If you have already created the texture in another app there is little point in baking it as all maya will do is create another file in the project folder, Baking comes into its own when you have create ramps or layer texture nodes or fake lighting for scenes(the list goes on) and want to change them into a single texture file. It is always a good practice to keep textures in the project folder under textures.................dave What if I just want to send the .mb file to someone without passing them my project folder? How can I keep the texture bound to the object while only passing the object to someone else who is working on another station?