Reskin problem - help

[detectorman]

I am trying to lighten a loco using Mikes RWtools and Paint Shop Pro (with dds plugin).
If I open a file with RWTools, then convert to .ddl, then click edit .dds it opens up in PSP but is almost transparent.
This makes it impossible to lighten or darken.
The layer option says that there is no alpha channel.
I have read other similar topics and the transparency problem has been mentioned, but I haven't seen a solution mentioned.
Any advice would be appreciated.

many thanks
trev

Mods - please move topic if not in correct place.

[Darpor]

I actually dont use Mike's tools for this. I generally just manually copy the folder and edit the relevant bin file. I then use RSBinTool to convert and export the texture to dds, edit it with my desired program and then use RSBinTool again to import the dds back in. Might be a different way to some people but works for me.

[detectorman]

Thanks for the suggestion Darpor.
I have opened the TgPcDx file in RSBin Tools and the image looks normal.
If I export as dds and try to view in Paint Shop Pro (or paint.net) I get an almost transparent image. (see below)


The original is almost black.

Thanks

[ChrisBarnes]

I've also had problems reskinning. I followed the tutorial by jivebunny and spend hours painting my reskin in photoshop cs3 (for those interested it was black 5 'the lancashire fusilier' complete with modern yellow flashes). When i came to save it photoshop wouldn't let me because there were two many layers . Then when i got past that i got a message sayin 'image size must be a multiple of four . When i did that i tried to import the reskin in rsbintools it wouldnt let me because the image had changed size . I tried other paint softwares but i got the same tranceparancy as you detectorman.

Well, after that sob story i'm sure you all can understand why i gave up. Sorry for the wining.

ps. if someone knows my problem with this then please read my post on jb's reskinning tutorial on the rail simulator beginners forum. If i ever succeed, i will attempt to upload the reskin of the lancashire fusilier...