A "trans" map, as stated above is a "transparency" map. It is (usually) a grey-scale image. In Poser, the whiter the pixel, the less the transparency. It needs to be applied to the transparency node (in P5, I don't know what the equivalent is called in P4). This allows varying degrees of transparency oon the material, so you can make holes, or "thin-looking" bits in the material. A "bump" map (as also stated above), gives the impression of the material being displaced from the mesh. Again, it needs to be applied the the bump channel (or the displacement channel in P5 - but that's getting complicated so I won't go there). Bump maps are also mainly grey-scale images, with bloack providing no displacement, and white displacing to the maximum. Bump maps can be used to make shadows appear on cloth that has bits that project from the main material (as in brocade; it can also be used for buttons.) Bump maps are by no means essential, especially if the cloth is to be used for background figures (the anti-aliasing will probably lose any distinctions). Both of these are useful in varying degrees for various scenes, but it's up to you as to whether you want to go to the trouble of creating them. Many items I've seen have bump/trans maps created simply by taking the original texture and creating a grey-scale image from it. Occasionally (but not usually), this approach works. Especially for close-ups... I'd advise you, for now, to ignore both, and just go about creating straight-forward textures. Once you're happy with that, then play around with bump/trans as you find the inclination. The best way to learn is to do it, and try it:-)) Cheers, Diolma