Most drivers never run their own livery. Not because they don't want one — because the blank 2048×2048 template is intimidating, layer work is slow, and a good design takes hours you'd rather spend on track.
This guide fixes that. You'll learn how to generate a custom iRacing livery with AI Livery, turn it into a race-ready paint file, and get it onto the grid through Trading Paints. It works whether you've never opened a paint template or you already know your way around Photoshop and just want to move faster. By the end, you'll have your own car on the grid — visible to every driver in your session.
What AI Livery does
AI Livery takes a description and generates a livery design. You tell it the car, the colours, the style, and the vibe you're after, and it returns a concept you can build on. Instead of staring at an empty template, you start from a real design and refine from there.
It's built for drivers, not graphic designers. You don't need to know layer masks, spec maps, or colour theory to get a livery that looks fast. You bring the idea; the tool handles the hard first 80%.
The full workflow: AI design → Trading Paints → grid
1. Generate your design
Open AI Livery and describe what you want. The more specific you are, the better the result. Good prompts name:
- The car or class (GT3, LMP2, NASCAR Next Gen, formula car)
- A primary and secondary colour ("matte black with orange accents")
- A style (minimalist, aggressive, retro, sponsor-heavy)
- A theme or reference (a real team's palette, a national flag, a clean sponsor layout)
Generate, review, and iterate. Refine the prompt until the concept is right before you move to the build step.
2. Drop it onto the iRacing template
Download the official PSD template for your car from the Trading Paints templates page, or inside iRacing under My Content → Car Manager → Download Template. The template makes sure your artwork maps onto the 3D model correctly — a design that looks great flat can wrap badly if it isn't built on the template.
Open the template in Photoshop, GIMP, or the free browser tool Photopea, and use your AI-generated design as the base layer. Line it up, adjust placement, and add or clean up details like numbers and sponsor logos.
3. Export a race-ready paint file
Save your finished livery as a TGA or PNG at 1024×1024 or 2048×2048. For TGA, export 24-bit (or 32-bit if you're using transparency) with RLE compression enabled.
Name it car_yourCustomerID.tga for a sim-stamped number, or car_num_yourCustomerID.tga for a custom number (Trading Paints Pro). Save it into Documents/iRacing/paint/[vehicle]/.
4. Preview it in iRacing
Open the 3D Car Viewer under My Content → Cars to see your paint on the actual car. Re-save the file to update the view. This is where you catch anything that wrapped wrong before it ends up on track.
5. Upload to Trading Paints and race it
Upload your finished file to My Paints for your personal cars, or the Showroom to share it with the community. With the Trading Paints Downloader running, your livery loads automatically next session — on your car, and on every other driver's screen. That's the payoff: your design, on the grid, seen by the whole field.
New to Trading Paints? Start with the complete Trading Paints setup guide first, then come back and design your own.
The reverse: use Trading Paints to fuel your AI designs
The workflow runs both ways.
Pull references from the Showroom. Browse the Trading Paints Showroom for liveries you admire, then feed those ideas into AI Livery — "a clean sponsor layout like a modern GT3 factory car" or "retro blue-and-orange endurance colours". You're not copying; you're giving the tool a clear direction to riff on.
Build a matching team set. If your league or team already runs a scheme on Trading Paints, use AI Livery to generate variations in the same palette — a second car, an endurance one-off, a livery for a different class that still reads as your team.
Iterate on what already works. Race a community paint, decide what you'd change, and generate your own take. The Showroom is your mood board; AI Livery turns the mood board into a design.
Tips for liveries that actually look fast
- Commit to two or three colours. Busy liveries read as noise at speed. Restraint looks professional.
- Leave room for the number. If you're running a sim-stamped number, keep the number panels clean so it lands legibly.
- Think about how it wraps. A bold shape across the door reads better on the 3D car than fine detail that disappears at distance.
- Preview before you upload. Always check the 3D Car Viewer. It takes thirty seconds and saves you racing something that looked great flat and wrong on the car.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI design a race-ready iRacing livery?
It designs the concept. You bring that design into the official iRacing template and export the TGA, so it maps onto the car correctly. AI removes the blank-canvas problem; the template step makes it grid-ready.
What file format does Trading Paints need?
A 1024×1024 or 2048×2048 TGA or PNG. For TGA, use 24-bit (or 32-bit with alpha) with RLE compression.
Do I need Trading Paints Pro?
No. The free version lets you upload and race your livery. Pro is only needed for custom-numbered paints and a few extras.
Will other drivers see my livery?
Yes, as long as they run the Trading Paints Downloader in the same session. Your paint syncs to their sim automatically.
Ready to put your car on the grid?
You don't need to be a designer to run a livery that turns heads. Describe the car you want, build it on the template, and race it through Trading Paints. Try it free.