In this guide, I will explain how to import and export C-Gear skins in your game. I will also explain how to edit and create custom skins. Be sure to check out the C-Gear gallery, where you can download skins and share your own.


Prerequisites:

  • Your BW or B2W2 save file
  • A skin from our C-Gear gallery
  • PokéGen (for importing and exporting skin files)
  • PokeCGear (for converting bitmap images into skin files)
  • GIMP, mspaint, or your favorite image editing suite



Importing C-Gear skins into your game:
You'll need access to your save file, in order to import C-Gear skins into your game. This is quite easy if you have an emulator; just look in the battery folder for a .sav or .dsv file. If you're using an actual game cart, then you could dump your cart's save file by using a homebrew (assuming you have a flashcart or another method of running homebrew), or a USB adapter. Once you have your save, run PokéGen. Press File -> Open, and select your save file. Then press Tools -> C-Gear Background -> Open, and select your skin file. Click on the < button to apply the skin to your save file. Now close the C-Gear Background window, and press File -> Save. Put the save file back onto your game cart, flashcart, or back into your emulator's battery folder, and then start your game to see your new skin!


Exporting C-Gear skins from your game:
Just like importing skins, you'll need access to your save file if you want to export skins from your game. Once you have your save, run PokéGen. Press File -> Open, and select your save file. Then press Tools -> C-Gear Background -> Export, and export your skin. I encourage you to share your C-Gear skins in our C-Gear Gallery.


Making custom C-Gear skins:
Run PokeCGear.exe. Upon startup, it will prompt you to open a file. Ignore this, and close the window. Press Open save file, and open a BW save file (anything will do, we just need to provide a dummy file). Once you've opened a save file, you will notice that the Skin Load and Save buttons are no longer grayed-out. If you want to convert from .cgb to a .bmp image, rename your .cgb file as .psk. Then press Load, and select your .psk file. Press Save, and type skin.bmp as an example file name. Once you have it in .bmp form, you can edit it in GIMP or mspaint. Skins are 24-bit bitmaps, and their dimensions are 256x192. After you've finished editing your .bmp file, press Load, and select it. Then press Save, and type skin.psk as an example file name. After it is exported, then rename the .psk file into a .cgb file. Please share your custom skins with us, by uploading them in our C-Gear Gallery.