How to make a custom thumbnail for CAS in s3pe

You will need:

A saved sim file
s3pe
Replacement 512x512 px thumbnail png image
Basic image editing sofware (optional)

Before you begin

SAVE A COPY OF THE SIM FILE.

This process shouldn't impact your sim in any way, but always be safe rather than sorry when editing any files.

Save your copy somewhere you will remember it.

Step 1: Create your replacement thumbnail

First things first, you will need a custom thumbnail to replace the often expressive CAS portraits.

The replacement thumbnail simply needs to be a 512 x 512 px PNG, with 72 DPI (standard for most image editing software). All sims will have two CAS thumbnails, you can use the same image for both or make two, it's up to you. The standard thumbnail has a transparent background, you can choose to keep this or not.

Be aware, the thumbnail is square but in game the edges are cut off, so don't put anything important near the left or right edges.

OPTIONAL Step 2: Extract CAS thumbnails

If you'd instead like to edit the existing CAS thumbnail in some way, you can extract these by opening your .SIM file in s3pe. Go File > Open > Saved SIM location and change the file type to All Files. Your saved sims should now appear, and you can open the one you wish to edit.

After opening the file, you will now see a number of tags show up, the two we want are the SNAP tags. You can extract one or both of these by right clicking them and going Extract > To File and saving the PNG in a location of your choice.

Step 3: Open your saved sim in s3pe

Skip this step if your file is already open from Step 2.

After saving a copy of your sim file, you can open your saved sim in s3pe ready to replace the thumbnails. Opening the file is the same as if you wanted to extract the images. Go File > Open > Saved SIM location and change the file type to All Files. Your saved sims should now appear, and you can open the one you wish to edit.

After opening the file, you will now see a number of tags show up, the two we want are the SNAP tags.

Step 4: Replace the two SNAP files

You will need to replace both SNAP files, otherwise it may display one of the old images as a variant. You can use the same PNG image twice or make variations if you are feeling fancy yourself.

To replace each file, simply click on the SNAP file, right click it and select Replace from the top menu. Navigate to where you have saved your replacement PNG and hit Open. You will see the preview image change on the right hand side. Repeat this for both SNAP files.

Step 5: Save your SIM file

After checking that both SNAP image previews have been changed, the next bit is easy. In s3pe, go File > Save or Ctrl + S.

Step 6: Open SIM in CAS

Having saved your SIM file in your Saved Sims folder, load up TS3 and Create A Sim as normal. Search through your bin until you see your fresh new thumbnail. PROFIT!

NOTE: This replacement only works on THIS version of your SIM file. If you save another version (usually called 1, 2, 3 etc in your sim folder) you will need to override the thumbnail images again. This method is useful if you have multiple versions of the same sim you want to differentiate though!

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