Whether you have been playing Minecraft for some time or are new to the game, one thing you will likely want to do at some point is create a new skin for your character. Indeed, one of the things that makes Minecraft so unique among online games, other than the fusion of building, killing, and social networking into a single game platform, is the ability to alter one’s appearance.
Naturally, even after changing your skin you will still LOOK like a blockhead, but at least after reading this little tutorial you will feel less like one.
Indeed, changing skins is as easy as changing clothing, if you know what to do…and it really is very simple. So let’s get started.
Virtually every Minecraft skin editor is simple and similar. The only major differences are the colors and designs that are available to users. Most use a simple, block format, which is appropriate considering the entire game is played/created using blocks, as if playing in a computerized sandbox.
The first thing you will notice when opening the editor is that it is divided into three sections.
- The upper half of the editor is where you will find the various parts to re-skin. You will find sections such as head, feet, and hands along with the various sides of the features.
- The lower-left section is the color palate. This is where you choose the base colors of the parts you are changing. There are three tabs here that allow you to make alterations to these colors, depending on your mood.
- The lower-right shows your character. You can rotate your character to get better views at him which is useful when trying to create special items like tool-belts or fancy shoes.
Now, on with the simple stuff.
Left-Click on a color in either the color wheel view or the basic color palate; the color does not matter. Now left-click and drag on the head. If you don’t like the color, you don’t have to keep it. If ever you do make changes you don’t like, before moving on all you need to do is go to the upper-left of the Minecraft skin editor to the “edit” tab. Select this tab and on the dropdown menu, select “undo.” A handy short-cut here in most versions is the control-Z key, which as with most Windows programs allows the same undo option (Note: This may not work for versions other than Windows).
Something else you noticed when dragging the mouse over your characters head was the size of the paint stroke. Look again next to the edit tab in the upper-left of the skin editor. You should see a tab that says, “brushstroke” or “brushsize.” This is where you decide how much skin you want to cover.
The beauty of all the minecraft skin editor programs is that just as with Minecraft, everything is done in blocks. This greatly simplifies the process of creating custom skins on Minecraft. A simple game, with simple skins, and a whole lot of fun.
