Yet another newbie question... Though I'm nowhere near able to create textures for poser characters and objects from scratch, I have been trying to make minor modifications to existing textures. Some things, like altering skin color, work okay -- I just open the texture file jpg in Photoshop, change the tonal values, save s a new file and load it in the P5 materials room. However, when I try to add localized features (tatoos, wounds, scars) to the texture file using this technique, the results are disappointing. The modification looks okay in Photoshop, but when loaded into Poser, the effect is blurry and poorly defined... quite a contrast from the fine-grained accuracy of the original high-def texture file. Obviously my approach isn't the right one, but after diligent research, I have yet to find an alternative that works. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Mike

With black tattoos, try creating two layers - on the lower one, add a slight gaussian blur and set the mode to colour burn and on the upper layer add a sharpen filter. Play with the opacity on the burn layer (I find around 45% works well). For coloured tattoos, try a slight drop shadow. It sounds nuts, but it does work. Alternatively, another two-layer technique: set the lower layer opacity to around 75%, normal mode, and the upper layer to 'colour' mode. Play with the opacity and see what effect you get. This works with some colours, but not all. Wounds and scars need a bump map to look right in Poser. There are a few different tutorials out there, but for a simple bump map just greyscale the texture and add some contrast. If you're using Poser 5, you'll want to set the bump strength quite low (P5 is way too 'enthusiastic' about bumps).

One thing springs to mind when you mention "blurred" looks. You ARE rendering the image, right? (Ctrl-R) Also check what size your texture map is. The larger the map is, the crisper your texture will turn out :o)

Make sure you aren't rendering in draft mode~ I know this was posted a long time ago but no one seems to have said this yet. If your original texture is not blurry, and you are rendering in draft mode, you will get blurry outlines. I had the same problem until I told it to render in production mode.