In order to use an image in X-Plane scenery–that is, in order to save it for use in the X-Plane sim rather than just for design use in World Editor–the image must have exactly one of the following resolutions (in pixels):
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- 2 x 2
- 4 x 4
- 8 x 8
- 16 x 16
- 64 x 64
- 128 x 128
- 256 x 256
- 512 x 512
- 1024 x 1024
- 2048 x 2048
Obviously, no one wants to create 2 x 2 photo imagery. Realistically, anything under 512 x 512 is unlikely to be used in scenery.
The image must also have either a PNG, BMP (not recommended), or DDS file type.
In this tutorial, we’re going to take a rectangular GeoTIFF and cut it down into images that can be used in X-Plane scenery. The original file had a resolution of about 4,000 x 8,000. Our finished images will all be 2048 x 2048 PNGs.
To begin, open the original image in Photoshop. The screenshots here are taken from CS4, but the tools we’re using have been in Photoshop since around version 7.
Select the slice tool from the toolbar, as in the image below.
Set the slice tool to use fixed sizes, then input an appropriate size for your image (as in the screenshot below). As our image is quite large, we’ll be cutting it into 8 images (2 across, 4 down), each of 2048 x 2048 resolution.
Draw your slices and move them as necessary. When you’re done, open the File menu and click Save for Web and Devices, as in the screenshot below.
The program may warn you about the size of your image. Don’t worry–we don’t actually intend to use our 2048 x 2048 images on the web!
Zoom out so that you can see all of the slices that you intend to use.
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Zooming out in the Save for Web dialog
Use the slice select tool (found on the left side of the Save for Web dialog window) to select all the slices you intend to use.
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Selecting slices
Select the PNG-24 preset in the upper right corner to set all of the images to be saved as PNG files.
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Selecting PNG-24
Click the Save button, then navigate to your scenery package’s folder. For instance, in the image below, my scenery package is called “KOJC Johnson County Executive,” so I’m saving to the directory:
- X-Plane\Custom Scenery\KOJC Johnson County Executive
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Selecting the scenery package folder
