Back and Front

I am new at working with Photoshop (CS3) and making clothing. It can get kind of frustrating, but I am sure everyone had been there at one point or another.

I have a very stupid newbie question on the clothing templates by Chip Midnight and Robin Sojourner. Why are they not marked with which of the pieces are front and back? I know the shirt is obvious, but what about the sleeve portion? The pants or skirt templates? Is it assume that the left portions are front and the right are the backs? Can anyone tell me which is the top of the sleeve and which is the bottom?

Thanks!

It's not quite as simple as that, Morgaine. Yes, the sleeves are top and bottom halves, but the tricky part is learning where they join in the armpit. It's not intuitive. The best way to see what I mean is to upload the upper and lower body templates as textures and create a full body suit out of them. Wear it in SL and study where the match lines meet across template segments. Take LOADS of photos from different angles and at varying levels of detail. After you have studied them carefully, you'll get a much better idea of how the pieces fit together, and where the trouble spots are.

The next trick is to draw some lines on the templates where you typically might expect to put a collar or the bottom edge of a bra or the cuff on a sleeve. Again, upload THAT image to SL and wear it. You'll be surprised at where the lines ACTUALLY fall, and how distorted they can be at certain spots on your avatar. An exercise like that can help immensely when you are learning how to apply decoration and where it is safe to cut a pattern.

Good luck. This is potentially a frustrating time for you, but if you take it easy and make careful observations, they will pay off for you quickly.

For the torso, the left section is front and the right section is back. On the arms, the top arm section is the top of the arm with the front of the arm at the top (you can tell by the location of the thumb) and the bottom of the arm on the bottom with the front of the arm at the bottom.

For the legs, the left section is the back and the right is the front (you can tell by the polygon structure).

For the foot, the inside of the foot on both the top and bottom sections is on the right side, so the big toe goes on the right side and the little toe on the left.

For the sides of the head, the left head and ear sections attach to the ride side of the front of the head (which is the avatar's left side), and the right sections connect to the left side (which is the avatar's right).

Thank you! This helps immensely.

Hi Rolig and all.

I just wanted to say I did that template suit and it
is helping immensely!

Thank you so much for that tip.

I have used search and find nothing regarding the sleeves with a shirt or jacket.
I want to add a design to the sleeves and want it to end up on each elbow....does anyone know how to do this...sorry to be so new at this ....I need help...thanks