Quote - Yea, those two approaches are used for two slightly different purposes, and can even be mixed together. You get to a certain point in photoshop and use blending nodes for additional variations. There is definitely some overlap in what those two methods are capable of.

When I make stuff, the way I decide which method to use... I always ask myelf what it is I am try to accomplish, then use what is likely to give me a good balance of quality and file economy (considering package size and program performance).... and in case of supporting both, Poser and DS I have to consider program differences.

Same...and I agree with Surreallity about file sizes. Plus not all programs read PSD files. I keep my master file which I then save a finished image in the format I need for the various maps.