by Steve Luvender · December 4, 2019

With the exciting announcement of iRacing's new Specular (spec) Maps feature earlier this week, there was a mixed response from the community when we announced we would offer spec map uploads as a Trading Paints Pro-only feature.

It seemed — to us, at least — to make spec maps, a new feature for painters who want to get more advanced and change the finish of their cars, exclusive for Pro members. Our thought process was simple: a new feature meant more files for us to store and more bandwidth to use, so why not keep free memberships the same and add the new feature only to Pro users? If more users upgraded to Pro, after all, it would mean we could afford to continue to improve Trading Paints for everyone.

As of today, we've decided to allow all Trading Paints users — free or Pro — to use spec maps on personal paints and Showroom paints.

We figured it would be more fun to see more chrome, matte, and metallic paints on the track in iRacing. Sim racing painters are an incredible creative force, and we love seeing all the wonderful paints everyone designs for iRacing's 100-plus cars.

Trading Paints hosts about 2.5 million paints for over 100,000 users, and we're excited to see the millions more ahead with iRacing's new spec maps feature.

Trading Paints relies entirely on Trading Paints Pro memberships in order to survive. You'll notice we don't do ads on our website, we don't do sponsored content anywhere, we don't do micro-transactions, and we aren't funded by outside investors. We're so grateful to everyone who supports the painting community and allows us to make Trading Paints possible. You're awesome! Rock that purple Pro badge proudly.

If you enjoy the free features of Trading Paints, please consider supporting us by upgrading to Pro.

If you upgraded to Trading Paints Pro this week following our announcement about Specular Maps as a Pro feature and decided you'd like a refund because of today's decision, please contact us and we'll cancel your Pro membership and refund your $23.99.

Happy holidays and thanks for supporting Trading Paints.

–Steve, Shawn, and Patrick