making nose art in windows 7 help needed

[krazey]

 OK after searching the forums ive found out that nose-art files are supposed to be bitmpas 64x64 with background 176,176,176 seemed easy enough to do in paint. However i seem to have hit a snag. The files also need to be in 256 colors.. but when I try to save as 256 bmp the colors change and the background is no longer 176,176,176 .
 Im fairly new to windows 7 and dont have a clue how to get around this. If anyone has any suggestions/solutions id be really grateful. Ive spent 3 hours today just trying to get the darned background right

[oneway]

OK after searching the forums ive found out that nose-art files are supposed to be bitmpas 64x64 with background 176,176,176 seemed easy enough to do in paint. However i seem to have hit a snag. The files also need to be in 256 colors.. but when I try to save as 256 bmp the colors change and the background is no longer 176,176,176 .
 Im fairly new to windows 7 and dont have a clue how to get around this. If anyone has any suggestions/solutions id be really grateful. Ive spent 3 hours today just trying to get the darned background right

Your using Windows Paint right?

Paint does that and is horrible at converting from one depth to another.

You need to use a better program that has better conversion algorithms.

I use my screen grab editor (Snagit), or Fireworks export utility wizard to retain quality and create an accurate representation of the intended work.

Neither of these are free programs.

If you have something like photo-shop or illustrator I am sure those will perform equally well.

Oneway

[oneway]

If you have your work already to go and can't find a way to convert it, I will do it for you.

I don't have a bunch of time to do it over and over again for you as you tweak it.

Get your art right and shoot me a pm.

I will run it for you.

Oneway

[Dichotomy]

same here... I use CSS, PS7, or PSP, depending on what's appropriate.  Just remember when you're getting down to that small of a scale it's very very hard to maintain a lot of detail. 

I'm not familiar with GIMP but a lot of people use it and it's freeware to the best of my knowledge.


Oneway if you're busy I'll take care of it for him 

[oneway]

Thanks Dichotomy...

That would be great.

Oneway

[Dichotomy]

shoot me a pm krazey I'll get it sorted out for ya sir

[krazey]

 Problem solved guys, thanks all for the advice and offers. I had tried using CS3 but it wasnt giving me the option to save as an 8 bit ( research on the old web told me that was what i needed) the lowest it gave was 16 bit for some reason. I found a prog called paint.NET which is free and offers the option to save as 8 bit. Have tested the file and it works beautifully .
 I really appreciate the offers to do it for me but I'm one of those stubborn types who refuses to be beaten by a bit of color lol.
 Thanks again and Merry Christmas!