design tattoos to make money in second life? In second life there are tons of ways to bring in income and in this article we focus on using your artistic talents as a creative means to supplementing your finances. That's right -good ol' Dr. Snot is here with yet another prescription for tasty informational goodness!
Instructions
1. The first step to earning some money making tattoos on Second Life is to create the design itself. Now, there are template files available on second life as well as some download able ones on the internet available in the typical picture file formats. These templates will help you control the position of the tattoo when it is applied to a character. So, keep in mind the relative size and position of the tattoo you are making to the avatar of which they will be applied.
2. Now, if you prefer drawing and designing in real life -I personally prefer drawing the old fashioned way myself -you know, with a pen and paper, but I must admit that since I bought a wacom drawing tablet thing I've been doing a lot more digital drawing -they make awesome tablets and it feels more like real life drawing than I expected, So if any of you fellow artists out there have wondered if they are worth a &%$@ -oohh yeah! Anyway, back on the topic, if you want to use physical drawings, then you will need to first scan your pictures with a scanner (or take a digital photo if you don't have access to a scanner.)
3. Now take your digital picture file (or draw your tattoo with photo editing software -which if you are creating the tattoo during this process, you may find it better to use the body outline template discussed earlier and put it on a layer underneath the layer you are drawing your tattoo on.) Once you have your completed digital tattoo picture that is cropped, cleaned up and fit to match the body texture template continue to the next step.
4. Take your completed picture and convert it to the file format of your choosing -in this case, since it is a line drawing -I would recommend a .png file format, some prefer other formats and that's fine, but a .png file is more scaling friendly for line drawings. Also, one more thing to consider, if it is a large detailed file, you may wish to break it up into layers (some use as many as three layers to maximize the detail and look of realism relative to the avatar through which it is being worn.) Experiment and decide what works best for you, sometimes one layer is enough.
5. Now, take your picture files and upload them as a texture to your second life account. Find them in your inventory and apply them to an object of your choosing. Many people will package their tattoos as a transparent undershirt object and layer up with other shirts, however this can also be annoying or impossible if someone wants to wear the tattoo along with a shirt. Alternatively, you can make the tattoo a part of a direct skin texture, if you go this route though, you will want to make the tattoo include a desirable skin texture so that the user can still have good looking skin with your tattoo. I've seen it done both ways and both ways work fine. Any simple texture should do.
6. Now it's time to prepare the tattoo for sale, first take your tattoo object you've created and right click the object and then click 'edit' now from the open window, and finally click 'for sale' and set a price. Also, a packaging is necessary -I have an article that explains this a little more clearly, but the process is pretty simple, if you already know skip the next step, otherwise continue reading....
7. Okay, you want to create a package to sell your tattoo in, this typically comes in the form of a small poster or a box which displays your tattoo and some general information at your discretion. You can list the price, layers, how its worn ect. To do so -you will probably want to either find someone to model your tattoo or model it yourself so people will see on the box art/ picture how the tattoo is going to look. Create this picture with a screen capture and transfer the modeled tattoo picture into your preferred photo editing software. Then make it look good, add the information you want, although, i would suggest avoiding putting a price on the picture as money in second life, is just like money in real life -it fluctuates like an organism, so putting a price on the picture may result in you having to redo the picture later if the price needs to go up or down. Put your name on the picture and make a brand name for yourself while your at it, so if people appreciate your skills, they might just come back to you for more. Once you have created the box art, apply it to an object in second life as you did with your tattoo, but make it a package object that contains your tattoo when your cost is met via the for sale option.
8. Once you have taken your tattoo design and plugged it into an object within second life, its time to market and promote it. Take your tattoos to shopping malls and areas you think your tattoo might sell and rent out a space, and build up your store -keep track of how much you spend promoting and be careful not to spend to much in the process -with a watchful eye, you should learn the market and process pretty quickly, and in doing so make some decent money! Don't give up!!!! And, for the most part, the people on Second Life are great people and will most likely have more good pointers and help for you. Dr. Snot wishes you luck and success fellow artist!!!!
Tags: your tattoo, second life, Once have, people will, real life