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Here's how to use custom portraits in IWDEE

JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
edited November 2014 in Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
Having seen this question several times already (see for e.g. here and here), I've decided to make a thread about this subject.

PORTRAIT FILES

Image file format

Portraits for IWDEE are 24-bit bitmaps (.BMP). You can save images in this format using practically any image editor such as MSPaint, Adobe Photoshop or GIMP.

Image file dimensions

You can use a single large portrait, which will be resized to fit the other screens. The optimal size is 420x660 pixels. Keep it at a minimum of 169x266, to prevent blurred images.

Images can be larger than that, but no wider than 1024 pixels. Also try to keep it proportional to the dimensions that have just been mentioned, otherwise, the image will be "squeezed" and may look distorted.

To use a custom portrait, you need 2 versions of an image (only 1 is required, though) with different dimensions (width x height, in pixels):

Large - 420x660 (character creation and character record screens)
Medium - 169x266 (for the right sidebar of the game screen)

Image file naming conventions

You can name your portraits however you want, as long as you follow these rules:

· NO spaces.
· Between 1 and 7 characters (not counting the size letter, see below)
· End with the letter L or M, according to size.

e.g.: AlveusL.bmp (large), AlveusM.bmp (medium).

THE "PORTRAITS" FOLDER

In order for your portraits to show up in IWDEE, you must place them in an specific folder, named "Portraits" (without quotes). This folder is not created when the game is installed, so you must create it yourself.

Where to create your "Portraits" folder

On Windows: go to your User(s) folder - the one that has My Music, My Pictures, and so on. Now follow this path: My Documents > Icewind Dale - Enhanced Edition. That's where you must create your Portraits folder.

Mac OSX: create a folder named "Portraits" on /Users//Documents/Icewind Dale - Enhanced Edition.

Linux: ~/.local/share/Icewind Dale - Enhanced Edition/ Create a folder called portraits (must be lower case) there.

USING CUSTOM PORTRAITS

On a new character

Once you have the right files on the right folder, all you have to do is select the portrait inside the game.

When creating a new character, once you're prompted to select his or her portrait, you will notice a button labeled "CUSTOM" now shows up on the screen.

This button will take you to the next screen, where you'll be able to select the Large and Medium portraits. They're not required to match - you can use different L and M portraits for one character if you so desire.

The Large portrait will be selected automatically according to the Medium one, or ignored (if there is no L version).

On a previously created character

If you're already playing a character and want to change it's portrait, go to his/her Record screen and hit the button labeled "CUSTOMIZE", then "APPEARANCE".

Once you're prompted to select his or her portrait, you will notice a button labeled "CUSTOM" now shows up on the screen.

This button will take you to the next screen, where you'll be able to select the Large and Medium portraits. They're not required to match - you can use different L and M portraits for one character if you so desire.

The Large portrait will be selected automatically according to the Medium one, or ignored (if there is no L version).

Great thanks goes to @Kilivitz‌ , @AlexT‌ and @Jalily‌
Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
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Comments

  • BladesBlades Member Posts: 167
    Used "Super_Ultimate_Portraits_v_1-00" on my BG2EE run. What needs to be changed to get it to work in IWDEE? Or is it not compatible?
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited November 2014
    Well, 210x330 still works, so any M.bmp can be copy-pasted to your IWD portraits folder. That's what I've been doing. I guess the only thing that might get complicated is if you want to have different crops for your large and small portraits, but as long as the aspect is relatively 210x330 on whatever you already have, it will still work; the game will automatically adjust portraits that are in the correct aspect to the correct size.

    Since there are no Charnames and no hard-coded npc's, you can also change portraits, clothing, skin, and hair colors in game, without quitting and going to Keeper, which is nice.

    EDIT: The 420x660 double size is for high definition, if you want that. I think that merely expanding an existing 210x330 picture won't give you the high definition.
  • FandraxxFandraxx Member Posts: 194
    i swear i feel like bengoshi is the god of custom portraits, he always got dem tutorials. :)
  • SamuelVargSamuelVarg Member Posts: 598
    edited November 2014
    Does it differ for Mac?

    the portraits are in correct size, place and everything but I only get a black picture when accepting.
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    SamuelVarg said:

    Does it differ for Mac?

    the portraits are in correct size, place and everything but I only get a black picture when accepting.

    Then the image wasn't converted into a .bmp correctly.
  • SamuelVargSamuelVarg Member Posts: 598
    edited November 2014
    CrevsDaak said:

    SamuelVarg said:

    Does it differ for Mac?

    the portraits are in correct size, place and everything but I only get a black picture when accepting.

    Then the image wasn't converted into a .bmp correctly.
    They are in bmp. They show up in game. But they become black when accepted.

    .. how can they be converted wrong?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    edited November 2014
    @SamuelVarg‌

    If you have a BMP but still see only a black field in game, it means you're using the wrong bitrate on the BMP. IWDEE needs 24-bit BMPs, not 36; those won't be displayed.

    The standard Paint will work just fine - open an image you want and save it to .bmp file with the Paint program. It will be a 24-bit bmp :)

    You can also use the online converter, for Mac-users as well: http://image.online-convert.com/
    Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
  • SamuelVargSamuelVarg Member Posts: 598
    bengoshi said:

    @SamuelVarg‌

    If you have a BMP but still see only a black field in game, it means you're using the wrong bitrate on the BMP. BG needs 24-bit BMPs, not 36; those won't be displayed.

    The standard Paint will work just fine - open an image you want and save it to .bmp file with the Paint program. It will be a 24-bit bmp :)

    Hmm. I don't have paint since I use Mac but I will try something else ...
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    Most art programs have whole list of different save formats. It would be surprising if it wasn't there somewhere. I'm sure you can get free stuff for it anyway.
  • KenjiKenji Member Posts: 251
    I hope we'll see a guide for custom sound sets and their subtitles! I kind of want to use some of the IWD II sound sets along with some of the awesome Justin Sweet's IWD II portraits I ported over.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    @Kenji , where did you get the IWD 2 portraits? I can't find them with a Google search - too much junk comes up. Thanks.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    @Kenji, thank you so much for such a detailed answer. I'll try searching Justin Sweet, and if all else fails, I can use cropped screenshots of the character creation screen - I'd have never thought of that.
  • GrabtharsHammerGrabtharsHammer Member Posts: 27
    Epic Fail!!!

    OK.. re-sized using directions above... and... keeps saying picture to large.

    Threw up hands after very time consuming effort, and went to plan B... the french tool above
    (awesome BTW), its just that my IWD EE is just decided that I can't have a custom picture (same error as plan A). I know the site converted them perfectly, by looking at properties.

    Sooo... in the past EE keeper has done me right, will that work to add custom portraits in IWD EE?
  • GrabtharsHammerGrabtharsHammer Member Posts: 27
    Ok... on a hunch, I exited and reloaded, and the same images that where 'too large' now work.

    Odd... because it saw them before.

    Off to do the rest... Merci for awesome tool!
  • nptitimnptitim Member Posts: 111
    This was very helpful, thanks for writing it up
  • meaglothmeagloth Member Posts: 3,806
    Sorry if I missed it but how do you do this on a mac? Where does the folder go?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    @meagloth‌

    Just like with BGEE,

    ~/Documents/Icewind Dale - Enhanced Edition

    Your save games and the .ini are located there, extra portraits are stored there as well, although you'll need to create a "Portraits" folder.
  • meaglothmeagloth Member Posts: 3,806
    Am I correct in saying that that should be in applications->IWD->show packet contents?
    @bengoshi‌
This discussion has been closed.

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