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This guide covers retexturing – changing the hair colour, face details, or skin tones on an existing head mesh. You paint a new texture in GIMP, then use The Sims Creator (TSC) to generate the companion files the game needs. No 3D modelling required. For background on how head files work, filenames, and UV layouts, see the Hair & Heads Overview. For a full reference of all file types and naming segments, see the File Reference page.
Getting the Tools Working
Same setup as clothing – registry fix required
The same registry fix described on the Making Clothing – Getting Tools Working section applies here. The Sims Creator is the main tool for head CC; GIMP handles the texture painting.
.CMX and .SKN companion files that the game needs, and export finished heads. Installed via the Feraligatr installer.GameData\Skins\, so you may not need this at all.Getting Your Starting Files
Three ways to get a head BMP to work with – pick the one that fits your goal
Before you paint anything, you need a base head BMP to paint over. Never start from a blank canvas – you need the UV layout from a real head file so that your painting lands on the correct parts of the 3D model.
Path A: Copy a Maxis head file
Simplest
Best for: recolouring an existing hairstyle (e.g. making a blonde ponytail into a red ponytail).
Navigate to your Skins folder
Open GameData\Skins\ inside your Sims Legacy Collection install folder. On Steam, the typical path is:C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims Legacy Collection\GameData\Skins
Find head files (C-prefix)
Look for BMP files whose names start with C. The filename tells you what the file is.
Example: C001FAlgt_ponytail.bmp
• C – Cranium (head file)
• 001 – mesh number
• F – female
• A – adult
• lgt – light skin tone
• _ponytail – identifier
There will be hundreds of files in this folder. You can sort by A–Z to group all the C-prefix files together, or use Windows search – type C*.bmp in the search bar to filter just the head BMPs. For a full breakdown of all filename segments, see the File Reference page.
Copy (do not move) the file to a working folder
Pick the hairstyle you want to repaint. In the Windows File Explorer window, right-click on the BMP file and select Copy. Then navigate to a working folder on your desktop (e.g. create a folder called HeadProject on your desktop), right-click inside the folder and select Paste. Never edit the original game files directly – always work on a copy.
Open the copy in GIMP
In your working folder, right-click on the copied BMP file and select Open With → GIMP. If GIMP is not listed, select Choose another app and browse to GIMP. The image will appear very small because it is only 128×128 pixels. To zoom in, go to View → Zoom → Fit Image in Window (or press Shift+Ctrl+J) so it fills the screen.
Path B: Export a template from The Sims Creator
Recommended
Best for: creating a new head that needs fresh CMX/SKN files generated. TSC shows you a live preview of your texture on the 3D model, which makes it easier to see what your painting will look like in game.
Open The Sims Creator
Launch TSC. The main screen lets you select the head and body for your Sim, and change age, gender, and skin tone. A 3D preview window shows your Sim from different angles.
Select a head mesh
Browse the available head meshes (hairstyle shapes) on the main screen. Pick the mesh shape you want your texture to go on – this determines the 3D hairstyle silhouette. The texture you paint will be wrapped onto whichever shape you choose here.
Open the Paint tool
Click the Paint button from the main menu. TSC opens a painting view where you can paint your Sim in either a 2D flat view or directly onto the 3D model. TSC’s built-in paint tools include brushes, colours, and textures in the tool panel at the bottom of the screen. This is enough for basic colour changes and touch-ups.
For more detailed work (layers, precise selections, hue shifting), open the head BMP file in GIMP instead – you will find it in GameData\Skins\. See the GIMP Basics and Painting Your Head Skin sections below for the full GIMP painting workflow.
Save your head
When done painting in TSC, click Done to return to the main screen. Click Save, give your skin a name, and TSC saves the BMP, CMX, and SKN files into your GameData\Skins\ folder.
Path C: Use a community template or other creator’s mesh
Advanced
Best for: using a hairstyle mesh made by another creator, or starting from a community template pack.
GIMP Basics for Beginners
The specific GIMP skills you need for head skin editing – nothing more
You do not need to learn all of GIMP. For head skin editing you need exactly five things: how to switch colour modes, how to use layers, how to pick colours from the image, how to paint, and how to select areas. Each one is explained below in the order you will use them.
1. Switching colour modes (Indexed ↔ RGB)
Sims 1 head BMPs are saved in Indexed colour mode. This means the image uses a fixed palette of only 256 colours – no more. When you open one in GIMP, the title bar will say “(indexed)” after the filename. The problem is that in Indexed mode, GIMP restricts you to only the colours already in that palette – you cannot freely pick new colours to paint with. So the first thing you do when opening a head BMP for editing is switch to RGB mode, which unlocks access to all colours.
Switch to RGB mode
Go to Image → Mode → RGB. The title bar changes from “(indexed)” to “(RGB)”. You can now paint with any colour you want.
2. What layers are and why you need them
A layer is like a transparent sheet of paper stacked on top of your image. You can paint on the sheet without changing anything underneath. If you make a mistake, you delete the layer and the original image is untouched. This is your safety net.
