is there a walk through

hello everyone, im totally lost in the sauce i was trying to make a tattoo with gimp also got a copy of adobe as per ur advice i read the sl getting started manual and still its foggy to me
i have all the templets in a folder i have the pics of tats i wanna make iload up adobe and use the magic wand to make the part of the picture transparent use alpha blend inverse and i save it as a targa , ot tga what am i doing wrong theres just so many steps like in adope how do u anchor the tat on the templet or the same for gimp i have many questions and lots of time to learn and willing to take the time but i have to say these programs have a lot to offer can some one explain step by step how to make a tattoo i have pictures i want to use for intance i have a pic of a real tattoo of a indidn on someones arm
when i load the pic in adobe or gimp i use 512 bgy 512 set it to transparent as i was told thats a good start for the pic in sl i just am not doing something right so could someone explain maby include like a pic walkthrough i feel retarted

Hi Ellit In Photoshop, try the following...

Position your tattoo on the template where you want it. Create a selection of all the parts of the image you want to be opaque. Go up to the selection menu and choose "save selection." On the dialogue that pops up choose "alpha" from the drop down list, or if nothing is in the list already you can just use "new." That will create an alpha channel based on your selection. Save the image as a 32bit TGA and you're good to go.

thanks chip

Hi Ellit. It sound like Chip answered your question already (Chip's awesome), but if you want to do a little more reading, here's my standard 10 step tutorial on how to create alpha channels, preceded by an explanation of what they are. I've pasted this tutorial into many threads on this forum, and just about everyone has found it helpful. My girlfriend was able to follow it, and she'd never previously used Photoshop in her life so I know it's fool proof. The tutorial is for a bikini top, but it will work for anything. In your case, just remove the words "bikini top" and insert the word "tattoo".

Since you said you "got a copy of Adobe", but you didn't specify which Adobe program it is, I should probably mention that this is for all versions of Photoshop other than 7.0. If you have 7.0, get the free upgrade to 7.0.1 from Adobe.com. Also, Photoshop is not to be confused with Photoshop Elements. PS is to PSE as MS Word is to Wordpad. They share some of the same buttons, but they're not the same program. If you have PSE, don't bother with it. It can't do transparency with TGA.

Anyway, here's some good explanatory info for you:


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.

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 thumbnail for the layer with the bikini on it. (The thumbnail 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.

Can't believe I didn't remember that post, Chosen. LL really needs to sticky that at the top of the forum.