How to make a Minecraft skin of yourself from photos
Turn photos of yourself into a player skin: which photos to take, how they become pixel art, the free fixes, and how to put the skin on in the game.
A skin of yourself is a 64 x 64 portrait: your hair, skin tone, eyes and clothes in a few dozen colors. You can draw one by hand, but photos make it quick: Scan2Skin 3D reads the photos and draws the skin as pixel art, free in your browser or in the iPhone and Android app. Here is the whole process, start to finish.
1. Choose how to take the photos
- Guided photos: someone holds the camera and takes five photos, front, left side, back, right side and a face close-up. On the website the computer's camera works too, with a self-timer.
- Scan yourself, in the app: prop the phone up and turn on the spot while spoken cues guide you.
- A walk-around, in the Android app on phones with depth from motion: someone walks around you once.
- Photos already taken, on the website: choose five at once, or a single front photo for a one-layer skin.
2. Take photos that read well
- Even, bright light on your front, and no window behind you.
- A plain background in a different color from your clothes.
- Stand straight, arms a little away from your sides, head to feet in the picture.
- Bold, fitted clothes read best; fine prints blur at skin size.
More in photos that make a good skin.
3. Make the skin
Each photo is checked as it is taken, with a hint when one needs a retake. Then Make skin draws the skin in seconds, and a 3D preview shows it from every side. Everything happens on your device: the photos are never uploaded, and they are deleted when the capture ends.
4. Fix what you like
- Free quick fixes: another skin tone or hair tone, how vivid the clothes are, Classic or Slim arms, the hood and the jacket.
- Clothing and head coverings from around the world, free: see Culture A to Z.
- The pixel editor changes any pixel. On the website it is free; in the apps it comes with Pro.
5. Put it on in the game
Download the PNG, or the skin pack for Bedrock, and follow the guide for your edition, Java Edition or Bedrock Edition, or for your device: iPhone and iPad, Android or Windows. Not sure which edition you have? See Java or Bedrock.
Why it might not look like you
A face is 8 by 8 pixels, so a skin is a likeness, not a photo. Most differences come from the light: a shadow on the face or a window behind you changes the colors. Retake in better light, or use the skin tone fix. For the face itself, see drawing a face at 8 x 8.
Scanning someone else
Only scan someone who agrees, and ask a parent before scanning a child; the app asks you to confirm before the first scan. See the guide for parents.
Make a skin now, in your browser: five guided photos with the camera, or photos already taken. Nothing is uploaded. The Scan2Skin 3D app for iPhone and Android adds scan yourself, HD skins and Pro.
Make a skin About the phone app