Create a new layer
Go to Layer → New Layer (or press Shift+Ctrl+N). In the dialog box that appears, set “Fill with” to Transparency. Click OK. You now have a blank transparent layer sitting above your head texture.
Check you are painting on the right layer
Look at the Layers panel on the right side of GIMP. If you cannot see it, go to Windows → Dockable Dialogs → Layers. You will see two layers listed – your new transparent one on top and the original head BMP below it. Click on a layer name to make it active. The highlighted layer is the one your brush paints on – make sure you are on the right one before painting.
Why bother with layers? When you paint new hair over the existing hair, the layer lets you erase and redo without losing the original underneath. Once you are happy with the result, you flatten everything into one image before saving.
3. Picking colours from the image
Rather than guessing what colour to use, you can pick colours directly from the existing head texture. This is how you match skin tones exactly and sample existing hair colours.
Select the Color Picker tool
Press O on your keyboard (the letter O), or find the eyedropper icon in the toolbox on the left side of GIMP. Click on any pixel in the image. The colour of that pixel becomes your active foreground colour, shown in the colour swatch at the bottom of the toolbox.
Practical use: open a Maxis medium-skin-tone head in a second GIMP window (any C-prefix file with med in the filename), pick the face skin colour with the Color Picker, then switch to your working file and paint with that exact colour. This ensures your skin tones match the game’s built-in tones.
4. Painting with the Paintbrush
Select the Paintbrush tool
Press P on your keyboard, or click the paintbrush icon in the toolbox. The colour swatch at the bottom of the toolbox shows your current foreground colour – this is the colour your brush will paint with.
Adjust the brush size
In the tool options panel (below the toolbox on the left), look for the Size slider. For a 128×128 head texture, you want very small brushes: 1–5 pixels for detail work (eyes, lips), 10–20 for larger areas (hair). You can also use the [ and ] bracket keys on your keyboard to make the brush smaller or larger quickly.
Paint on the canvas
Click and drag to paint. Press Ctrl+Z to undo your last stroke (you can undo many steps in a row). Use the Eraser tool (press E) to erase parts of a layer without affecting the original image underneath.
5. Selecting areas (for recolouring)
To change the colour of all the hair at once rather than painting pixel by pixel, you can select the hair area first, then fill or adjust its colour in one go.
Select By Color
Select → By Color (or press Shift+O), then click on the hair colour in the image. GIMP selects every pixel that matches that colour – you will see a “marching ants” dotted outline around the selected areas. If it is selecting too much or too little, adjust the Threshold value in the tool options panel (higher number = more similar shades get included in the selection).
Fill the selection with a new colour
Pick your new colour (either from the colour chooser or by using the Color Picker on another image), then go to Edit → Fill with Foreground Color (or press Alt+Backspace). Only the selected area gets filled – everything outside the selection is protected.
Remove the selection
When you are done, go to Select → None (or press Shift+Ctrl+A) to deselect. The marching ants disappear and you can see the result.
Painting Your Head Skin
The actual painting process, step by step
Study the original first
Before painting anything, zoom in and look at the existing texture carefully. Notice where the face is, where the hair starts and stops, where the neck is, and where the ears sit. If you can, open a second window with the game running (or a screenshot of the head in Create-A-Sim) so you can compare the flat texture to how it actually looks wrapped onto the 3D head.
Create a working layer
Layer → New Layer → Fill with: Transparency → OK. Paint on this new layer. The original head stays safe on the layer underneath.
Paint the hair area
Two approaches depending on what you prefer:
Approach 1 – Select and fill (quickest): Click on the original layer in the Layers panel. Use Select By Color (Shift+O) to select the existing hair colour. Switch back to your new layer in the Layers panel. Fill the selection with your new colour (Edit → Fill with Foreground Color or Alt+Backspace).
Approach 2 – Paint by hand (more control): Stay on your new layer. Use the Paintbrush with a small brush size and carefully paint over the hair areas. This gives pixel-level control for adding highlights, lowlights, and texture.
Adjust the face (if needed)
If you are happy with the existing face, leave it alone. If you want to change it (different eye colour, makeup, freckles, etc.), paint those changes on your working layer. Use very small brushes (1–3 pixels) for eye and lip details – the face area is tiny at 128×128 resolution.
Check the neck area
The neck at the bottom of the image must match the body skin tone. If you have changed the face colour, make sure the neck transitions smoothly into it. Use the Color Picker (press O) to sample the body skin tone from a matching body BMP (any B-prefix file with the same skin tone suffix) if you need the exact colour.
Flatten the image
Image → Flatten Image merges all your layers into one. Before flattening, consider saving a layered copy first (File → Export As → save as .xcf) in case you want to come back and edit the layers later.
Making Skin Tone Variants
Light, medium, and dark – how to make all three
The game expects three versions of every head: light (lgt), medium (med), and dark (drk). The hair stays identical across all three – only the skin-coloured areas (face, neck, ears) change between versions.
