You can open this start file for Blender 2.80 and later (may work with 2.79 and earlier, but has not been tested) and skip this section Follow these steps to prepare for previewing liveries

1. If you are using blender 2.79 or earlier, switch from Blender Render to Cycles Render in the dropdown to the right of the topmost menu bar.
2. On the menu bar in the top-right of the 3D view (below the 3D view in Blender 2.79 or earlier, or a file created in Blender 2.79 or earlier), click the ball icon next to Object Mode and select Material

1. Right-click the default cube to select it
2. Select the Material tab in the Properties pane
3. Click + New
4. Blender 2.80: Click the icon in the upper-left of the 3D view, and select Material Editor
5. Blender 2.79: Click the icon in the lower-right of the 3D view, and select Node Editor
6. You should now see a Principled BSDF or Diffuse BSDF with its BSDF output connected to a Material Output by its Surface input. If so, skip the next three steps.
   1. If not, press delete to clear the Node Editor (press A then delete if this does not clear the Node Editor)
   2. Click Add > Output > Material Output and click anywhere in the Node Editor to place the node
   3. Click Add > Shader > Diffuse BSDF and click anywhere in the Node Editor to the left of the Material Output node to place the node
   4. Click and drag from the BSDF output of the Diffuse BSDF node to the Surface input of the Material Output Node
7. Click Add > Color > MixRGB and click in an empty space to the left of the BSDF node to place it
8. Click Add > Texture > Image Texture and click in an empty space to the left of the Mix node to place it
9. Click and drag from the Color output of the Image Texture to the Color 2 input of the Mix
10. Click and drag from the Alpha output of the Image Texture to the Fac input of the Mix node
11. Click the Shield icon (or F) next to the material name near the top of the material tab in the properties pane.
12. On the left of the menu above (below in 2.79 and earlier) the Node Editor, click the icon and select 3D View
13. Press A to select all (press until orange outlines are seen)
14. Press Delete and click on the confirmation popup
15. You may want to File » Save, or File > Save Startup File as this is a good starting point for previewing liveries

1. Click File > Import > Wavefront (.obj)
2. Browse to and select the file, then click Import OBJ
3. On the Material tab on the Properties panel, click the ball icon next to + New and select the material created earlier. If you are using the start file linked above, view uv.000 or view composite is good for most livery making.
4. Click the triangle pointing right icon next to Base Color [Mix]
5. Click the triangle pointing right icon next to Fac [Image Texture]
6. Click Open
7. Browse to and select the livery image file, then click Open Image

Instead of repeatedly opening the livery texture file every time you make a change, you can install a plugin that will automatically reload it every time the file changes.

• If you use GIMP or Photoshop, you can use the add-on External Paint Autorefresh
• If you use another program, you can use Auto-Reload Images

1. Download your prefered auto-reload plugin
2. In Blender, on the top menu bar, select File > User Preferences…
3. Click Add-ons then Install Add-on from File… at the top
4. Browse to and select the ZIP file you downloaded above, then click Install Add-on from File…
5. Click user under Categories on the left
6. Click the check-box next to the add-on you just installed
7. Click Save user settings
8. You may have to enable the auto-refresh functionality when launching blender or opening a file
   1. For Auto-Reload Images
      1. Blender 2.79: click the clock icon on the right of the top menu bar
      2. Blender 2.80: click the Timer button (with a clock icon) in the Context tab of the Properties panel