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How to use custom portraits (BG1, BG:EE, BG2, BG2:EE, IWD, IWD:EE, IWD2)

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  • OrieOrie Member Posts: 15
    ok well im useing Steam i dont know what Beamdog client is and i modified my pictures by going through libraries>Documents>Baldur's Gate-Enhanced Edition>Portraits
    i don't have a folder in BGEE called OVERRIDE and when i attempted to make one and place the new pictures with the new names (IMOENM) in there it didn't work and yes i have the correct measurements and i restarted the game so this still hasn't worked am i placing the folder in the wrong location? i don't have it in the portraits folder but i did try it there once to see if it mattered and that made no difference.
  • OrieOrie Member Posts: 15
    i do appreciate the help you are trying to give though.
  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110
    @Orie, in the Steam client, you should go into the library, right click on the game, click on Properties, and then go to the Local files tab. From there, there should be a button labelled "Browse local files..." which should bring you to the games installation directory. If there is no Override folder within the games' installation directory, then you will need to create one and then dump the images into that.
  • OrieOrie Member Posts: 15
    Troodon80 said:

    @Orie, in the Steam client, you should go into the library, right click on the game, click on Properties, and then go to the Local files tab. From there, there should be a button labelled "Browse local files..." which should bring you to the games installation directory. If there is no Override folder within the games' installation directory, then you will need to create one and then dump the images into that.

    Thank you very much that worked and you are awesome

  • KilivitzKilivitz Member Posts: 1,459
    Guys, I've updated the OP with a better and way more comprehensive guide. I hope it'll be more useful.
  • raxtorenraxtoren Member Posts: 228
    Thanks!! took me 1 hour but now it works, great guide man!!!
  • HawkshelatouHawkshelatou Member Posts: 2
    Alright, there is some major horseshit up in my computer. I have been creating custom portraits for BG for ten years now and have never had any problems....but not this time: this time on my new fancy ass Windows 8 laptop, it doesn't want to work for me. At all.

    I have saved all my images in the appropriate formats, sizes, and in 24bit mode. I have done this via photoshop and have double checked all properties, and yes, everything is saved correctly. They are saved as such: CharL.bmp, CharM.bmp, CharS.bmp

    I have saved Portraits in the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition folder. It is spelled correctly: Portraits
    I will repeat: Capital P-o-r-t-r-a-i-t-s.
    I have done nothing differently from when I created my custom portrait folder on my dear old, trusted Macbook Pro and my old Windows 7 Desktop....

    ....and the custom button STILL WON'T SHOW UP. AM I BEING TROLLED?
  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110

    AM I BEING TROLLED?

    Sounds like Windows 8 is trolling you.

    Perhaps it is something to do with the Documents Library.

    ... Sorry, I have very little idea as I try to stay away from anything Windows 8 related for the sake of simplicity. Perhaps someone else can help.
  • bill_zagoudisbill_zagoudis Member Posts: 207
    i have an odd problem,i'm doing everything till step 8 and no matter what type of format i select on step 7 it always continues as if i have selected .png .... any help will be appreciated.
  • NAIADNAIAD Member Posts: 1
    How do I change Xan's portrait. I got Imoen's to work. For some reason O can't get how to change xan's. I did "XANM" "XANS" but it changes mine.
  • ErgErg Member Posts: 1,756
    NAIAD said:

    How do I change Xan's portrait. I got Imoen's to work. For some reason O can't get how to change xan's. I did "XANM" "XANS" but it changes mine.

    @NAIAD

    Try naming the portraits "GENMELFM" "GENMELFS" instead.
  • Paul4AllSeasonsPaul4AllSeasons Member Posts: 5
    Has anyone figured out how to do Custom Portraits for the Mac? I've BG:EE purchased through Beamdog for the mac and I just can't figure it out.
  • rfxcaseyrfxcasey Member Posts: 18
    edited October 2013
    Custom portraits are working for me but the size is wrong in the skills screen when playing the game. I've set an L M and S version of the pic to the appropriate sized but once again, in the skills screen the picture does not fill the entire bordered area like the default pics do.

    EDIT: Never mind, I hadn't saved the scaled pics to the proper directory.
  • jlarose23jlarose23 Member Posts: 24
    edited November 2013
    I know I'm a bit late, but I solved my issues by putting the portraits into

    Documents\Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition\portraits

    Just make the "portraits" folder.
  • enqenqenqenq Member Posts: 499
    edited November 2013
    ...my problem has been magically solved by reloads? Even game restarts didn't help...
    Post edited by enqenq on
  • FlauschigFlauschig Member Posts: 84
    edited November 2013
    Quick way to use the new portraits that BG1:EE had in BG2:EE and inverse:

    1 EE Keeper [BG1] > Change Portrait > Extract
    2 Copy extracted to Portraits folder of BG 2
    Post edited by Flauschig on
  • SassyGoldElfSassyGoldElf Member Posts: 73
    Dumb question time. I want to change the NPC portraits in BG2 to custom ones and the old method isn't working.

    All my custom portraits work as normal but the ones named to override the NPC (ie IMOENL.bmp etc) won't do anything. I'm guessing I just have the wrong filenames for the characters but I don't know. Also I think the dimensions might be very slightly different.
  • KurumiKurumi Member Posts: 520

    Dumb question time. I want to change the NPC portraits in BG2 to custom ones and the old method isn't working.

    All my custom portraits work as normal but the ones named to override the NPC (ie IMOENL.bmp etc) won't do anything. I'm guessing I just have the wrong filenames for the characters but I don't know. Also I think the dimensions might be very slightly different.

