Free Minecraft skin bases

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What a skin base is

A skin base is a skin with part of the work already done: the blank or half-dressed figure you build your own character on. Skin artists use the word loosely, so it helps to split bases by how much is painted. All of them are ordinary skin files; the difference is where the base author stopped and where you start.

A base is not the same thing as a template. A template is a labelled map of where each body part sits on the 64×64 grid, useful for learning the layout; see the Minecraft skin template. A base is a wearable skin you could upload as it is.

Classic or slim

The two player models differ only in arm width: classic arms are 4 pixels wide and slim arms are 3. Heads, bodies and legs are identical, and the file is the same 64×64 PNG either way. What changes is where the arm faces sit in the file, so a base drawn for one model shows a stripe or seam down the arms when worn on the other. That is why every base here comes as two separate files, each drawn for its own arm width, instead of one file with a column shaved off.

• Pick classic for broad, armoured or blocky characters, and if you are not sure.
• Pick slim for lighter, stylised characters, and when you want sleeves and gloves to look narrow.
• Choose the matching model when you upload. The model is a setting you pick at upload, not something stored in the PNG.

Our slim versus classic guide covers how to plan sleeves and cuffs for each width.

How to build on a base

Building on a base is a layering job. Everything you paint covers what is underneath, so work from the skin outwards: clothes first, then hair, then the raised overlay pieces. The example below follows one character from a bare tone base to a finished skin.

1. Pick a base above and press Open in editor. It loads in the arm model you chose, ready to paint.
2. Paint the clothes on the base layer first. Paint the right side and back of each garment a shade darker, the way the base does.
3. Add or change hair on the base head: cover the top and back, then bring a fringe down the front and sides. Leave the eyes clear.
4. Use the overlay for anything that should stand out from the body: hoods, caps, open jackets, cuffs, glasses. Overlay pixels you leave empty stay see-through.
5. Press Download PNG and upload the file, choosing classic or slim to match. Our guide to exporting and uploading your skin has the steps for Java and Bedrock.

Two habits save most rework. First, never erase pixels on the base layer: in Java Edition the inner layer is drawn solid, so a hole you cut is filled in rather than see-through; only the outer layer supports transparency. Second, keep shading on the same side as the base. Every base here is lit from above, in front and on the character's left, so the character's right side and back are a step darker; if your new shirt is lit from the other side, the body looks twisted.

Licence: what you can do with them

We drew all 59 bases ourselves, in code, and we own them. Original artwork drawn in code for PixelPelt. Free to use, edit, share and sell; no credit needed. In plain terms, without asking and without credit, you may:

• wear them as they are or edited, in any edition of the game;
• share skins you made from them, on any site, including in packs you give away;
• make and sell your own skins built on them;
• change the colours, the face, the clothes or the shading however you like.

A credit line or link back is welcome but never required. The only thing a licence can't give you is anything we don't own: if you build a well-known character on a base, the base is still free but the character belongs to whoever created it.

Using someone else's base

Bases on community sites come with whatever terms their artist sets, and they vary: some ask for credit in your upload's description, some allow edits but not reposting the base alone, and a few forbid commercial use. Read the base's page before you start, and if it says nothing, ask the artist. Starting from a base you know you can use avoids the question.

Edge cases and common problems

• Bedrock and 128×128: Bedrock's custom-skin import also accepts larger files. These bases are 64×64, which Bedrock and Java both accept, so there is nothing to convert.
• Old 64×32 skins: the legacy half-height format has no separate left arm or left leg and only one overlay area, the hat. These bases use the full 64×64 layout, so both arms and legs can differ.
• The arms look striped in game: the upload model doesn't match the file. Re-upload and switch between classic and slim.
• The face disappears under hair: hair on the hat layer is covering the eyes. Clear the hat pixels in front of the eyes.
• Colours look different in game: in-game light changes how every skin reads. Check yours in daylight in a world before you change the palette.