How do I get started?

I just started Second Life & being pretty tech savvy, I've mastered the basics & such. I'm a fashion student as well as a semi-pro graphic designer (I taught myself when I was 12 & I've been learning ever since.) Naturally, I want to design & sell clothing, maybe even skins. I have photoshop 6.0 & I'm great with the program. I know where I want to go with this but I'm not sure how to get started. Any helpful information I can get would be greatly appreciated. Crossing my fingers I came to the right place - Thank you !

Start with the stickied threads that appear in yellow at the top of the Texturing Tips forum. This will give you some ideas as to the possibilities.

Welcome aboard!

The first thing to do is to read through each of the sticky threads at the top of this forum. I know ..... they are long and tedious to read, but they are also LOADED with vital information. If you take the time to read them carefully now, you will save a lot of grief later. Pay particular attention to the stickies that deal with file formats and with the way alpha channels are handled. The greatest number of panic questions in this forum come from people who haven't understood that information.

Oh, and download the folder of avatar templates and a copy of Johan's SCLP program, both of which are also in those stickies. You'll need them.

Next, I suggest that you work out a learning regime that fits your own style. There are many classes offered in world. Use the SL Search function to look under Events >> Education for clothing and texturing classes that strike your fancy. You may also have luck finding people willing to do some one-on-one tutoring, or at least answer questions when you get bogged down. This forum is a GREAT place to turn when you are trying to solve a knotty problem, too. I suggest that you always try searching the forum's archives first, to see if someone else has already asked a related question.

It's nice that you already have experience with Photoshop. There's a lot of discussion in the forum about the relative merits of the leading graphic arts programs, but you can't go wrong with Photoshop. I do suggest, though, that you look to upgrading to a more recent version than 6.0. Later versions are much more flexible and have tools that will make clothing design a lot easier. If you look through the past week's discussions here, you will notice a flurry of excitment about CS4, which is about to be released. This may not be an affordable option for you right now, but something to think hard about, depending on how serious you are. Meanwhile 6.0 will work.

Unless you are already adept at handling other tools, I'd suggest holding off on them until you have a firm feel for how to handle SL's native building routines. Almost all objects in SL, including clothing, are created in world by manipulating prims. The earlier you sharpen your skills for doing that, the better off you will be.

Other than that, keep your eyes open and your imagination sharp. Visit lots of clothing shops, look at what people are wearing, and get in the habit of asking yourself how things are put together. And experiment.

Have fun.