[Anybody know how I might create a hammered metal texture?]

I don't have time atm to do much but skim your answer, Poenald, but thank you for the details.  I'll actually be making jewelry pieces with the texture.  I don't know what the pieces will look like, yet, I just know I want to do something with a hammered metal texture.

[Anybody know how I might create a hammered metal texture?]

I'd like to create a hammered metal texture with the same look as the vase in this link:

http://www.housetohome.co.uk/products/type/accessories/vases/Hammered_metal_vase_from_Woolworths_25467.html?subslug=

Anybody have experience doing this?

[Texturing a sculpty: texture repeats and blurriness]

Wow, Chosen.  Once again, thank you.

Thanks also to the other responders (though I will say that I'm not interested in circumventing protections/perms the sculptor has in place).

Wakizashi, I'll definitely check out the software you mentioned.

[Show us those shoes!]

Are content creators welcome?  I just made these fur wedges:

 

[Does having a security device reduce sales?]

Beautifully put, Scylla.

[Texturing a sculpty: texture repeats and blurriness]

Thanks again for the info.  In the case of this sculpty, it was created by somebody else and is protected by an alpha, so I can't edit it directly.  However, I'll be working with my own sculpties soon enough, and this is all going to be really helpful.

[Texturing a sculpty: texture repeats and blurriness]

The texture I am using is a crushed velvet 512 x 512.  I definitely get your point, Chosen, about not always needing to see perfect detail, but in this case, I was losing even the suggestion of what it was.

I woke up this morning realizing I'd need to stretch the highlighting/shading over a vertically doubled texture (looks almost as good at 2/1 as at 2.5/1) rather than squishing the texture down, exactly as you mentioned.  It worked beautifully.  I rarely go above 512 with any of my texturing (except to combine smaller textures into one conglomerate), but in this case, 512 x 1024 was the thing that worked.

Many thanks for the extra tips and suggestions.

[Does having a security device reduce sales?]

As a customer:  stores using RedZone lost my business.  Stores spamming me with their copybot-protection-chat drove me away. If it doesn't infringe on my privacy or annoy me, I don't care.

As a merchant:  I do not personally waste money on "security devices."

[Texturing a sculpty: texture repeats and blurriness]

I am attempting to texture a sculpty.  I cannot export the sculpty from SL to paint in a 3D program as it is alpha protected.

 

The raw texture, without painted highlights/shading, looks best with repeats set at 2.5.  

 

When I take the texture from SL and into PS, squish it the appropriate percentage, then add highlights/shading where they should be, it looks like pure crap.  I can't even tell what the material is supposed to be anymore, it's so blurry.

 

(Already checked: I'm squishing on the appropriate dimension to 40%.)

 

Is there any way around this?  I don't have this problem when not attempting to compensate for needed repeats.

 

Should this be in answers?

[What store layouts have improved your sales?]

Thanks for your input, I've got a very different idea of what I want to do, now.

[Texture Optimization]

I find I have real issues with blurriness if I download anything other than square in SL, even if I pre-squish it in Photoshop to a power of two.  Is there something I could be doing better, or is it just best to work with square images?

[Texture Optimization]

Wow, Chosen, great guide.

 

I am curious about what I'd read some time ago: that using four 512's combined in a 1024 (as an example) makes for quicker loading because there is only one texture to read, rather than four.  Is this accurate?

[What store layouts have improved your sales?]

I'm building a nicer, larger store, but would like a bit of advice before I go beyond the sketch phase.

 

* Have you made changes to your store layout that improved sales?  That reduced sales?

* Have you found that putting a second floor in reduces sales for products on the second floor?  Did it depend on whether the second floor was easily open to viewing, i.e, a balcony?

* Did close, intimate spaces work better, or more open spaces?  Separate areas, or one big room?

* What else should I consider?

 

Many thanks.