Finding and Fixing the Rogue Trader Portraits Folder for Custom Characters

You're playing Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, and you've finally reached that moment. The character creator. You want to look like a grizzled Void-master or a sharp-tongued Noble, but the default options aren't hitting the vibe. Maybe they're a bit too "standard" for your specific vision of a Lord Captain. You've got the perfect art saved on your desktop—probably some grimdark masterpiece you found on Pinterest or a piece of commissioned art—and now you just need to know where the heck the rogue trader portraits folder actually lives.

It's not where you think it is. Honestly, finding it feels like navigating the Warp without a Navigator sometimes. Owlcat Games has a specific way of handling these files, and if you miss a single step, your character ends up as a silhouette with a giant question mark. Nobody wants that.

Where is the Rogue Trader Portraits Folder?

Let's cut to the chase. If you are on Windows, your custom portraits aren't in the Steam installation folder. Don't go looking in Program Files. That’s a dead end.

Instead, you need to head over to your AppData directory. This is where the game stores your save files, settings, and yes, your custom art. The path usually looks exactly like this:
C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\LocalLow\Owlcat Games\Warhammer 40000 Rogue Trader\Portraits.

If you can't see the AppData folder, don't panic. It's hidden by default because Windows tries to protect you from yourself. Just click the "View" tab in your File Explorer and check the box that says "Hidden items." Boom. It appears.

Once you’re inside that Portraits folder, it’s probably empty. Or maybe it has some numbered folders like 0001, 0002. This is where the magic happens. Every single custom portrait needs its own individual sub-folder. You can't just dump a bunch of JPEGs in the root and hope for the best. The game engine is picky.

The Three-File Requirement

This is where most people mess up. You can't just use one image. The game requires three specific sizes for every single character. If you’re missing one, the UI will look broken in certain menus.

You need:

1. Small.png: This is for the initiative bar during combat. It’s tiny. Usually 185 x 242 pixels.
2. Medium.png: This shows up in your character sheet and the inventory screen. Aim for 330 x 432 pixels.
3. Fulllength.png: This is the big one. It’s what you see during the main character creation screen and certain dialogue events. Dimensions should be 692 x 1024 pixels.

Keep them as PNGs. Seriously. JPEGs can work sometimes, but PNGs handle the transparency and color profiles much better in the Unity engine. If you name them anything else—like "MyCharacter_Small"—it won't work. They must be named exactly Small.png, Medium.png, and Fulllength.png.

Why Your Custom Portrait Isn't Showing Up

So you've put the files in the rogue trader portraits folder, but you load the game and... nothing. It’s frustrating.

First, check the folder structure again. It should be Portraits > 0001 > [Your three files]. If you just have Portraits > [Your three files], the game won't see them. The game looks for folders, not loose files.

Secondly, check the file extensions. Sometimes Windows hides extensions, so your file might actually be named Small.png.png without you realizing it. That’s a classic mistake.

Lastly, did you restart the game? Rogue Trader doesn't "hot-swap" portraits. It scans that folder during the initial boot sequence. If you added the files while the game was running, you've got to Alt-F4 and jump back in.

Using Community Tools vs. Manual Installation

Look, doing this manually is fine if you're only adding one or two characters. But if you're like me and you want a library of fifty different options for different playthroughs, it gets tedious.

There are "Portrait Packs" on sites like Nexus Mods. These are lifesavers. Most of them come as a zip file. When you extract them, you’ll see dozens of folders labeled with numbers. You just drop those folders directly into your Portraits directory.

There are also web-based portrait creators. You upload one big image, and the tool crops it and renames it into the three required files for you. It saves about ten minutes of messing around in Photoshop or GIMP. Highly recommended if you aren't comfortable with image editing software.

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The Mac and Linux Situation

If you're playing on a Mac, your path is different. It’s usually under ~/Library/Application Support/unity.Owlcat Games.Warhammer 40000 Rogue Trader/Portraits.

For Steam Deck users (which is a fantastic way to play this game, by the way), you’re looking at the Proton prefix path. It’s a bit of a nightmare to type out:
~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/2186680/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/LocalLow/Owlcat Games/Warhammer 40000 Rogue Trader/Portraits.

Getting files onto a Steam Deck requires switching to Desktop Mode. I suggest using a USB drive or a cloud service like Dropbox to move your art files over. Once they are in that folder, they work exactly the same as they do on a PC.

Making Art Fit the Grimdark Aesthetic

One little tip from an expert: bright, colorful high-fantasy art looks weird in Rogue Trader. The game has a very specific desaturated, painterly style.

If you want your custom portrait to feel "real," try running it through a quick filter. Lower the saturation. Add a bit of "noise" or grain. If you’re feeling fancy, use a smudge tool to give the edges a painted look. This ensures that when your character stands next to Abelard or Argenta, they don't look like they stepped out of a different universe.

Technical Limits and Performance

Does having a massive rogue trader portraits folder slow down the game?

Technically, yes, but barely. The game loads these assets into memory. If you have 500 custom portraits, you might notice an extra few seconds on the initial loading screen. But once you're in the game, it doesn't matter. The game only cares about the portrait assigned to your current Lord Captain and your mercenaries.

Speaking of mercenaries: yes, you can use custom portraits for them too! When you hire a mercenary from High Factotum Janris Danrok, you get the same customization options. This is great for roleplaying a specific squad or a themed retinue.

Practical Steps for a Clean Setup

Stop guessing and just follow this flow. It works every time.

• Create a "Master" folder on your desktop where you keep your original high-res art. Never edit your only copy.
• Use a template. If you use Photoshop, make a canvas that is 692 x 1024 and place guides for where the "Medium" and "Small" crops will be. This ensures the face is centered in all three versions.
• Clear the cache. If portraits are glitching, sometimes you need to delete the PortraitAlignment.json file found in the same AppData location. The game will regenerate it correctly next time you boot up.
• Back up your folders. When the game updates, it rarely touches the LocalLow folder, but it’s always better to be safe. Copy your Portraits folder to a cloud drive. You don't want to lose that perfect custom art after a random Windows update wipes your temp files.

Character immersion is everything in a CRPG. Taking the five minutes to properly set up your folder makes a world of difference when you're eighty hours deep into the Koronus Expanse. It’s the difference between playing "a" character and playing "your" character.

Go ahead and find that folder. Drop in your art. The Emperor—or perhaps the Ruinous Powers—waits for no one. Just make sure the file names are correct, or you'll be staring at a grey box for the next hundred hours. Nobody wants a Lord Captain with no face. It's bad for morale.

Once you have the folder structure set, your next step is to head to the Nexus and look for "Portrait Packs." They often contain hundreds of lore-friendly images that already have the correct folder structure and file names, which can save you hours of manual cropping. Just drag, drop, and you're ready to fly.