Shrink Texture?

Hello and greetings,

I'm relatively new to SL and trying to get a handle on a few things. This is probably a simple question but I've not found the answer yet and, the search function for these boards seems a bit...lacking. Anyway..

I was trying to create a texture that's basically nothing more than a simple sign. Background coloring with some lettering. However it seemed that no matter what size I saved the TGA at, and uploaded it, it was too large for the object I planned on using it for. IE, the lettering would either wrap the entire object, or, if I selected only one face for the texture, you couldn't see all the lettering because it was being cut off.

I know the answer to seeing all the lettering is something simple, but, I'm missing it. Any help would be appreciated. And sorry ahead of time for such a newb question.

In the texture tab for the prim you are placing the image on, set repeats per face (X & Y) to 1.

I tried that, still seemed a bit "stretched" even though it didn't repeat. Perhaps I am saving the image file too large?

Chosen made a rather definitive guide on the subject. But I'm not sure if this addresses your problem which may be one of aspect ratio.

Suppose you upload a 512x256 image for a sign. Even though the original has an aspect of 2:1, when applied to a prim it will have whatever aspect the prim has. Thus, you need to make the sign prim have the same aspect as the original (e.g. 2m x 1m).

Another problem you may be seeing is that of margins. If your artwork extends right out to the edge of the canvas, you'll get some funny artefacts from the algorithm that ensures that a texture fully wrapped around a prim looks smooth. Give yourself at least 5 pixels all around the art which should either be the dominant background color or full-alpha (invisible).

Hope that helps.

Ah thanks, I'll look at the link. But the more I think of it, perhaps it is one of aspect ratio. I was especially having this problem when trying to use the texture on not square creations. I'll play around a bit tonight and see what I can do based on ratio. Thanks.

What shape are you applying the texture to? If just a box, you should get one copy of the texture on each face. There is no wrapping. If you apply to one face your texture will completely cover it and not wrap to other faces.

If you've applied, say, a 2:1 ratio texture (e.g. 512x256) to a 2:1 ratio surface (e.g. 2m by 1m) and the text is stretched, you've probably got it rotated 90 degrees. Just rotate it.

Oh, and the Venerable Chosen on Transparency (for completeness).

Thanks for the plugs, Mal. You might want to edit your first post though. Both links are pointing to the same place.

I want to thank all of you, I think I may have had a couple of issues going on and am looking forward to playing with it some. I was actually trying to apply the texture to a rotating pyramid when encountering the most trouble. I seemed to have done "ok" on a rotating globe.

It's funny, I'm finding I enjoy SL a lot, not only because of SL itself, but because it's teaching me about so many other programs I have that I've barely even really touched, such as PSP. The building aspect is refreshing my geometry and math skills (especially metric system!) while I'm learning more about PSP since I've been in SL than I ever had previously.

The Redoubtable Chosen Strikes Again.