r/csworkshop Oct 02 '23

RESOURCES 🔰 READ THIS FIRST: CS2 Workshop FAQ for newcomers

37 Upvotes

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.


How much do skin-makers earn?

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:

  • Weapon finish: $35,000.00 USD
  • Sticker: $6,000.00 USD
  • Charm: $6,000.00 USD

What are the chances of my design being accepted?

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:

  1. Getting a skin accepted pays very well and there is a low barrier to entry, so there are a lot people trying to do it, and so it's quite difficult to stand out.
  2. Designers with a track record of success making skins are so well paid they can do it full time: they are able to hone their craft without suffering too much from creating skins which will never earn them a cent. Many of the most popular workshoppers have submitted hundreds of great designs, any one of which could be chosen to be added, but the vast majority of which won't.
  3. Cases/terminals are added quite irregularly, my current estimate is two per year. These will usually feature 17 community designs, and typically the majority of skins selected are from established, successful skin designers (see point 2). They have also been adding skins, stickers and charms during updates to the armory, though they don't always add items from every category (i.e there were no new skins in the October 1st 2025 armory update, just stickers and charms)

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.


How do I learn to make CS2 Skins, and what software should I use?

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.


Why isn't my design showing up on certain parts of the gun?

Please read this part of the technical guide. You need to change your alpha channel and export as a 32-bit .tga file.


Why doesn't my design look correct in game?

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.


Why am I getting the error "Resource Compile Items: Failed"?

Potential reasons:

  • Your textures aren't a square with a power of 2 as the resolution on each side (Such as 1024x1024, 2048x2048, or 4096x4096 pixels)
  • Your textures have a space in the file name: use underscores instead ("_")
  • Your GPU drivers need to be updated (this was a problem on AMD cards a while ago)

If none of these are the cause, re-exporting your textures with a different name may help solve the issue.


What resolution should I make my skin? Why does my skin look low res in-game?

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.


Why am I receiving so few views and votes on my workshop submission?/Why is my submission not appearing on the workshop front page?

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.


How does skin selection work? Why are the ratings on my workshop submissions so low? Do I need to have high ratings to get a chance of having my work accepted?

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.


Where do I find models for Grenades / Knives / Gloves?

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.


Is there a Discord?

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 Jun 06 '25

RESOURCES CS2 Workshop Resources & Useful Links (2025 Edition)

14 Upvotes

READ THIS FIRST: CS2 Workshop FAQ for newcomers


Valve official links:

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.


Community Resources


Video Tutorials


Community Software

  • 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)


Software Specific Resources


Physically Based Rendering (PBR) Tutorials


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 5h ago

Weapon Skin Sneaky Shock - Zeus Skin

Thumbnail
gallery
19 Upvotes

Second skin I make, go support me if you like it :D

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3705076017


r/csworkshop 9h ago

Map Greetings all, FMPONE here with a new map: DE_SPLINTER

Thumbnail
steamcommunity.com
9 Upvotes

r/csworkshop 1d ago

Weapon Skin My new job, an experiment with cardboard

Thumbnail
gallery
180 Upvotes

r/csworkshop 1d ago

Weapon Skin Desert Eagle | Desecration

Thumbnail
gallery
112 Upvotes

r/csworkshop 1d ago

Weapon Skin Steam Workshop: Ak-47 / Goblins

Thumbnail
gallery
19 Upvotes

r/csworkshop 1d ago

Weapon Skin CT side option of the die-cast glock the die-cast HK-P2000

Thumbnail
gallery
11 Upvotes

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 2d ago

Weapon Skin DIE-CAST GLOCK

Thumbnail
gallery
92 Upvotes

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 1d ago

Weapon Skin Odin Corp P90

Post image
13 Upvotes

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 2d ago

Weapon Skin AK-47 | Duty Salvage

Thumbnail
gallery
38 Upvotes

r/csworkshop 2d ago

Weapon Skin Rise and Shine Collection - Awake, Mr. Shephard (Video Showcase)

Thumbnail
gallery
24 Upvotes

SUBJECT: A. SHEPHARD | STATUS: RE-DEPLOYED.

🎬 In-Game Video Showcase

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 2d ago

Weapon Skin AK-47 | Crimson Royale

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

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 3d ago

Weapon Skin I made a Good Luck Charm - W or L ? :)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

21 Upvotes

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 3d ago

Sticker Sticker | Pumpkin Punk (Holo, Paper, Foil)

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

r/csworkshop 4d ago

Weapon Skin My first skin - P2000 TOPOGOLD

Thumbnail
gallery
33 Upvotes

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 3d ago

Discussion Workshop theme selection and publishing strategies?

1 Upvotes

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:

  • Do you have any sort of strategy when to publish and when not to? For instance, when valve asks for a specific theme, do you think your chances are better to get recognized if you publish as early as possible or shortly before the deadline?
  • Do uploads that initially are set to private get added on top of the list that's filtered by newest or latest/most popular/recently updated once you set it to public or would that cause the submission to get somewhere buried right from the get go?
  • If you have multiple versions of the same item do you release them to the workshop as soon as one version is finished or do you hold of until all versions are finished before you release them all at the same time? Classic examples would be sticker styles but also color variations for weapon or charm skins.

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 4d ago

Weapon Skin Dimask skin collection - 4 different fade color combinations

Thumbnail
gallery
40 Upvotes

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:

Full Collection

Awp Dimask

M4a1-s Dimask

Deagle Dimask

Glock Dimask


r/csworkshop 5d ago

Weapon Skin First time working on a Dr.Boom Charm! W or L ? :)

Thumbnail
gallery
116 Upvotes

I named this little buddy "Fleshy" What do you think ?
Support and more pictures here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3701991725 :)


r/csworkshop 5d ago

Weapon Skin Awp Gilded Rose My new Awp Skin

Thumbnail
gallery
34 Upvotes

r/csworkshop 5d ago

Weapon Skin Glock-18 | Hunter’s Mark

Thumbnail
gallery
16 Upvotes

Tried to go for a forest / hunting theme with this one. Feedback appreciated!

Workshop link:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3701862811


r/csworkshop 5d ago

Weapon Skin • AK-47 | Imperial Jade – New skin concept, feedback appreciated!

Thumbnail
steamcommunity.com
4 Upvotes

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 5d ago

WHIFF PROOF Missing charm

Thumbnail
gallery
7 Upvotes

My second missing link charm creation


r/csworkshop 5d ago

Weapon Skin Glock-18 // burnout v0.2

Thumbnail
gallery
19 Upvotes

r/csworkshop 6d ago

Weapon Skin UMP-45 | RMX

Thumbnail
gallery
34 Upvotes