i use NIFscope to import and see .DDS textures on a model...
then DDS converter a texture to .PSD so i can manipulate the texture in photoshop
paste a new image, export (i've tried: .jpg ; .tga ; .psd), then DDS converter back to .DDS

NIFscope my new texture to a model... but my image ALWAYS looks inverted... i don't get it?
my image doesn't look ANY different than the image i sampled from ...aside from the fact that it doesn't retain the coloration once it hits the model!

-_-

i've read numerous threads that mostly directed me to the Nvidia DDS plug-in
but i get an error message requires 3.0 or later if i try to open or export a .DDS, even though i'm using photoshop 5.0 LE
(the 'normal map filter' works, although i'm not entirely sure what i'm supposed to do even do with that yet)

any help in my N00854UC3 topic is appreciated

this is what i've got to work with:
-photoshop 5.0 LE
-NIFscope
-DDS converter
-currently downloading Microsoft DirectX SDK (feb 2010)