How to Use Photoshop to Paint Your iRacing Cars: A Step-by-Step Guide

Customizing your car’s appearance is a significant part of the sim racing experience, and iRacing offers robust options to personalize your vehicles. While iRacing provides an in-built paint shop for quick modifications, true artistic freedom comes with creating custom paint schemes using professional tools like Adobe Photoshop. This guide will walk you through How To Use Photoshop To Paint Iracing Cars, enabling you to design unique liveries that stand out on the track.

Getting Started: Essential Tools and Templates

Before diving into the world of custom car painting, ensure you have the necessary tools and resources ready.

First and foremost, you will need Adobe Photoshop or another compatible image editing software that supports layered PSD files and TGA format. GIMP is a free alternative that also works. Secondly, an active iRacing membership is essential to access the game and apply your custom paints.

The foundation of your custom paint job is the car template. iRacing provides these templates to ensure your designs fit perfectly on the in-game models. You can download these templates in two primary ways:

Through the iRacing UI: Navigate to ‘My Content’ -> ‘Paint My Cars’. In the top right corner, you’ll find a button labeled ‘All Templates’ to download all available car templates at once. Alternatively, select a specific car and click ‘Download Template’.
From the iRacing Member Site: Visit the iRacing member site and look for the ‘Download all car paint templates’ link, usually located in the lower right corner of the page.

These templates are typically PSD files, designed to be opened and edited in Photoshop, and are crucial for understanding the paintable areas and layers of each car model.

Step-by-Step Guide to Painting with Photoshop

Once you have Photoshop and your car template ready, follow these steps to create your custom iRacing car paint:

Open the Car Template in Photoshop: Launch Photoshop and open the PSD template file for the car you wish to paint. The template is organized into layers, which are essential for designing your livery effectively.
Understand the Layer Structure: Car templates in Photoshop are meticulously layered. Key layers you’ll encounter include:
- Paintable Areas: These layers define the regions of the car you can customize with color and graphics. They are usually clearly labeled and separated for different parts of the car body.
- Number and Sponsor Layers: Templates often include layers indicating where iRacing’s default car numbers and sponsor decals are placed. These are for reference and can be hidden if you plan to incorporate numbers and sponsors directly into your paint scheme.
- Alpha Channels (for some cars): Certain cars, like those with paintable windows (e.g., Australian Supercars), require a 32-bit TGA with an alpha channel. This channel controls transparency, particularly for glass areas.
Apply Colors and Designs: This is where your creativity comes into play. Use Photoshop’s tools to apply colors, graphics, and sponsor logos to the paintable areas.
- Creating Base Colors: Use the paint bucket tool or brush tool to fill in the base colors of your car. Consider using adjustment layers for non-destructive color modifications.
- Adding Graphics and Decals: Import logos, stripes, or any other graphic elements as new layers. Resize and position them as desired using the transform tools (Ctrl+T or Cmd+T). Ensure logos are high-resolution for crispness in-game.
- Utilizing Layers for Complexity: Work with layers to build up your design. Layers allow you to easily adjust, move, or remove elements without affecting other parts of your paint job. Experiment with blending modes and layer masks for advanced effects.
Working with Spec Maps (Optional): For advanced customization, you can create a spec map file. This grayscale image controls the reflectivity of different parts of your car, allowing you to define how shiny or matte certain areas appear. The spec map file uses the spec_ infix in its naming convention (e.g., car_spec_[CustomerID].tga). More information on spec maps can be found on the iRacing website.
Save as TGA Format: Once you are satisfied with your design, you need to save it in the correct TGA format for iRacing to recognize it.
- 24-bit TGA: For most cars, save your image as a 24-bit TGA file. When saving, ensure that RLE compression is enabled.
- 32-bit TGA: If the template specifies (usually for cars with paintable glass), save as a 32-bit TGA and include the alpha channel provided in the template. Disable the alpha layer if not required.
Naming Convention: iRacing uses a specific naming convention to identify your custom paints. The TGA file name must include your Customer ID. You can find your Customer ID by clicking on the helmet icon in the top right corner of the iRacing UI and selecting ‘Profile’.

The file name format is: [Paint Type]_[CustomerID].tga. For car paints, the [Paint Type] is typically car. For example, if your Customer ID is 12345, the car paint file would be named car_12345.tga.

For helmets and suits, the naming is helmet_[CustomerID].tga and suit_[CustomerID].tga or simply helmet.tga and suit.tga for default paints in the root paint folder.
Place TGA File in the Correct Folder: Navigate to your Documents folder, then iRacingpaint. For each car you own and paint, iRacing creates a specific folder when you first run that car in a session. For example, for the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTE, the folder might be DocumentsiRacingpaintcorvettec8rgte. Place your saved TGA file into the folder corresponding to the car you painted.

For example: DocumentsiRacingpaintcorvettec8rgtecar_12345.tga

To apply paints to a team, use team instead of your customer ID in the filename: car_team_12345.tga. Team IDs are found on team cards in the Teams tab.
Launch iRacing and See Your Paint: Start iRacing and enter a test session or race with the car you painted. Your custom paint scheme should now be visible on your car in the simulator.

Alternative Methods and Resources

While Photoshop offers the most control, remember there are other ways to customize your iRacing cars:

iRacing UI Paint Shop: For simpler customizations, the in-built iRacing UI paint shop is a user-friendly option. It allows you to choose from pre-defined patterns, colors, and sponsors directly within the iRacing interface.
Trading Paints: Trading Paints is a popular third-party website specifically designed for iRacing paint schemes. You can download paints created by other users or upload and share your own designs. It’s a great resource for finding inspiration or quickly applying custom liveries without needing to paint from scratch.
iRacing Forums: The iRacing forums have a dedicated painting section where you can find tips, ask for help, or even commission custom paint schemes from other iRacers.

Tips for Effective Car Painting

Review the iRacing Paint Policy: Before you start creating, familiarize yourself with the iRacing.com Custom Paint Policy to ensure your designs comply with their guidelines.
Utilize Layers Effectively: Photoshop’s layer system is your best friend. Use layers to keep different elements of your design separate and editable.
Test Frequently in iRacing: The best way to see how your paint looks is to view it in the iRacing simulator. Regularly test your design in a test session to check colors, proportions, and overall appearance.
Explore Community Resources: Don’t hesitate to use online resources like Trading Paints and iRacing forums for templates, tutorials, and inspiration.

Conclusion

Painting your own iRacing cars using Photoshop is a rewarding way to personalize your sim racing experience. By following this guide on how to use Photoshop to paint iRacing cars, you can transform your virtual vehicles into unique works of art, showcasing your style and creativity on the track. Whether you’re replicating real-world liveries or creating entirely original designs, the possibilities are limitless. Start experimenting, and enjoy the process of making your iRacing cars truly your own.