about tattoo's

can someone please give me or show me a step by step how to make tatto's i have the tatto's that i want for my templets and i have the templets from SL. but i can't seem to make the tatto's transparent like everyone else does. i do know a little what i'm doing with photoshop and i can't find the turatiol to show me how to do this stuff. i need someone from SL that does tattoo's and know's what there doing. if you can please help me.

This sounds like an alpha channel issue. If I'm reading you right, you've got the tattos placed where you want them, but you're unable to get the area surrounding them to be transparent, right?

You can take some comfort in the fact that you're not alone in asking for help with this, but geez I wish the mods would sticky something already, since this is only the single most often asked question on the whole of the forums. Okay, for the millionth time (paying attention, moderators?), here's my 10 steps to a perfect alpha channel, preceded by an explanation of what they are. Note that the example given is for a bikini top, but the principle is applicable to anything. Just remove "bikini top" and insert "tattoo" in your head while you're reading it.

Color Space & Channels
Images designed to be shown on a color screen are comprised three colors (red, green, & blue). The relative brightness of each of these primary colors in each pixel determines each pixel's actual color. For example, a pixel comprised of equal values of red and blue without any green would appear to be purple.

When taken seperately, the individual values for red, green, or blue are represented by a grayscale image called a channel. In an individual channel, white represents the maximum possible concentration of color and black represents the absense of color. Shades of gray represent amounts of color that are less than the maximum. The darker the gray, the lesser the concentration of color. The lighter the gray, the more color is present. So, to go back to the example of combining red and blue values to make a splotch of purple, the splotch would appear white in the Red Channel, white in the Blue Channel, and black in the Green Channel, the reason being that the splotch contains the maximum possible values of red and blue, but no green.

Channels & Transparency (Alpha Channels)
Images that have transparency have the same three primary color channels and also have a fourth channel, called Alpha, which represents opacity. In the alpha channel, white represents comlete opacity and black represents the absense of opacity (transparency). Shades of gray represent semi-transparency. The darker the gray, the more transparent. The lighter the gray, the more opaque.

So, for example, if you are making a bikini top for your avatar, the alpha channel would be white in the shape of the bikini top, and black everywhere else. The white part makes the bikini top 100% opaque so that you won't be able to see through it when it's on the av, and the black part makes the rest of the image invisible so that there appears to be nothing on the av's arms, stomach, etc.

How to Create an Alpha Channel
Let's stick with the example of a bikini top.

1. On the Layers Palette turn off all layers except for the layer that has your bikini on it. (To turn a layer off, click the eyeball symbol to the left of its name.)

2. If the bikini layer has any white space around the bikini itself, use the eraser to get rid of the white space. It's very important at this stage that the bikini be on its own layer with nothing else on it.

3. On the Layers Palette, ctrl-click the icon for the layer with the bikini on it. (The icon is the little picture of the layer directly to the left of the layer's name.) This will select everything on the layer. You should see the "marching ants" outlining your bikini now.

4. On the Layers Palette, click the tab that says Channels to switch it to the Channels Palette. What you should see listed here are the three primary channels for your image, labled, "Red", "Green", & "Blue", and a master channel for the three, labelled "RGB". If you see any other channels besides those four, delete them now.

5. In the lower right corner of the Palette Window, locate the button that looks like a square sticker being peeled from its backing. It's the second one from the right. It's immediately to the left of the one that looks like a trash can. It says "New Channel" when you hover your mouse over it. Click it.

6. You should now see a new layer called "Alpha 1", which is currently all black. Make sure all channels except for Alpha 1 are turned off and that Alpha 1 is turned on. This should have happened automatically when you created Alpha 1, but if it didn't, do it now.

7. Your canvas should now appear to be solid black with the exception that you should still be able to see the "marching ants" outline of your bikini. Paint everything inside the outline white and leave everything outside of it black.

8. Click "Select" on the menu bar at the top of the screen to pull down the Select Menu. Click "Deselect" and you should see the marching ants disappear.

9. On the Channels Palette, trun the red, green, & blue channels back on, and turn Alpha 1 off. Now click the tab that says layers to switch back to the Layers Palette. Create a new layer by pressing the same button you previously used to create the new channel. (Just as it created a new channel while you were on the Channels Palette, it will create a new layer while you're on the Layers Palette.) Click on the name of this new layer and drag it underneath the layer with the bikini on it. Paint the new layer 50% gray or darker; black is fine. (The gray/black layer will prevent the white halo sometimes caused when Alphas are created the way we just did it. If you don't know what I mean by that, don't worry about. Just make sure to always put a gray/black layer underneath your work and you'll never have to see that white halo.)

10. Save your file as a 32-bit TGA and upload it to SL.

Enjoy.

That's an incredibly wonderful and detailed description Chosen, thank you.

A word about tattoos specifically - all the transparency details are right, but the various design options should be taken into account. In particular designs with 'internal spaces' like the enclosed parts of the letters e, a, o etc. will limit how small you can have the tattoo - same for a design in a circle etc. In theory one transparent pixel shows up, in practise that halo effect often has some impact when you upload the designs to SL, even if there was nothing there to actually cause the haloing.

It's not enough to matter for any single letter I've seen, even in intricate faces (although I've never tried some of the most florid curlicued fonts) but for longer words it is a factor to consider.