It's not actually my trick...LOL. I learned that from someone else a long time ago...hehehehehe. And it's always been the best method for me anyway. Just remember to turn your stars up really bright and the density down a little. Then your freckles will be big enough without having too much to erase ;o). Noise never quite did the trick since the dots turn out too small and angular and they get square if you use Maximum or Minimum on them. Glitterato makes nice circles ;o). Something else you might want to try (especially if you are making a high-res tex) is to add slight noise to the freckles themselves after you've colorized them. Play with lightening some and darkening others as not all freckles are created equally and have color variations, even within a single freckle. That's if you want to get REALLY detailed...LOL. Laurie