What is the trick to make .dds files work?

I'm just trying to make a new dashboard photo for the P-51D. I am using Gimp and open the mustang_photo.dds and when I save it, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't show up for some reason.

Are their 'rules/settings' for dds images in DCS? Do they require some special compression, or size or something? I'm just hit or miss with this..

If I edited the image the old fashioned way I would use DXTBmp, which is a free program you can find on line, the following:

1. Open the image with DXTBmp and convert it to a 24 Bit BMP image, then edit it.

2. Once happy with the image I would use DXTBmp and save the image as a DDS using the DDS DXT5 setting. Always worked for me.

I now use Photoshop and it has a DDS plug in and I save the image on the DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha setting.

This works for me. Proper Graphics artists may differ and I may be wrong but this is how I have always done it.

As for Gimp settings, im sorry I cant help there, but I presume you would have access to DDS conversion pluggins and DXT 5 would be the one I would choose.

I'm just trying to make a new dashboard photo for the P-51D. I am using Gimp and open the mustang_photo.dds and when I save it, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't show up for some reason.

 

Are their 'rules/settings' for dds images in DCS? Do they require some special compression, or size or something? I'm just hit or miss with this..

Check out the free paint.net app.

https://www.getpaint.net/

Thanks for the replies!

I was using DXT5 but for some reason Gimp didn't work. The working files were 512x512, and somehow my files change to 513x513. I had Paint.net on my pc so I used that and change the size and it's working now.

Thanks again.

Some DDS files will not be open by DXT2BMP do you use another program to do it?