Step by Step Tattoo making with free software

[JulieAnne Rau]

I have been looking the last couple of days for a step by step tutorial of how to make a tattoo in SL.  Everything I've seen so far is out of date, photoshop 7.0.1 does not load onto windows 10 as a legacy program or the gimp program I have does not save in targa file format.  I'm at a loss as to where to start.  I'd buy a program if I knew exactly what program to buy and someone had a step by step tutorial that I could follow so I'm not wasting my time anymore.  Not sure I need an applier since my skin is not mesh.  Can anyone help me please?

[Tazzie Tuque]

Sorry but I am not sure what you are looking for exists.  As far as I know the only program of this type that is free is gimp, but someone else may have found one..  I am a die hard Photoshop junkie, so in my opinion,  if you want a lot of options, and to be able to do the tricky stuff well, you pretty much need to invest in Photoshop.  If you do, there are tons and tons of helpful videos out there.

[JulieAnne Rau]

Thanks, I do t mind investing in photoshop but there are a lot of options in photoshop cs6 cs7 whatever they are?  What program do you use?

[Tazzie Tuque]

1 hour ago, JulieAnne Rau said:

What program do you use?

I own Photoshop CS5  but it cannot be updated with the latest tools etc..  So I switched to Photoshop CC,  have to get a subscription as they do not sell it on it's own.. my subscription is the lowest cost one,  in Canada it costs me about 15$ Can. per month.. in the US it is 11$ something.  To me it is totally worth it.. I would be out of business without it for more than just SL.

[Tess Falworth]

Photoshop/Adobe can also be used as a monthly subscription, so you can do that and see if that is an option for you? I am a Mac user, so I have Pixelmator. It can open and save and manipulate all photoshop files, as well as TGA, etc etc.. etc.. Its a pretty powerful program, but it is only for Macs. GIMP is ok but.. I think the user interface is incredibly hard to use. If you are a windows user I'd recommend signing up for the Adobe Cloud and using photoshop that way, like Tazzie said. As for making a tattoo, I don't know that there are step by step instructions per se.  Since you are not a mesh user, and you are using a system skin you will not need to use an applier, as you said originally. Appliers are not complicated really; its mostly just building your own or using the Omega system, which one of my fave tattoo shops does. The good thing about using system layers is that with Bake On Mesh, you will be able to use those system tattoos if you do decide to go a mesh body/head. 

I know how to make eye appliers as well as makeup and have made very simple tattoos for personal use for myself. I wish I could be of more help!

 

[Tazzie Tuque]

oh and I forgot to mention, I have made many tattoos on system layers in Photoshop and all come out perfect..  clean and clear.  If you decide to go with Photoshop CC,  personal message me and I can walk you through doing a tattoo.. it is pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

[JulieAnne Rau]

I think I figured out how to make a tattoo using the free software gimp... But from the video I'm watching he guy talks about a "simple tattoo applier" ?  Do you know where I can get one of those?  something about copying the UUID into it...

 

[Peony Sweetwater]

If you’re not using a mesh body, or if you’re using BOM, you won’t need an applier. You can create a new tattoo layer in your inventory, wear it and then edit it. Add the texture to the correct part of the body, save and you’re done. 

Im not sure that I’ve seen a video of the process for system layers, but you might be able to work it out.