris Long Messy Male, the left part of the fringe and the sides


I want to use the Maxis one as a base (especially the left side of the fringe), but elongate the left side and the underneath layer by Free Transformation tool or something (and blend the sides of the underneath with the Simcribbling one). However, how can I stretch and pinch multiple layers in one go, i.e. the alpha together with the texture?


This is the Pookleted texture I want to work on (one of the few Maxis textures I actually like )
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 9th Jul 2021 at 1:19 AM Last edited by simmer22 : 9th Jul 2021 at 1:30 AM.
One way to do it in Photoshop is to transfer the alpha over to the texture, then put the texture on top (so you keep control over where the texture is), mark out the parts you want to edit, and cut them out from both layers. Then you use the "transform" tool on both layers together by having both selected. When you're done, click "enter" and copy the alpha layer back to the alpha (hold shift while moving to snap it into the correct place).

If you want to copy/paste a part of the texture that has a different alpha, you can use the same method, making sure you copy both layers, move the alpha back, then erase anything you don't want.

Before going back to Bodyshop you have to collapse the layers and save the files, but you can do Ctrl+Z to get the layers back. You can also save copies of the files as PSDs if need be (Project folders can sometimes get corrupted, especially if you work with CC meshes, so if you want to save the PSDs somewhere safe, move it outside the game folders once you're done with the edit).

Other than this you can cut&paste, blend them together, or draw with black and white. As long as it matches more or less with the colored texture, it should be good.

There's probably better ways to do it, too - but this way you have both of them as layers and can edit more if need be if the result wasn't as intended.
Inventor
Original Poster
#3 Old 9th Jul 2021 at 9:46 AM
Thanks for the quick reply!

Quote: Originally posted by simmer22
One way to do it in Photoshop is to transfer the alpha over to the texture, then put the texture on top (so you keep control over where the texture is), mark out the parts you want to edit, and cut them out from both layers. Then you use the "transform" tool on both layers together by having both selected. When you're done, click "enter" and copy the alpha layer back to the alpha (hold shift while moving to snap it into the correct place).

What do you mean with transfering the alpha over the texture? (English isn't my first language, so I might not understand some technical terms immediately, though I have Photoshop set in English)
Mad Poster
#4 Old 9th Jul 2021 at 6:42 PM
Quote:
What do you mean with transfering the alpha over the texture?


Open op both documents (alpha and texture) in Photoshop, and drag-drop the alpha layer into the texture layer (You can hold in shift to position it in the middle, so they overlay perfectly).

The background layer is usually locked. If you need an extra copy of the texture layer for the copy/pasta part, you can copy it in the layer overview (usually positioned in the bottom right in Photoshop). It can be a n idea to keep the original layer in the background in case you have to backtrack or need to copy something from it.
Inventor
Original Poster
#5 Old 9th Jul 2021 at 7:18 PM
I guess I understand better what you mean, so something like this?
Mad Poster
#6 Old 9th Jul 2021 at 8:07 PM
Yeah, something like that.
Inventor
Original Poster
#7 Old 12th Jul 2021 at 9:18 PM
Thanks for your help! I managed to fiddle around further on Photoshop and this is the result of my alpha edit on the Coris mesh





I only edited the blonde version, but I've binned it and removed unused ages. If anyone is interested in the PSDs, please let me know
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