    Yup.. guess it's wrong filenames for you, because many BG2 portraits have a "N" before their names.. such as NIMOENL.bmp, NIMOENM.bmp and NIMOENS.bmp.. etc. ..
  • ButtercheeseButtercheese Member Posts: 3,766
    edited November 2013
    Edit: Nevermind.
  • SassyGoldElfSassyGoldElf Member Posts: 73
    @Kurumi Perfect! Thanks~
  • BaldursCatBaldursCat Member Posts: 432
    I don't know if this helps anyone but...

    1) It's definitely worth remembering that portrait dimensions in Original & EE versions of the game are different.
    2) If you don't have dedicated image editing software installed on your PC/Mac/iPad/Whatever, Photobucket's editor is the best thing I've found for editing images because it allows you to specify crop sizes. To do a quick edit I...

    a. Use MSPaint to change the image file type to .BMP
    b. Upload the image to Photobucket
    c. Load the image up in the online editor
    d. Disabling the 'lock aspect ratio' option resize the image to one of the required sizes, usually the width but it depends on the image you're using, you may want to keep more of the length.
    e. Crop the resized image to the desired width/length.
    d. Save the image (make sure you don't overwrite the original)
    f. Download and save to my portraits folder and rename.

    For example, if I wanted to create a medium sized image and wanted to keep all the detail in the width of the image I'd resize it to 169 x ??? and then crop the image entering the dimensions 169 x 266. The great thing about the photobucket editor is that it will let you drag and drop your crop dimensions wherever you want them on the image so you get the perfect portrait.

    Hope that helps?
  • FrecheFreche Member Posts: 473
    edited November 2013
    Question.
    With the new 1.2 patch, do we still need the M sized custom portrait or is it enough to have the large 210x330 (and optionally a small 54x84 if we want a different small one)?
  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110
    edited November 2013
    @Freche, as far as I know, all you need is one. A large (not limited to 210x330) and, optionally, a small can be used.
  • operator13operator13 Member Posts: 4
    I'm having a problem using customs in BGEE (they work just fine in BG2EE). The option is there and my files are in the list to choose from, but they are not displaying on the screen - I just get the question mark on stone image. I even tried downloading some portraits from here to see if there was something I was doing wrong in creating them - same problem.

    The files were resized to appropriate dimensions, converted to 24-bit BMP, named under 8 characters and ending in SML as appropriate. I've tried saving from Photoshop, Paint and IrfanView. I restart the game every time I try something different, and I've even uninstalled/reinstalled the whole game, still no joy. Again, these same portraits work just fine in BG2EE.

    I've played this game so many times over the years and I've never run into this problem. They even worked in pre-patch BGEE. Any ideas? :(
  • SassyGoldElfSassyGoldElf Member Posts: 73
    @operator13 The only thing I can think of is, what directory is your Portraits folder in?

    More filename questions from me. I've tried both ViconiaL and NViconiL with no change, and Neera won't change either, with or without the N. I pretty much despise all of the original art for BG2 and so this is really bugging me. Can anyone post a list of the BG2 override names as is given in the first post here for BG? I guess some of them aren't as obvious as they should be...
  • ErgErg Member Posts: 1,756
    edited November 2013

    More filename questions from me. I've tried both ViconiaL and NViconiL with no change, and Neera won't change either, with or without the N. I pretty much despise all of the original art for BG2 and so this is really bugging me. Can anyone post a list of the BG2 override names as is given in the first post here for BG? I guess some of them aren't as obvious as they should be...

    @SassyGoldElf

    For the original NPCs is
    [SPOILER]NAERIE*, NANOMEN*, NCERND*, NEDWIN*, NHAER*, NIMOEN*, NJAHEIR*, NJAN*, NKELDOR*, NKORGAN*, NMAZZY*, NMINSC*, NNALIA*, NVALYGA*, NVICON*, NYOSHIM*, SAREVOK*[/SPOILER]
    where * is as usual L, M or S.

    I don't know about the new ones.

    Edit: added spoiler tag, just in case :)
  • SassyGoldElfSassyGoldElf Member Posts: 73
    @Erg Thank you very, very much~! *is off to free herself from hideous BG2 artwork*
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    NOTE: no custom portraits can be selected in the iPad version, you'll just need to override the NPCs to make them work.
  • caycepcaycep Member Posts: 2
    Trying to load custom portraits into BG EE 1.2.0 (app store version, OS X).

    The portrait resize doesn't seem to work - BMP's at 210x300 don't display (black square), although files show up in the custom browser. Smaller BMPs at 110x170 (M resolution?) seem to work...

    Am I doing anything wrong?
  • A_MullerA_Muller Member Posts: 12
    edited January 2014
    Ok so...

    This is driving me batshit insane.

    I've got working custom portraits for all my NPCs (either used old BG1 or Icewind Dale portraits), I'm now trying to change the portraits for Aerie. This is where I'm losing it.

    All folders are as they should and I can use the portraits if I create a new CHARNAME just fine, BUT when I use the same images (from the super blablabla pack) rename them correctly only the portrait in the character info screen changes, the right hand smaller image stays the same (original).

    http://i44.tinypic.com/f01dz9.jpg

    I tried using a small icon from icewind dale for her and that worked (althought much smaller than intended and thus it gave me a black bar around the image).

    If I try and change the portrait using EEkeeper I get the same problem with this character (all characters were initially changed using the EEkeeper, it's only her I'm having problems with).

    Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated.

    EDIT: Never mind... I'm a complete idiot.

    What happened was that some changes I made while the game was still running.
    It didn't catch my attention because the character screen portrait could be changed while the game was running but the smaller one couldn't. Removing any custom renames, closing the game, renaming while game is fully closed and then restarting the game solved the issue.
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