pixelized tattoo question

Hello

I am new to making some tattoo's using PS CS2.
I use 1024x1024 image size and cut out the images with the pen tool.
color is in a separate layer, and I know how to make an alpha without the halo.
When I put the tats on an undershirt they still look pixelized up close.
I've been playing with the pix/inch but it does not help.
Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ?

Thanx,

A few things:

First of all, if you're working at 1024x1024, you should downsize to 512x512 before you upload. All outfits in SL are baked to 512x512 internally anyway, so you don't benefit from the 1024. All you do is slow things down, since you have to download twice as much information before you can see your outfit.

Second, as you discovered, pixels per inch is meaningless. That only matters for print. For all images on-screen, a pixel is a pixel is a pixel. How many of them happen to fit into an inch is arbitrary, and depends entirely on your monitor. And for textures, even the monitor doesn't get a say. PPI has no significance whatsoever for textures. A texture has no idea what an inch even is. All it knows is that they're a certain amount of pixels wide, and a certain amount of pixels tall. That's it.

Third, what do you mean you're "cutting out the images"? Are you extracting these tattoos from pre-existing imagery, or are you drawing them yourself?

As for the pixelization problem, it's pretty hard to diagnose what's going on without seeing pictures of it. I'll make a few guesses, though. If you're extracting the tattoos from pre-existing pictures, perhaps you're not doing it all that cleanly at the per pixel level. If that's the case, it might look OK on the flat canvas, but when the image is wrapped around the 3D model, it stretches, and the jags become more pronounced. Or perhaps you're just applying the tattoo to an area of the avatar which doesn't have a whole lot of pixels on it, so it's being stretched. Depending on what body part you're targeting, often you'll find it's better to apply the tattoo to an otherwise transparent attached prim than to put it on a clothing layer. Or it could just be that your outfit is slow to bake since you're using such large textures. In that case, it's going to look blurry for a while, no matter what, until it has a chance to work itself out. Things will sharpen up much faster if you use 512x512 textures like you're supposed to.

If it's not any of those things, please post some screenshots so we know what we're talking about.

Ok, I see what you mean. I had some trouble getting my head around screen vs print resolution.
It's easier for me to draw on paper with a feltpen, scan the image and then clean it up.
But that's because my PS skills suck.
I did not think of using a transparent prim , I will try that , thanks.