The "freaky transparent texture" depends on several things. It could be that the texture is using a "Procedure", which won't show up correctly until rendered, or it could be your display settings which are affecting the preview. You can render a scene as often as you like. You don't re-render a render, just click on the Preview tab at the top of your workspace to go back and try again. When you have an image you're happy with, go to the little black arrow at the right of the workspace and select "Export image". I recommend saving in TIF or PNG format (I prefer PNG) because they are better image quality than JPG and they also will allow you to layer your images easier if necessary.

Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.

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