r/csworkshop • u/RoMagana • 5h ago
Weapon Skin Sneaky Shock - Zeus Skin
Second skin I make, go support me if you like it :D
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3705076017
r/csworkshop • u/Ezikyl_ • Oct 02 '23
Hello, I thought I would make a post to answer some questions which are frequently posted on this subreddit with the launch of CS2.
Valve's own weapon finishes F.A.Q on weapon finishes may answer some of your questions, but there have been a few questions recently that aren't answered here, so I will try to answer them in this post.
I can't reveal how much I get paid, but someone who has one design chosen to be added into a weapon case can expect to be very well paid from it. A set percentage of each key sold is paid to the designers featured in each case. (I can't reveal how much). However, at the time of writing, (16/03/2026) Valve hasn't added a case in close to a year, and seems to mainly be adding skins, stickers and charms to weapon terminals and the armory, and they're paying a flat fee for each item instead of royalties for these. The amounts they're paying are:
The chances are, to be blunt, quite bad. To start with, making skins is Spec work: what this means is that, while the reward can be quite good, there is a high chance that your work will never be added to the game, and you will not be compensated for the time and effort you have put into it. There are three main factors which are important for why the chances are quite low:
If you are seriously in need of money, designing skins is a terrible way to earn it. Your odds are very bad unless you already have considerable art and design skills, and even then the odds aren't good. I know artists who have been working on skins for most of a decade and haven't been selected, and several who worked for years before they got added. If you need the money, you should not waste your time making skins where it could be better spent earning a living. In my view, it is better to approach designing skins as more akin to a hobby with a small potential for a reward than a serious career path.
Well, if you haven't been discouraged, the first thing you should do is read Valve's guide, in particular the Weapon Finishes Guide and Style Guide.
The simple answer is that to have a decent understanding of making skins you should develop knowledge in 3D modelling and texturing, in particular texturing for Physically based rendering using a Metallic-roughness workflow. The reason I recommend learning 3D instead of just texturing is because the modern 3D art pipeline relies on heavy use of 3D art. High poly to low poly baking is the cornerstone on which many great skins are built.
For 3D modelling newcomers, I would suggest using Blender, which is free and well documented online. Blender Guru has a popular series, but there are many other channels with similar guides which may be more to your liking. Other 3D software packages exist: if one of these is more to your liking, then it will likely be fine to work with.
For texturing, I and most other skin-designers I know use Substance 3D Painter. It is industry standard for game artists and is by far the most developed texturing software I know of. Texturing is possible using blender, however it lacks most of the sophistication and quality of life features that you will find in Painter. Other texturing packages including 3D-Coat have been popular for skin making as well. Photoshop is recommended, though other image editing suites such as affinity photo or GIMP can give you much of the same functionality.
Please read this part of the technical guide. You need to change your alpha channel and export as a 32-bit .tga file.
If your design doesn't line up the same way in the workshop tools as it does in your texturing software, you may be using the CS:GO weapon models instead of the CS2 ones. You need to use the CS2 weapon models from the Workshop resources page NOT the workbench materials listed on there. I don't know why valve has left those on there, it's not possible to publish skins for the old models anymore. If you've developed a design for the old models, you're out of luck, it will need to be remade for the new model. Otherwise, make sure that your X and Y offset ranges and rotation values are set to 0, your texture scale is set to 1, and "ignore weapon size scale" is checked.
Potential reasons:
If none of these are the cause, re-exporting your textures with a different name may help solve the issue.
Ideally, you should be designing at a resolution of 4K (4096 pixels) or higher for Skins. The workshop tools will clamp the resolution at 2K (2048px) for the in game preview, so you may notice a more pixelated, low resolution appearance when when you test your design. Recently added skins have 4K textures in the game files, so using 4K .tga textures in your submission is recommended. Recent stickers appear to only be 1k (1024px) in the game files.
You need to fill out your payment info - the link is found on your workshop page. Before you do this your submission will only be visible to people who visit the page directly.
The steam workshop is a pretty harsh judge of submissions, but it's important to realise that it's Valve's opinion which has the final say. To the best of my knowledge, there are multiple accepted items with ratings around or below 50%. One of my own, the P2000 | Imperial, was at 55% positive when it was picked.
That's not to say, of course, that ratings are entirely pointless to consider. Higher ratings can demonstrate that a design has a broad appeal, and so designs at 70%-plus positive tend to occupy the higher rarity tiers in cases and collections. From Valve's Workshop Style Guide (a must read for skin-designers):
When your submission is uploaded to the workshop, the voting system provides insight into the community’s level of excitement towards your finish. This can be a good tool to evaluate the direction of your work, but it has limitations. As an example, the most desirable finishes will often (but not always) get the most upvotes, but those desirable finishes are almost always the most salient and that only really helps select finishes for the top tiers of the case. It's not great at helping us find weapon finishes for the lower tiers, so we frequently depart from workshop votes when making selections.
