Attention sprite makers...

[samoht]

I'm just wonder what programs are in popular use with the sprite makers of the Dominions community.

Or, if you've used various programs, which would you recomend and why.

[llamabeast]

I like the GIMP. It's a free and nice open source program, available for all platforms.

[lch]

Sombre uses Paintshop Pro. The rest uses GIMP afaik.

[Sombre]

If you don't know either, use GIMP, it's free. I can't switch because I'm used to PSP and when I try using anything else it's way too frustrating.

[HoneyBadger]

I use ImageForge. It's also free, and I've had problems with GIMP. ImageForge is a bit like Paint, only a lot more and a lot better.

[Saulot]

Once upon a time, I used plain old paint.

Now I use Gimp. It's nothing special, but it's more than sufficient to get the job done. I also have no problems with it.

If I had money to burn (or some need outside of sprites) for it, I might use PSP or some other high quality program.

[samoht]

ok, for starters i'm using plain old paint and to be honest i'm surprised with how good i've got a couple test units to look. at first i was skeptical, but if you zoom out far enough almost anything can look good... sort of like using a strobe light to dance: anybody looks like a great dancer.

anyways, i noticed the game uses .tga for the unit sprites, and Paint doesn't have .tga as an option when it comes time to save a picture.

if i were to actually use pictures made in Plain Old Paint, how would I go about saving them so they could be used in the game?

[Foodstamp]

Samoht, you need to download Gimp. It will allow you to convert the images to targa.

I use PSP for the same reason Sombre does, I am set in my ways.

[samoht]

alright, so just basically forget Paint? I need to? are you really giving me no choice? *sigh*

alright, fine, fine.

but just you wait. one of these days i'm going to come out with a killer mod and i'll blame you for making me download Gimp.

[Foodstamp]

Hehe. If you are enjoying Paint, keep doing your graphics in Paint and just use Gimp for conversion.

[Lingchih]

If you happen to be on a Mac... Graphic Converter is the program to use for image type conversion. It is also free I believe (at least it used to be).

I use Photoshop, but then, I am a graphic artist and have to have Photoshop to do my work. Most people would probably not want to drop the money for it.

All that said, I have never made a Mod (I am quite too lazy, I think), but I would be happy to lend my graphics knowledge to anyone who needs it.

[Endoperez]

IrfanView is a much smaller program that can also convert .bmp to .tga.

However, Gimp has several nice features that you'll find useful, like layers (you can have several images that don't affect each other, like you drew on several pieces on transparent plastics placed on top of each other) and tools for changing colors in various ways.

You probably know about it already, but you can get the original sprites from:
Organized Unit Sprites (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showthreaded.php?Number=583281). It's an awesome resource, because you can draw over existing units easily, and e.g. mounts are pretty much interchangeable between units.