YourTool guide
Minecraft base layer vs outer layer
The base and outer layers occupy different regions of one skin PNG. They serve different visual purposes: the base establishes the character’s underlying appearance; the outer layer places details slightly above that surface. They are not two separate skin files.
Build a readable base first
Treat the base as a complete design that still makes sense when the overlay is hidden. Put the face, underlying clothing colors and broad silhouettes here. An outer jacket should not be the only place where the torso has a coherent appearance.
Do not rely on transparent holes in the base to remove parts of the character in Minecraft. The studio preserves PNG alpha, but game rendering and accepted skin rules differ from a general-purpose image editor. For predictable use, keep the visible base surfaces opaque.
Use the overlay for depth and optional details
The outer layer is drawn over the base on a slightly larger surface. Hair edges, hat brims, jacket cuffs and a raised pocket can use this separation. Transparent outer pixels reveal the base underneath; painting the entire outer surface opaque hides the corresponding base details.
These layers have separate UV rectangles. Selecting the outer layer changes where edits are written; changing preview visibility only changes what you see. Hiding an overlay is not the same as erasing it.
Check the design in both states
View the character with only the base visible, then enable the overlay. Rotate the preview to check whether hair covers an eye or a cuff interrupts a hand. A detail that looks correct on the flat PNG can sit differently on the raised surface.
Use an eraser on the outer layer to open a window onto the base. Replacing an unwanted outer color with white does not reveal the shirt: white is still an opaque painted pixel.
- Keep broad shading consistent across both layers.
- Check seams on front, back and side faces.
- Save a separate copy before flattening or changing the design outside the studio.
Know what the file preserves
A modern 64×64 skin stores the two texture regions in one PNG, so normal skin export retains their separation and alpha. The filename does not identify which region is the base; the atlas coordinates do.
Legacy 64×32 skins have an outer head region, but not the full modern set of outer body and limb regions. Minecraft Skin Studio keeps that limitation explicit. For a jacket with independent outer sleeves, start with a modern layout rather than assuming that enlarging an old PNG creates new painted regions.