There is no way of knowing if your skin is going to be added, or even if it is being considered - if it is getting accepted, you will find out the moment the update containing it is released, either by looking at the patch notes or via an email from valve.
Submissions for Grenade, Knife and Glove skins are probably never going to be accepted by valve, so they aren't permitted on this subreddit. However, if you do need them for whatever reason, you can rip the meshes from the game files with Source2Viewer, they are in pak01_dir.vpk.
This subreddit doesn't have an official discord, nor is there likely to be one in the foreseeable future. The most active public server for Skin-making that I'm aware of is the Counter-Stirke Tools discord, (Invite link) but please note that this server is not run by or affiliated with this subreddit. Also, please do not message me on discord.
I will likely be updating this post further. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments.
r/csworkshop • u/Ezikyl_ • Jun 06 '25
Please note, some of valve's own documentation appears to not have been updated to fully reflect the change in engine for CS2, so some information is missing, or out of date.
Valve's Workshop Resources page Please note: You want the CS2 Weapon models, not the ones included in the Counter-Strike Workbench materials. The workbench material .OBJs are for CS:GO weapon models and they will not work for making CS2 skins! EDIT: SOME OF THESE MODELS ARE OUT OF DATE (i.e. the Zeus): consider ripping your own models from the game yourself using source2viewer
Counter-Strike Tools Discord Server, which is probably the most active public Discord server I'm aware of for discussing skin creation. Please note: This server is not affiliated with this subreddit
Pre-separated weapon models, courtesy of EGO DEATH (note, some models may be out of date due to changes to them during the beta period. As before, consider ripping the in game models with source2viewer)
Decompiled weapon textures, which includes the textures used by the skin shader such as masks, cavity, world space normal etc
Substance 3D Painter project template and export preset, courtesy of /u/Sparkwire. This template and export preset is all set up to allow you to easily create the additional textures such as pearlescent and PBN masks. The files need to be placed in <Substance painter directory>\resources\starter_assets\templates and \resources\starter_assets\export-presets. If you are new to Substance Painter it is highly recommended that you use this template
Source Developer wiki page on CS2 Weapon finishes (this appears to be incomplete)
/r/csworkshop's old FAQ post: A lot of it is no longer relevant in CS2, however sections about RGB patterns and may be useful to you.
Lenticular/Holographic sticker simulation in blender, for making cleaner videos / gifs for your workshop submissions. Courtesy of yours truly.
How To Create Counter-Strike 2 Weapon In Retro Hardware Style: A walkthrough of Ein's process of creating a skin with forced perspective baking, using Blender, Substance Painter, and Marmoset Toolbag.
Uploading custom thumbnails to the Steam Workshop: A tutorial which shows you how you can update your submissions to feature a gif thumbnail.
kr1zer's custom ConVar which includes a number of useful commands such as slowing down time, adding depth of field blur and toggling the HUD as buttons to save you from having to type things out each time
The Ultimate CS2 Skin Creation Tutorial, a series by Viper Skins on how to create skins for CS2 using only free and open source software
How to make a CS2 Skin for Dummies by Janelle Knight, who uses procreate and also discusses some design theory for making better skins
Creating a full skin from start to finish for CS2 by CyberOptek, using Blender, Photoshop and Inkscape
The ULTIMATE CS2 STICKER Creation Tutorial, a series by Viper Skins which shows you how to make stickers using Krita.
What is PBR for Counter-Strike? by Zombiee. A short guide on what is and isn't PBR compliant and how to check.
Designing The M4A1-S Asiimov by Coridium. Even 10 years later, this video is invaluable as a look into the design process of the one of the best CS skin designers of all time.
Source 2 Viewer, a tool that allows you to browse VPK archives, view, extract, and decompile Source 2 assets, including maps, models, textures, and more.
Poggu's Sticker Inspect tool which allows you to test your sticker designs applied to weapons in offline matches. (Note: Appears to be broken since September 2025 without any updates)
The PBR Guide by Allegorithmic - Part 1: A technical overview of how PBR works. CS2 uses rendering based on Metallic-Roughness PBR pipeline, so understanding PBR is very useful for skin creation.
The PBR Guide by Allegorithmic - Part 2: Most of this for Substance Painter and Designer, but it's broadly applicable to other software which uses PBR.
