Article: Bootlegged, illegal copies will not support a skin change, because you need to upload the skin change to, or change your skin from, your Profile page. Find a skin editor or creator online. Many players choose the editor Skincraft, as it is easy to use, understandable, and versatile. Type "Skincraft" into your search engine to try it.  When you go to an editor like Skincraft, you'll see that you can customize your skin one body part at a time. You'll be able to use different tools in order to change your current skin bit by bit, or customize an entirely different skin. When you have finished creating or editing your skin, save it as a .png file and be sure to locate it. You'll need to upload it to your Profile page of www.minecraft.net in order for the changes to take effect. Think of a skin you want and search for a downloadable version of it. Many users use a character like Santa or mobs from minecraft as their skin. If you think the skin you want has already been made, you may be able to find it on the Skindex, a site with thousands of skins. You can search your skin and download it from there, and afterwards uploading it to your Profile page. Although capes cannot be readily created on their own, they can be made with the held of mods. Search Minecraft forums for mods that enable the use of capes if you want to outfit your character with a little bit of flair. Log in and upload your skin. After uploading, the next time you join a server, you will have your own skin on.

What is a summary?
Know that you need to have purchased Minecraft in order to change your skin. Create your own skin in a skin editor and creator. Download a skin. Use a mod to create a cape as an enhancement of your skin. Be sure to upload your skin to Minecraft.