just getting started...

OK...I Have Photoshop 7.0 and have downloaded the SL skin templates, I am not looking to create a skin from scratch using the templates (at the moment)... so is there a way to export a copy of a free mod/copy/trans skin from SL to inhance it...Make it a custom skin. I wish to make a custom skin for myself, but nothing I do seems to bring it out of SL into my texture folder in my HD... (help?)

Hi Graphicguru

Welcome to SL and the forums

you will need to find a mull mod rights skin to be able to do what you intend and most skin creators will not allow that for obvious reasons, they would have people ripping off their skins left right and centre. I don't know of any creators who sell modifiable skins, maybe someone else will be able to help you more than I can.

Rhia xx

Hi GG. Eloh Eliot has made available under an open source (BSD) license, not only full-perm skins (you can pick them up inworld) but also the PSD files for them which you can simply download directly (see her blog http://eloheliot.blogspot.com/; you'll have to dig around thru the postings over the last month or so). Most of these skins were for women, but her most recent one is a man's skin.

In an astonishingly short amount of time, Eloh's "Another" skin line has spawned a group of creators, and they have mounted a charity skin sale this week. They gather somewhere ... flickr? I forget ... and show their stuff as well.

However, to directly answer your question, saving a skin texture to your hard drive is the same as saving any other texture. [I think there are 3 textures involved for a skin ... but SOO totally could be wrong about that. Someone more knowledgable will be along shortly to correct me, I hope]. You open one up so it is displayed in a window, select the window, then go to the File menu and choose Save Texture As to make a local copy.

if you go to avatar island you can have your face put on a skin (use any face, doesn't HAVE to be yours) and they send you the actual textures, via email
not a skin in world

so that would give you a good base to start making skins from PLUS it is yours, not someone elses that you are tweaking

edited to add

wow I just checked out this site http://eloheliot.blogspot.com/ and damn nice stuff there
downloaded a couple of the textures and very nice for those who want to learn, being she has them layered, makes it nice to customize

I will have fun with these