Credit: bYakko. without you I wouldn't have made this tut. :sugoi:
Recommended Tools needed: Irfanview, Gfx Gale, Fighter Factory (with updates)
1: Get your sprites and convert them to 256 colors with Irfanview so click file Batch Conversion/rename or press B, add all of your sprites in, choose an output directory check advanced options then click on advanced where it says CHANGE COLOR DEPTH choose 256 colors (8 bpp) and click Start Batch.
(http://i35.tinypic.com/2w3b5l1.png)
(http://i38.tinypic.com/nd29av.png)
2: Now if you want a palette with the colors of your character, fx, and etc. then you'll need to paste everyone one of those specific things on one page. After that's done open Fighter Factory and click on palette editor, open the image with all of your character, fx, and etc. colors and click optimize, for your BG color you'll want it to be in palette index #256 (bottom right corner). You can also re-arrange the colors in whatever order you want, just make sure the BG color is not black and make sure that it is in palette index #256 (bottom right corner) I also prefer a hot pink for it. After all that is done, save the sprite with all of the colors of your character, fx, and etc. with the palette arranged.
(http://i34.tinypic.com/9bbzt5.png)
(http://i37.tinypic.com/16771gn.png)
3. Now open Irfanview then open the sprite with your palette in there. Click Image palette and the export palette and name it whatever. The saves your palette as a .pal file and not your sprite.
(http://i38.tinypic.com/jjs12q.png)
4. Open Gfx gale and click on Batch conversion and highlight all of your sprites you want with the palette applied to it. Go to output tab make sure file type is .png and click convert then your done. ;)
(http://i36.tinypic.com/2ahwsir.png)
(http://i36.tinypic.com/2hyazix.png)
I was in a limit with 5 mins to type this, if there are any mistakes spotted please notify me. I might update later.
(yeahyeah old thread boohoo)
Thank you SO much! Converting the sprites from 24b to 8b in acdsee or pbrush screws up the colors, but irfanview doesn't. :D
What's wrong with using pcxclean? It's even faster than Irfanview when applying a palette to many sprites
@Nero: ACDSee and Paintbrush shouldn't screw up your colors (provided the original sprite has less than 256 colors). Most probably you're doing the conversion in a wrong way or using a fixed palette (Windows/Mac default, for instance). Make sure the "Exact method" is checked/enabled when doing the conversion.