"I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree on the documentation."
Prove me wrong.

"I already have photoshop and I know how to create an alpha channel in that."
Good.

"But you didn't mention I had to do this externally and just assumed I would know I needed to."
Why would you think that when I say edit the alpha channel?! And the comment
/// Supports an arbitrary number of 32 bit skins
/// RGB contains the tiled texture
/// Alpha contains the texture mask
emphasizes the way to go, think simple!

"I can see the sort of instruction I seek is not going to come from this forum as it seems to be oriented more to those who already have a background in game design."
Completely wrong, sorry. Don't be offended that easily.