Quick Start Guide — Pitstop Livery Studio

1

Set up your folders & templates

Before you paint, point the app at where your work should live:

Open Tools → Settings and set your default livery save locations. Use a fresh folder that you have already created for your work — for example, a My Liveries folder on your Desktop.
Set the Default Screenshot Location too — the Preview Generator uses it when it creates your livery thumbnail. This folder for Automobilistas 2 is usually Documents\Automobilista 2\screenshots
Go to the Templates panel and download the livery packs by clicking Get More.
Import each pack with + Import Pack inside the Templates panel.

2

Pick your car

Double-click a template for the car you want, and you're straight onto the canvas.

3

Paint the base colour

The Base layer paints the whole car — this is where you define your base livery colour and patterns.

To add one: in the Base panel, click + Add Base Colour and set its colours and pattern.
Stack as many base colour layers as you like, then use the Layer Opacity slider to let them bleed through and combine multiple patterns.
Drag base layers up or down to change their display order.

4

Colour individual parts

Next, colour the parts you want different from the base — vents, mirrors, the tail, and so on — by painting over the template part with a shape or the brush tool.

Shapes are the recommended way. Click the Shape button at the top and pick a Shape Type — Rectangle, Circle, Triangle, and more. The Rectangle will do most of the heavy lifting.
Every shape is editable: add points with Ctrl + A, and move points with Ctrl + Mouse Drag.
Cover the whole part. Going outside the lines is fine — just don't spill into a neighbouring area.
Then set the object's properties. Choose a solid colour from the palette, or apply a procedural pattern such as Carbon, Checker, Stripes or a Gradient. You can also adjust opacity and re-order the shape in the Layers panel, exactly like base layers.

5

Add text

Select the Text button at the top, set its properties in the Text panel (top right), then click on your livery to place the text.

6

Add decals

Drop in your decals — sponsor logos, number plates and the like — from the Decals panel.

7

Export to Automobilista 2

Click Export Livery at the top right. The game is set to Automobilista 2 automatically, decided from your base livery selection.
Give your livery a name — e.g. Mini Cooper Nasha Racing #51.
Set the Livery ID, the number the sim uses to reference this livery's slot. Automobilista 2 starts at 51 for the first livery and increments for each extra one. If a car has 10 liveries within your simulator, you can have up to 10 custom liveries for that car at the same time.
Leave Base Livery Type on Default for most cars — a few cars in AMS2 use a different type rather than the standard Default. Pitstop Livery Studio will detect this automatically and only allow you to use the correct base livery types.
On export, a folder is created inside your Default Livery Location (the one you set in Tools → Settings) using your Livery Name and all the livery files are written into it.

Tip: keep your Livery IDs tidy. They map directly to the sim's livery slots, so a gap or a duplicate will show up on the grid.