I'm interested in getting into creating/designing my own Custom Apparel Items.
But I'm curious what the process includes…?

What Tips and Tricks could you provide for a Beginner?

General Questions

1. What program do you use?
2. How many layers do you typically end up with?
3. How difficult do you find it to include all of the different species? Is copy/pasting a design onto different models viable?
4. Do you draw directly onto the Wolf Base- Do you leave the Base Grey? White? Or do you test on your own wolves?
   
5. Would you be comfortable sharing your pen/brush settings? Specifically for matching the Lorwolf Outlines-

Thank you in advance for any advice <3

for number five i think people use a brush from 6-8 pixels

I use procreate, layers depend on the apparel but my butterfly apparel usually ends up with 5ish, but I always merge them by the end. For 3 it also depends on what apparel you're making, mine hasnt been quite complicated yet, so it's mainly been copy pasting with some moving around. I draw on a separate layer of the wolf base, as the finished results needs to be the apparel and nothing else!
And for number 5, I use the normal procreate liner, on 1-5 pixels big. I think 6-8 as stated above fits lorwolfs outlines the best though, it was just too thick for my apparel. :D

1. Photoshop.
2. Per wolf pose, 1 layer for flat/mask shape color, 1 layer for soft brush colors (gradients), 1 layer for sharp colors (patterns, logos), 1-2 layers for shadow cel shading of black at 20% opacity (2nd layer helps make metal/shine effects), and 1 layer for sharp white highlights if necessary, and 1 layer for outline. Something simple like my Boreal Tail was just three layers: Flat color, shadow, and lines. My shields use all the layers.
3. I have one file with all the poses in it kept in individual layered folders. When I'm done drawing my apparel I can use a series of actions I saved to export all the pngs I need with one click. Copy/pasting is more viable with things like companions. A Smart Object and masking makes coloring/recoloring companions a cinch across all the wolf poses in one document. Fitted apparel requires more finessing, especially with Jocol F since the face turns towards the viewer. You can copy/paste some things but you won't figure that out until you start actually making the apparel, since it changes from project to project. The Liquify tool can help but again you kind of have to be really familiar with it so you can tell when it looks weird. I generally copy/paste and warp my sketches but hand-draw the lineart in fitted apparel, so that each wolf looks like it's been loved equally.
4. I bring my own wolves in all the time because my custom apparel is for me first, then other players. I use white bases that I saved off the site in Early Access even though I'm not supposed to, as it's hard for mods to see when the white bases have accidentally been clipped to apparel pngs.
5. I use 6-8 but a lot of players prefer more delicate lines and honestly for a lot of cloth effects very thin looks great.

@Poe

Hope this helps:

1. GNU Image Manipulation Program
2. I've only experimented with Markings so far. Will come back to this when I actually make clothes, but for now, the markings I've done are all on a single layer.
3. I admittedly kinda cheated and used the site's design for the Timber Accent as a base for my markings, since it was meant to cover up said Accent. As such, I probably finished in record time; less than 45 minutes for 4 poses! As for clothing, I have no estimates at this time.
4. I used a separate layer and hid the base when I was done, then deleted the shadows and lineart layer portions except for the areas over the markings. Alpha to selection + Invert selection is your friend.
5. I haven't attempted to mimic outlines yet, but I will echo 6-8 pixels with no size dynamics seems to be on point for 3000x2400. I would personally advise experimenting with different brushes on different programs, but overall, a basic round brush with some basic dynamics for size, plus some final editing seems like it would be good for the program I use.

Thank you so much everyone!
I think I might try/test a few basic Fur Patterns/Markings first~ Before jumping into clothing.

My usual art style is VERY thick-lined so I'm not as confident about trying to create something with thinner line-work just yet ;v;

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And a follow up question to people who have already had a design approved-
If you have already had a design approved previously, is the re-stock/re-submission process quick?
Or does the CA have to go through the full waiting process again? o':

apparel sent back for rework will be put at the top of the queue, you can use a cat to instantly restock if all copies are sold out

Perfect!
Thank you so much everyone <3