KiSS Tutorial - Limited Colours using Irfanview
by: Aerendyll (http://aerendyll.deviantart.com)



This tutorial is for beginners and experts alike - it focusses on the technical side of creating a KiSS doll using a limited colours palette.

What this tutorial will teach you:
This tutorial will focus on how you can create a KiSS Doll in a few easy steps.



Tools used:
- MsPaint
- PlayFKiSS 0.84
- Irfanview



Instructions:

1. Create a new file in Paint. This is going to be your palette. Save it as a 24-bits bitmap or a .PNG, whatever you prefer. Make sure it has all colours included that are included in your template and those that you (plan to) use for the clothes. Save it again after testing out how the colours look together. I prefer to give it a self-explanatory name like palette.bmp or palette.png.

DO NOT MOVE ON WITH AN INCOMPLETE PALETTE OR YOU'LL REGRET IT.

2. Open up Irfanview and go to Image > Decrease Colour Depth. A window will pop up and you'll be able to check some options. Choose either 16 or 256 colours, depending on how many colours you intend to use for your palette. 16 colours is only a wise idea if you don't use shading and/or want the challenge of having a very limiting palette. Save the file as (for example) palette.bmp and delete the old one.

TIP: I advice to save at least two files containing the palette. I myself use two files: I save one file containing all the colours I (plan to) use and one of 1x1 pixel. The 1x1 pixel file will be a real benefit later.

3. Open up PlayFKiSS 0.84 and go to Tools > Options > Editing tab. Make sure the Editor function is checked here. Now go to Tools > Create New or press Ctrl+N. Choose an appriopriate filename now and end it with .cnf. (Odds are PlayFKiSS won't add this itself!)

4. Go to Tools > Colour Editor or press Ctrl+Shift+P. This opens up the Colour editor. Now click File > Add 256 colour palette or Add 16 colour palette depending on the amount of colours your palette has (you set an amount in Irfanview, remember?).
Next you go to File > Load. Here you select a file that contains the palette that we made in Irfanview (palette.bmp). If all goes well the palette will contain all the colours you will need for the entire KiSS Doll!

5. Now to MsPaint again. Open up palette.bmp and resize it to 1x1 pixels. Save a copy of it as palette1x1.bmp (or something similar) if you don't have something like this already.

6. Now paste the template you want to use for the doll into the palette1x1.bmp file and save it as template.bmp. It will now contain just enough colours to be recognized by PlayFKiSS.

7. Import your template.bmp file into PlayFKiSS by using the option Edit > Inset Cel. After selecting the file you want, put in Object:1 in the pop-up. If you want the coloured space around the template to be transparent, heighten the number of Transparent:0 until you see the desired colour flash (this is the case in Windows 98 and lower, if I'm correct) or replaced with diagonal lines and blocks (Windows XP). If the colours get all weird after changing the Transparent number, check Remap?. Hit OK.

NOTE: If you use the Remap? function you might want to right-click on the imported image and select Edit to check if the colours look right. They often do, but sometimes PlayFKiSS still messes up some parts.



Now your have a basic KiSS set done! Your template is there and PlayFKiSS can read your colours just fine. I chose not to include other tutorial stuff in here like making sure the template doesn't move, making buttons, adding snap-to, playing music, etc. to make it more to the point.

Thanks for reading and I hope it helped you!