[ETS2 & ATS] Paint Job Packer - Lightweight mod making tool [Windows/macOS/Linux]

[Carsmaniac]

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Paint Job Packer is a lightweight mod making tool for Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator. It allows you to generate simple paint job mods, with a focus on mods that support multiple vehicles.

Features

• Cross-platform support, with Windows, macOS and Linux versions
• Support for player-owned trailers, including those from DLCs
• Support for trucks using the newer accessory-based paintjob system, like the Scania S and MAN TGX Euro 6
• Support for multiple vehicles in a single paint job, and multiple paint jobs in a single mod
• Built-in support for >100 truck and trailer mods, full list here
• Support for separate paintjobs for each cabin of each truck, in case a single texture doesn't work for all of them
• Includes readymade 4k templates for each vehicle, which can be downloaded in PNG and PSD format here (ETS 2) and here (ATS)

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Download - Supports Windows, macOS and Linux!
GitHub page - Paint Job Packer is open source!



Do you speak multiple languages? You can help translate Paint Job Packer on Weblate to allow even more people to make paint job mods :)



Paint Job Packer doesn't make a completed mod from the get-go. Instead, it makes what I call "custom example mods", giving you all the files you need for your mod, but with placeholders standing in for every image/texture. You then go through and replace all the placeholder images with your own to complete the mod. Since you usually have to test and tweak a paint job many times before it's ready, generating paint jobs this way means you only have to run the program once.

If you'd like an all-in-one mod making program, or you'd like to make metallic paint jobs or non-paint job mods, I highly recommend Mods Studio 2.



Tutorial/demonstration video

I made a tutorial video explaining how to make paintjob mods using Paint Job Packer, including generating their files, working with templates and uploading to Steam Workshop. You can watch it by clicking on the thumbnail below:

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If you'd like to support my work, you can leave me a tip me on Ko-fi.

Enjoy! :)



Latest release: v2.0.1, 2026-06-01
Full changelog available on GitHub

[Carsmaniac]

Guide to making a mod using Paint Job Packer

A more in-depth video version of this guide is available on YouTube

Paint Job Packer requires an image editor that can save DDS files. DDS is a special image format used to save textures for many games, including both Trucksim games. You can use any of the following:

• Photoshop with its DDS plugin
• GIMP
• Paint.NET
• Or you could use any program you like and convert your images to DDS using DXTBmp

1. Generate base files using Paint Job Packer

• Make a single paint job for a single vehicle, or a pack with support for multiple vehicles
• Support each truck's biggest cabin only or all of them, with a single paint job per vehicle or separate ones for each cabin
• Optionally use 4k/2k templates as placeholder files (if installed)

2. Replace mod manager files

• Mod_Manager_Description.txt and Mod_Manager_Image.jpg
• The description already contains a pre-generated list of vehicles supported by your mod
• The image must be a 276 x 162 JPEG

3. Replace icon

• material/ui/accessory/<paint job>_icon.dds
• Must be a 256 x 64 DDS
• If you want your icon to match the vanilla paint jobs, use the placeholder image as a guide for size & shape

4. Replace vehicle textures

• vehicle/truck/upgrade/paintjob/<paint job>/<vehicle> and/or vehicle/trailer_owned/upgrade/paintjob/<paint job>/<vehicle>
• These are the main files of your mod, which determine what your paint job will actually look like in-game
• Save each DDS in DXT5 format with mipmaps, if possible
• Ensure every file's height and width is a power of 2 (e.g. 16, 64, 2048, 4096 etc)
• You can download template packs here (ETS 2) and here (ATS)

[mstfcbngl]

It's seems cool. But when i try to download this, my antivirus gives alert.

[SpenceUK]

tried it get full green line please wait with just material and manifest inside folder

[3MC 1DJ]

It generates the paintjob packer output folder on the desktop that contains the manifest.sii, mod_manager_description.txt, mod_manager_image.jpg, and the material > ui > accessory folders. The accessory folder contains icon.dds, icon.mat and icon.tobj files. That's where the program hangs with the progress bar full. Ran the .py instead of the compiled .exe for the same result. Win 10, python 3.8.
Tarquinn from r/trucksim.

Code: Select all

Exception in Tkinter callback
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\PC1\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib\tkinter\__init__.py", line 1883, in __call__
    return self.func(*args)
  File "C:\Users\PC1\Desktop\paintjob-packer-master\packer.py", line 293, in <lambda>
    self.panel_buttons_generate = ttk.Button(self.panel_buttons, text = "Generate mod", command = lambda : self.verify_all_inputs())
  File "C:\Users\PC1\Desktop\paintjob-packer-master\packer.py", line 491, in verify_all_inputs
    self.make_paintjob()
  File "C:\Users\PC1\Desktop\paintjob-packer-master\packer.py", line 586, in make_paintjob
    pj.make_def_folder(out_path, veh)
  File "C:\Users\PC1\Desktop\paintjob-packer-master\library\paintjob.py", line 125, in make_def_folder
    if veh.uses_accessories:
AttributeError: 'VehSelection' object has no attribute 'uses_accessories'

[Carsmaniac]

@mstfcbngl This is a false positive, and unfortunately a known issue with PyInstaller, which is a tool I used to make Paintjob Packer. You can see on VirusTotal most of the AV engines are fine with it, but a few of them detect it as a virus. The program is safe to use, but if you're worried/your AV won't let you run it, you could download the source code and run packer.py directly (you'll need Python 3).

@3MC 1DJ Thank you very much for the full error, and I applaud your troubleshooting! It turns out this was caused by an issue with single vehicle paintjobs. I included support for them as a last-minute thing (I only ever make packs), and evidently didn't test them enough at all. I've fixed it in version 1.0.1. This should fix it for you too, @SpenceUK.

[herbie30]

how do you add in further trailers that are mods,please.

[Carsmaniac]

@herbie30 At the moment because Paintjob Packer is a single .exe (so you don't have to install it) you can't add to or change the mods it supports. I could implement a system to add additional mods if you like, but it would only work with the loose file version of the program (where you download the source code and run it with Python 3). The alternative would be to change how the program is packaged, so you download a folder instead of a single file, which I may consider in the future.

In the meanwhile if there are any specific trailer mods you'd like supported let me know and I can add them! Preferably from the SCS Forums or Steam Workshop, and no paid mods.

[herbie30]

Hi Carsmaniac
would you be able to add Cistern Menci and kp feldbinder trailer pack?Both these mods i found in the SCS forum.
Many Thanks

[Carsmaniac]

I just released a new version featuring support for trailer mods, including both the Menci Cistern and Feldbinder KIP! It also fixes a bug that meant your paintjobs wouldn't show up in-game, so now your mods will actually work!