Before you start, it is worth reading this. Save the link in the tab because you will probably need it more than once. Remember that Mods Studio 2 is a free program. The creator did a great job completely for free and the program is in beta version. The creator of the program has to face many problems in order to maintain the project. Probably many people report problems and I am convinced that the creator is doing his best. Without this program, many people would not be able to make a skin. So let’s show our gratitude. If you have any problem with the program, you can go to the creator’s website and report the issue. But before this, please review the dealing with issue section here. If you are not convinced by what I wrote, make your own program. We’ll see how long it takes you. I think you shit sooner;-), but if I’m wrong then take the challenge and make a better program. For free of course.

Unfortunately you have to learn to use some graphics program. For example, GIMP, Photoshop etc. There are many tutorials on YT. I am not able to teach you that because it take time. Knowing the basics of using e.g. gimp, is good enough to do a skin without any problems.

Let’s start!

You need to download templates. There are plenty of them on the internet. Enter something like: Templates for ETS2 etc. Download and put them in a place where you can easily find it. Once that’s done, find the template for your standard scs box trailer. This template should look like this:

Both templates are from Dry freighter and I use them because the paintjobs/skins will suit all trailers best. (At least that’s my experience). Both templates should have at least the following dimensions: 1024px width / 512px height. Each subsequent size will make the skin of higher quality. 2048px / 1024px or 4096px / 2048px. Personally, I only use 4096px / 2048px because it gives the most beautiful effect and does not crash the game. Size 8196px/4096px will work too, but it happened to me that it crash the game when I put the skin on because it is an extremely large texture and can be up to 400mb. So I recommend the size 4096px / 2048px.

Once you’ve downloaded and opened the templates in your graphics program, make some beautiful painting and export them to a png file to a place that you can easily find later. Do not rush. Focus on the long trailer template for now. When you’re finished, it should look something like this:

When you have this done, go to Part Two

Write a comment if you have a question. English please.

So now it’s time to install MODS STUDIO 2. To do this, go to the developer’s website HERE

Go to the “Download” section and find the download links. See picture below.

Download the archive somewhere so you can easily find it. Choose a location on your computer where you can copy the archive and create a folder with whatever name you want, so you know it’s mods sudio. Move the archive to the created folder and extract it there. After unpacking, you can delete the archive because you won’t need it anymore. After unpacking it should look something like on the picture below.

We are interested in the file marked in red. Right-click on it and create a shortcut on the desktop. You can try to run mods studio but it probably won’t start. Go here

Download and install Microsoft .NET Core 3.1 Runtime and try to run mods studio, if it doesn’t start, follow the steps described on the developer’s website. In my case, I had to download and install Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2019. After these steps, you should be able to run Mods Studio 2. And you should see this:

In case of problems you can watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg599gwW0W4

Go to Part Three

In the last step, you installed mods studio 2 and you should be able to run it and see a window like this. Click:

Start a new mod product

A new window will open. Click ETS2 Mod Project.

Click “Trailer Skin”

Go to Basic now and fill out all the fields as shown in the pictures below.

This is the primary color, you have to set the color to suit your painting. If you made a template with a lot of red color, set a similar color here.

Next step is setting up the icon. Take a look at the photo below.

How to prepare your own icon? CLICK

Once done, do not close mods studio 2 and go to PART FOUR

The manifest file is mainly used to provide all information in the mod manager and to set mod properties such as game version, mod category or required dlc. Entering the game version in the game version field will cause the mod to be blocked and it will not be possible to enable it on a different game version than the one set in the manifest file. If you do not enter anything, the mod can be activated on all versions of the game. I think that when it comes to typical mods, it is worth using this security, but in the case of skins it is unnecessary, but this is my private opinion. Just as the game version affects whether the mod can be activated, the required dlc fields do the same. I think that in the case of skins it is unnecessary to check any box because if someone does not have, for example, a krone trailer, they will not use this skin anyway. It is different in the case of mods, but this is a separate topic and I will not deal with it now. I would not enter anything in the game version field and I would not mark any dlc.

