For many people the ability to create their vision in second life has a massive appeal. To bang some prims into place to create their first home, a mall or club, perhaps even something that would merit an appearance on Grand Designs.

There are a few ways people create buildings in second life. Some people start with the building then texture; others look at texture ideas to kick-start their creative juices. Either way a good texture has the ability to make a mediocre building look great. Likewise, a texture can have the ability to make a good building look awful.

When it comes to choosing the correct texture for your building, you have several options depending on your time, budget, and experience. Of course, there are many free textures out there. These cover a multitude of categories and can often give many people a good start into creating.
Once the building bug latches on you will want to increase your texture collection and perhaps start spending money on it. When it comes to shopping for textures in SL, there are a lot of little mini hubs and outlets. I will have a look at some of the larger texture outlets and give you an idea on what they have on offer.

Esprit was one of the first texture places I ever visited in SL. Esprit has been here for a while now, however while the textures are good no new ones get added to the collection. One good thing Esprit has over some of the others is the ability to buy texture packs OR single textures. All packs are the same price ($L300) or individuals are $L25 each. The choice at Esprit is limited but may provide you a good starting point to building your collection.



A large clean fresh looking building awaits you upon arrival at RB. The collection here is bigger than Esprit and again the quality looks good. Here you can earn some money while shopping by the camping chairs on offer. You can only buy packs at RB Textures and one slightly annoying factor, I have discovered, is that they are delivered to you in a box meaning you have to unpack before excitedly putting them on your creations.



Textures Unlimited is a far bigger place to shop than the previous two; however, it can be slightly misleading as to how many textures are actually here. Unlike other places you don’t need to click to scroll though the pack contents, they are all on display for you to see. However there are also a LOT of ‘coming soon’ as well. The quality is also high and packs cost on average $L350. From the middle of the store you can use the massive tp board to navigate your way round. I do tend to find the board slightly confusing, it is split up by texture and colour so if, for example, you are trying to find red brick, it might not necessarily be where you expect.



THE original texture shop in SL, TRU is simply huge and awe inspiring. Established in 2004, now with over 35 professional texture artists the TRU collection will not disappoint. The quality here cannot be faulted; all packs vary in size and cost. TRU covers a monumental category base from 3D Gothic buildings to the best in seasonal favourites. Complete with a logical and sensible teleport board in the main entrance; navigating TRU is easy. TRU are currently working on a HUD based system for people to use, now entering its final testing stages, perhaps check the group for updates. Once you have spent some time at TRU you can spot their textures used in many places and are often favoured by some of Second Life’s biggest builders.


Of course, users of SLX will already know that you can get a massive amount of things on the out of world website textures are also here. If you want to shop at your own pace without lag, SLX very well might be an option for you. Please remember however, quality might not always be what it seems.

I have given you a small collection from some of the larger outlets to obtain textures. The final choice really does depend on your experience and own desire to learn new skills. Textures can be made using programs such as Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop. To make some truly fabulous textures on a level with the likes of TRU is not an easy task however, if you have experience of these programs you may well want to begin creating your own textures. Like building, your skills will increase with more practise and you will find yourself with complete control over the whole design process.

It is important to remember that your chosen texture will complete your building, time and care should be taken when choosing what you need. Happy building & texturing!