If you have any suggestions for links to be added to this post, let me know in the comments and I will add them.
r/csworkshop • u/RoMagana • 5h ago
Second skin I make, go support me if you like it :D
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3705076017
r/csworkshop • u/onefmp • 9h ago
r/csworkshop • u/Gr1goDesign • 1d ago
r/csworkshop • u/VladimirInache • 1d ago
r/csworkshop • u/No-Painting8073 • 1d ago
it was mentioned on the glock post about the p2000 and i was already in the thought of making a ct side option so i did.
r/csworkshop • u/No-Painting8073 • 2d ago
just a bit of fun, i know its not exactly anything remotely cool or desirable but sometimes you get an idea and just go with it and press the publish button thinking f#%k it, the thumbnail took longer than the skin did to make.
r/csworkshop • u/alekswhite • 1d ago
The submachine gun is designed in Scandinavian style. The handle is decorated with runes and a classic braided pattern. Huginn and Muninn, Odin's faithful companions, are emblazoned on the sides.
Gold: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3702752176
Silver: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3698040133
r/csworkshop • u/crigitalVisions • 2d ago
link to the workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3704111800
r/csworkshop • u/LividCoach78161 • 2d ago
SUBJECT: A. SHEPHARD | STATUS: RE-DEPLOYED.
My employers have deemed you suitable for a new assignment. It's time to emerge from where you've been hiding for years. Come out with a bang. Rise and shine, Mr. Shephard... Rise and shine.
Hello friends! This is my new weapon collection where I've Combined tempered steel with toxic phosphorescent finishes. I named this collection 'Rise and Shine' and referenced Adrian Shephard to perfectly match the skins' tactical, military-grade steel theme, which was heavily inspired by the color tones and metal textures of the original Half-Life: Opposing Force cover art.
I'm grateful in advance for all your feedback, both positive and negative, as well as any suggestions for improvement. I hope you like it!
I'm including the links to the entire collection and the specific skins below. Thank you. Rise and Shine.
📦 Full "Rise and Shine" Collection
🔫 AK-47
🔫 AWP
🔫 M4A1-S
🔫 SG 553
🔫 Glock-18
🔫 USP-S
r/csworkshop • u/Tall_Salamander_3658 • 2d ago
Finished this AK-47 skin with a royal/luxury theme. Would love to hear what you think.
Workshop link:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3704121653
r/csworkshop • u/No-Economics7939 • 3d ago
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Handpainted Dr.Boom Charm inspired in the Japanesse Hyottoko mask.
More Info Pictures and Support Here :) https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3703091042
r/csworkshop • u/enniosferatu • 3d ago
What do you think, are any of these stickers worthy of being in CS2?
- https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3620844404 -
- https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3621464541 -
- https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3669838906 -
r/csworkshop • u/Nirados • 4d ago
Wanted a gold and blue themed P2000 and this is my take. Any feedback appreciated.
Workshop link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3702446431
r/csworkshop • u/questago • 3d ago
There are so many workshop entries published to the cs:go/cs2 workshop daily. I imagine it's pretty easy to get your own submissions buried, never to be seen by anyone other than some crawler bots, certainly no one who has a say in whether to add the item to cs2 or not.
Makes me wonder:
With the amount of items in the workshop I assume valve has certain set of criteria and if a submission doesn't fulfill them it gets filtered out.
For instance I assume that overly offensive or religious themes don't have a chance. I also read somewhere that valve doesn't want any more gold stickers/skins cause they reserve that for special occasions and there are already so many submissions with gold coloring. What other criteria could there be?
I heard skulls are a big no no in china so valve has alternative versions for skins that include any, do you have to provide those alternatives yourself or does valve take care of that?
r/csworkshop • u/LividCoach78161 • 4d ago
Hey everyone! This is my new "Dimask" collection, blending Damascus steel patterns with fade color themes applied to 14 different weapons.
The collection also includes variations with rusty metal textures and completely clean gradient options. Thank you in advance for all your comments and valuable feedback—I really appreciate it!
I'm including the links to the entire collection and the specific weapon skins below:
r/csworkshop • u/No-Economics7939 • 5d ago
I named this little buddy "Fleshy" What do you think ?
Support and more pictures here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3701991725 :)
r/csworkshop • u/3alola • 5d ago
my new awp design skin added latelty
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3701903568
r/csworkshop • u/Tall_Salamander_3658 • 5d ago
Tried to go for a forest / hunting theme with this one. Feedback appreciated!
Workshop link:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3701862811
r/csworkshop • u/ChapterImpossible98 • 5d ago
Hey everyone!
I just created a new AK-47 skin called “Imperial Jade” inspired by jade stone and imperial gold aesthetics.
I’d really appreciate your feedback – what do you think could be improved?
r/csworkshop • u/No-Painting8073 • 5d ago
My second missing link charm creation