This tutorial will show you how to create a brand new work of art by recoloring an existing painting. Basic knowledge of SimPe would be helpful, but is not required, as I will try to be as thorough as possible.

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Programs Needed: 

·         SimPe

·         PaintShop Pro

Step 1.

Let’s get started by searching for a picture you wouldlike to turn into your Sims new favorite wall hanging.  There are manyresources online where you can find different pictures to choose from.   Found my picture at Posters.com.  I chose Chestnut Lane by Gregory Wilhelmi. 

As you can see, this is a very basic picture.  I like matting around mypaintings before I frame them, so I am going to open Paint Shop Pro, and dragthis picture in.

Now that you have your image in your paint program, youcan add matting.  I will be adding a bottom and top matting to this particularimage just to give it a bit more depth. 

Step 2.

Make sure your image is selected, and select Image>AddBorders. 

Once the Add Borders window is open, you canchoose the color of your matting.  When you move your mouse away from thiswindow, your curser turns into the eyedropper tool, and you are able topick the color you want to use as your border. 

I move the eyedropper over the yellow part of mypainting.   I don’t want to overdo it, so I move my cursor over the color box in my Add Borders window to find something in the same color range,but a little more delicate.  I click on it once, and the Color windowopens. 

Here I can pick a complimentary color like a cream or avery light yellow. I set my borders to 3 pixels.  Make sure that the Symmetric box is checked to ensure even borders around the entire image. (This is yourbottom matting.)

For my top matting, I’ll repeat the last step.  Again,select Image> Add Borders.  This time we want a thicker border tohelp frame this image.  I set my borders at 20 pixels, and I chose to go withan antique white as the top matting color.

Your picture should now resemble something like this.

This is the image we will be using to start creating ourpainting.

Step 3.

Open SimPE.

Open Tools>Objection Creation>Photo Studio.

Your Photo Studio window will open and look likethis:

In the top section is where you will load the image youwere just working on.  Click Open, and select your artwork.

Picture Base is where you will select the paintingyou want to recolor.  It is important to choose one that is as close to thesame shape as you image so that your painting does not end up lookingdistorted.  As you can see, I chose “Suspense”.

ALWAYS check Preview!  This window will show youwhat your image will look like on the painting.  It’s an important step to takebefore creating your item and having to start all over again. 

Should you find that your picture looks distorted on thisparticular painting, you can scroll back through other paintings and find outwhich one works better with your image.

At the bottom of the Photo Studio window is a check boxto flip your image.  This is another reason why it’s a good idea to alwayspreview.  Some paintings will automatically mirror your image, resulting inyour painting being backwards in the game.  As you can see, I have uncheckedthis box to keep my painting in the proper position.

If you’re happy with your painting preview, click theblue “Create” link located at the bottomright in your Photo Studio window.

Give your creation a unique name.  I usually save it withmy initials at the very beginning, with the painting title and artist namefollowing.  Save your new painting.

You should now be looking at something like this:

If you like the wood frame that came with the originalpicture, do nothing, you’re done.  Congratulations!  All you need to do now isstart your game, and make sure everything shows up properly.

Step 4.

If you’re like me, you’ll want to add your own frame.

In the left column in SimPe, titled Resource Tree,select Texture Image.  In the picture on the previous page, you’ll seeat the bottom of my screen “Plugin View”, and a picture of my finishedpainting.  This is the image we now need to work with in order to add a newframe.

I am going to Export this picture and save it tomy desktop.

Then drag your exported picture into your paint programto begin working on the new frame.

There are many places online you can find frames.  It’sas simple as typing “picture frames” into any search engine.  Paint Shop Procomes with many frames to work with, and there’s one that I think will goperfectly with my picture.

The top left portion of your exported picture shows youwhere the frame texture is.

Using your Selection Tool (set on rectangle), select onlythe frame part of the image.

Using that same tool, select the right corner of thepicture frame you’re using to replace the old one.

Hold down ctrl + C to copy that new selection.  Go backto your exported image, and hold down ctrl + shift + L to paste into selection.

Depending on the size and quality of the image you used,you may need to Sharpen your selection a bit. Ctrl + S, or Save your new image,and go back to SimPE.

Import your new image into SimPE.

Right click the image, and select Update All Sizes.

After that, select Commit, located above yourimage and to the right.  A window will open that says Changes Were Committed. Select OK.

Go back up to File>Save.

Now comes the part where you are rewarded for yourefforts!  Start your game…