See the picture below.

If you’ve done everything, it’s time to export your skin. Go to Part Five

To export a mod in older versions of mods studio 2 you need to set the mod icon. The default mod icon will be set automatically in the new version. What is this? This is the image you see in the mod manager. As pictured above. A thumbnail with where we can show a preview of the skin, etc.

To prepare such an icon, you need to create an image with dimensions of 276px / 162px, put on it whatever you want to be there and save it as JPG. You can also use the default icon. It doesn’t change anything. However, if you want your skin to look more professionally, it’s worth to make this icon by yourself.

Whatever you decide, it’s time to go to the last field, which is optional. It’s up to you. In this field you can add more information about your mod. You can write whatever you want there. By using prefixes in square brackets you can make the text colored. So, for example, you can write [red] Visit my website: www.papasmurfmods.com

Once done, click on the file in the top left corner and select Export Mod and at the bottom, click Export.

That’s it. Now copy and paste the received scs file into the mod folder in the game, activate the mod and check if the skin works.

If you want the skin to be also used on short trailers, you have to make a smaller template mentioned at the beginning and add it in the mods studio as a second picture. Then you select next to all fields that end the name with 78. See the picture below. There are 25 fields for a long and a short trailer in total. I always count them to make sure that I did not miss any. So 9 for long and 16 for short.

Mods Studio is an easy to use program. You just have to follow a few tips.

TIPS

1. Remember about texture sizes (dds). It must always be 256px / 64px for the thumbnail visible in the store. If instead of 64px will be 65px probably the skin will not work or we will have a game crash. The same applies to the jpg photo shown in the mod manager, it must be 276px / 162px. However, when it comes to truck textures, sizes may vary, but you must follow a certain rule. So for example for each truck will work texture 512px / 512px and its doubled value, i.e. 1024px / 1024px and again doubled, i.e. 2048px / 2048px and 4096px / 4096px. (I even made a skin with 8192px / 8192px texture but it is an extremely large texture so 4096 will be enough for quality lovers).
   
2. The manifest file is the file responsible only for the information displayed in the mod manager. These are information such as: mod name, mod thumbnail setting, mod description, version and game compatibility (i.e. is it version 1.36 or 1.35 etc.).
   
3. For semi-trailers, the principle of doubling is identical, except the texture of the semi-trailer is a rectangle, not a square, as in the case of trucks. Its values ​​start from 1024px / 512px as well as 2048px / 1024px and up 4096px / 2048px. In my opinion, it is best to work with 4096px / 2048px and the quality is also excellent.
   
4. To use mods studio you must install the .NET Framework in the version specified on the mods studio developer website. However, to use the .NET Framework and for everything to display correctly you need to install Visual studio and this information is often provided on the website when downloading the .NET Framework. Read exactly what you need to run a specific package / program.
   
5. If you are doing an advanced truck, you also need to set accessories. You will know what’s going on when you start your first project. The point is that advanced trucks have a accessories. For some of them you will find templates in the internet, for others, I don’t know because I have never looked for every temp. I do it so that I create a png square with dimensions 64px / 64px (of course, if you do 16/16 it will work too). Then I set the square with a color matching the skin of the truck and that’s it. I set it later in the mods studio for accessories and mark all the boxes on the right. If you do not have boxes, only information about entering the name of the element, it means that you do not have correctly installed all components such as net framework or visual studio.
   
6. The most important tip 😉 Everything must match. As I mentioned, one pixel difference is enough and it will crash. If you don’t believe me, do an experiment. Skin internal name – the point is that it is like the name that the program will set in most file names, textures, tobj files etc. It must be unique with each new mod/skin so that there are no conflicts. DON’T GIVE MORE THAN 10 CHARACTERS.

Program author’s website https://www.mods.studio/