Tips for better skins: photos, clothes and patterns

How to take photos that turn into a clean pixel skin, which clothes and patterns read well at 64 x 64, costume skins, and clothing from around the world on a skin.

Updated October 23, 2026

A player skin is tiny: the whole front of the body is 8 pixels wide and 12 tall, and the face is 8 by 8. That is about a hundred pixels to say who someone is. Most of what makes a skin look right is decided before any software runs: the light, the background, the pose and the clothes. These tips come from building and testing Scan2Skin 3D on many photo sets; they help with any skin made from photos, and with skins you draw yourself.

• Halloween costume skins: scan your costume
  Turn a Halloween costume into a player skin: costumes that read well at 64 x 64, costume tops on the outer layer, hats, masks and face paint, and a few ideas.
• How to take photos that make a good skin
  Light, background, pose, clothes and the face close-up: how to take the five photos so the skin comes out clean, and how to do the two-layer jacket scan.
• Hats, layers, patterns and prints at skin size
  What survives at 64 x 64 pixels: hats on the outer layer, stripes that line up with the pixel rows, checks, prints and small details, with examples.
• Clothing from around the world on a pixel skin
  How saris, kimonos, hijabs, turbans, kilts and other garments and head coverings can be shown on a 64 x 64 skin, respectfully, with the person choosing what they wear.
• Culture A to Z: clothing, jewelry and markings
  Every garment, head covering, shoe, piece of jewelry and marking in Scan2Skin 3D, A to Z: what each one is, where it is worn and what it can mean.

The short version

• Even, bright light on the front of the person; no window or lamp behind them.
• A plain background that is a different color from the clothes.
• Stand straight, arms a little away from the body, head to feet in the picture.
• Fitted clothes with big, bold areas of color read best. Fine prints turn into a blur.
• For a jacket you can take off in the game, take the photos twice: jacket off, then jacket on.