Fumbling in Tattoo and PS

Maybe someone out there can help me. I downloaded Tattoo and the mannequins from this site and got those integrated, had fun painting on the avatar, but then I tried to download a clothing (tga) file into the Tattoo program from Photoshop. I made an alpha channel, but when I downloaded my clothing file to Tattoo, all I could do was toggle back and forth between the avatar and my PS clothing file via the Shift bar. How can I "put" the clothing on the avatar or is this not possible? Thanks for any help Also how can I change the name of the file I save from Tattoo so I can access it in SL? As you can tell, I'm quite new.

I haven't found a way in the GUI to do it, but once you open the model in Tattoo, it'll toss a few PNG textures into the folder. Convert the source texture to PNG (it's probably a TGA) and make sure it's 512x512, then rename it to the proper texture name in the folder. Next time you start Tattoo, your source texture will be applied to the appropriate location.

If there's an easier way, someone let me know, I haven't found one.

there is a file that tattoo loads -- MATERIAL_UPPERBODY.PNG and MATERIAL_LOWERBODY.PNG

when you save from photoshop, save them into tattoo's load folder as MATERIAL_UPPERBODY.TGA and MATERIAL_LOWERBODY.TGA and delete the PNG versions.

when you load an avatar in tattoo, you will then see your clothes. You won't see alpha channels, as far as i can tell.

when you save out of tattoo, it will overwrite the MATERIAL_ files which you can then load in photoshop (lose your layers of course)

I knew somebody could help me... Thanks !!!!!! Love this Forum

I've discovered that Tattoo is awesome for outlining skin elements, but detail is -much- easier done in Photoshop or Gimp. For instance, I'm currently working on a set of boots with stripes on them in very particular locations, and although the idea of doing all the detail work in Tattoo makes me shoot blood out of my eyes and ears, it's -perfect- for lining up the stripes on the sides of the leg (where the texture jumps from front to back) and on the top of the foot (where it jumps from legs to foot area).