Start with the light version
Complete your head texture as described in the painting section above. This becomes your lgt file.
Find the correct skin tone colours
Open a Maxis medium-skin-tone head in a second GIMP window – any C-prefix file with med in the filename (e.g. C001FAmed_ponytail.bmp). Use the Color Picker (O) to click on the face skin area. This gives you the exact skin tone colour the game uses for medium. Repeat with a drk file for the dark skin tone.
Recolour the skin areas
Make a copy of your finished light version file (do not edit the original light file). Open the copy in GIMP and switch to RGB mode. Use Select By Color (Shift+O) to select the light skin tone from the face area. Then either fill the selection with the sampled medium tone, or use Colors → Hue-Saturation to shift the colour while keeping the shading intact.
Save with the correct filename suffix
Save the medium version with med in the filename, dark with drk. The rest of the filename stays identical:
C001FAlgt_MyHair.bmp
C001FAmed_MyHair.bmp
C001FAdrk_MyHair.bmp
Converting to Indexed 256-Colour BMP
Get this wrong and your head shows as white in game
The Sims 1 engine can only read Indexed 256-colour BMP files for skins. If you save your file as an RGB (24-bit) BMP instead, the game displays a blank white head. A skin with more than 256 colours will show up white in Create-A-Sim.
Flatten the image first
Image → Flatten Image. You cannot convert to Indexed mode while layers with transparency still exist – GIMP will show an error if you try. Flattening first avoids this.
Convert to Indexed
Go to Image → Mode → Indexed. In the dialog box that appears, set these options:
• Maximum number of colors: 255
• Color dithering: Floyd-Steinberg (normal) – this smooths colour transitions so gradients do not look blocky
Click Convert. The title bar should now say “(indexed)” instead of “(RGB)”.
Export as BMP
Go to File → Export As (not “Save” – that saves as GIMP’s own .xcf format, which the game cannot read). Type your filename ending in .bmp and click Export. In the BMP options dialog that appears, click Export again with the default settings.
.xcf (GIMP’s own project file format), not as BMP. The game cannot read .xcf files. You must use File → Export As every time to produce the .bmp file the game needs.Getting It Into the Game
Generating companion files and testing
Your finished BMP texture needs two companion files to work in the game: a .CMX and a .SKN. These files tell the game how to wrap your texture onto the 3D head mesh. Without them, your head will not appear in Create-A-Sim at all. If the CMX file exists but its internal name does not match the filename exactly, the game ignores it silently.
If you used Path A (copied a Maxis file)
GameData\Skins\ and it replaces the original texture on the same hairstyle.If you used Path B or want a new CAS entry
Open TSC and select the mesh
Browse to the hairstyle mesh that matches your texture. If you exported from TSC originally, select the same clone you created earlier.
Import your painted BMP
Use the “Paint” or “Import” option to load your finished BMP file. TSC shows a preview of your texture wrapped onto the 3D head so you can check how it looks.
Check the preview
Look for: hair appearing in the wrong place, the face being misaligned, visible seams at the neck, or the skin tone not matching. If something looks wrong, go back to GIMP and fix the texture.
Save your new head
Click Done to return to the main screen. Give your head a unique name and click Save. TSC saves the new skin files into your GameData\Skins\ folder, generating the CMX and SKN companion files.
Testing in game
Close the game if it is running
The game reads skin files when it launches. Any changes you make while the game is already running will not show up until you restart it.
Verify your files are in GameData\Skins\
Check that your BMP, CMX, and SKN files are all directly inside GameData\Skins\ – not inside a subfolder. Skin files do not work from subfolders.
Launch the game and check Create-A-Sim
Start a new family or edit an existing Sim. Your custom head should appear in the face/hair selection area. If it does not appear, check the Common Mistakes section on the Hair & Heads overview.
Face Photo Wizard
Using TSC to map a photo onto the head mesh
The Sims Creator includes a built-in Face Photo Wizard – an import tool for photographs so they can be used as Sims head textures. It handles the UV warping for you, which means you do not need to figure out how to manually paint a face onto the flat texture layout. Accepted photo formats are: .png, .jpg, .tga, .bmp, and .tif.
Open the Face Photo Wizard
Click Face Photo Wizard from the TSC main menu.
Load your photo
Click Load Face and browse to the photo you want to import. Use a well-lit, straight-on portrait with minimal shadows – the wizard works best when the eyes, nose, and mouth are clearly visible and centred.
Position the face
Use the Rotation and Size sliders to position the face so that it fits within the box boundaries. Click Next when done.
Fine-tune the alignment
On the editing screen, use the wireframe and mask sliders to position the image on the 3D head shape. This helps align the eyes and nose correctly on the mesh. Take your time here – accurate alignment gives noticeably better results.
Save or refine further
Once done, click Done to return to the main screen where you can save your new head. If you want to clean up the edges, paint in the neck area, or add hair, use the Paint button in TSC or open the exported BMP in GIMP and use the techniques described in the sections above.