I finally decided to paint a livery for my PMDG 744-400F. I have finished the initial artwork on the fuselage and want to see how it looks before completing the engines and vertical stabilizer.(I did remenber to reverse the images on the right side).Now I am to the cutting and arranging part. I applied the cutting template in a layer. I drew a selection box around the first color and then turned the cutting templete layer off. I did a copy merged to the clipboard and pasted it into my layout template. The zize od the area does not match the size of the area in the layout template. See pitcure.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/177264.jpgI get the idea of what we are doing. I am having some manipulation problems in CS2. Can someone explain to me how to get from the finished fuselage to the the layout template. Also, is there a way to select a layer and slide it around to align it with a layer beneath? (I need to rotate my logo for the tail. Last question s are what to paint. For the winglets, do I paint the base color or the just the winglest layer? Ands, what layer of the vertical stabilizer to I paint and put my logo?If you are online and want to give me a hand outside the forum, I am [email protected] don't plan on becoming a painter, but I wanted to do a livery for the company I work for.Here is the livery so far. I still have some branding to add. http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/177265.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/177266.jpgThanks for any advice,Dennis MitchellKORF with heavy thunderstorms at 1730EST.

Nice paint! I usually find a layer that matches the basic shape of the fuselage on my full sized fuselage layout and load it's selection. Select > load selection with the layer active, or CTRL + click on the layer's thumbnail in the layers pallette (thanks Morgan). Next I flatten the image temporarily and copy the selected area. CTRL+TAB over to your layout template and paste the copied fuse side onto it.(Whatever you do, don't save your full length fuselage in this flattened state! In fact, once you've finished it, make a backup copy just in case you inadvertantly screw it up at some point while transferring it to your layout template.)Set the layer transparency to about 55% so you can see the template underneath and use your "Move" tool (press "v") to slide it into place. Arrow keys up,down,left, and right will move it 1 pixel, Shift + arrow key will move it 10 pixels, or just click & drag with your mouse. When you get close, find an obscure pixel like a rivet or something and zoom in close (CTRL + =). Arrow the layer left,right,up,down and you'll find a spot where the bluriness goes away. At that point you are aligned. Don't forget to set layer transparency back up to 100%.You can trim the pasted layer if necessary by selecting the area you want to remove, and with the layer active, press "Delete".I'm not familiar with the PMDG 747 paint kit, but generally (for the winglets and vert stab, or anywhere for that matter) you'll place your paintwork layers just above the base layer but below any shading, dirt, or panel lines/rivet detail layers.You can fill the base layer (create or load selection > Edit > fill) or add a new fill layer above it (create or load selection > layers > New fill layer > solid color). Doesn't really matter, but you can move/nudge or change the color of a "new fill layer" where you can't move or change the color of a "fill" without filling it again with a different color.Jim

Thanks for this help. With this and the CS2 book, I managed to get a texture saved and try it on a plane. I have some realignment to do, and some repositioning of some of the graphics to better match the shape of the plane. I also have some other labels to add. I did see what some people had mentioned about going up too high on the template and then having the graphic cropped. (The points on my globe logo were cropped off.)I will play with it some more and get it right and then post back here. I know there is already a logistics company that uses the name Global. Global Strategies Group (www.globalgroup.com) uses frieghters to get missions accomplished, but is not a frieght company. We used IL-72s to do the currency exchange in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Planes full of money). They also use these planes to carry in support for stabilizatation, infrastructure support, and reconstruction. I just thought it would be nice to have a Boeing in the company colors. Elizabetta is the senior female in the company and I thought it would be fitting to name it after her.After all of these years of flight simming,(Since 1985) I have finally tried my hand at painting. I can see where this is a lot of fun. Thanks again for the usefull information. Dennis