is there a way or a program that converts jpg's pngs and/or gif's into a VMT format?

well i always make my vtf files and copy the vmt file from another file. if not mistaken, without looking, the vmt file is a text document that holds info about the texture, the vtf is the actual image. or vice versus, anyway, i take my tga file and run it through vtex to create the vtf

just open the jpeg etc in photoshop and get the vtf plugin for it and you can save it directly as a vtf file instead of having to use vtex

When i put it in there all i see is that stupid purple and black square thing....

What is the size of the texture you're trying to convert?

The VMT is a descriptive file that identifies the location of the corresponding vtf file in relation to your map. It must be saved as a .vmt file and not a .txt or .vmt.txt file.

This is the content of the overview vmt file for dod_lennon_rc1:

"UnlitGeneric"
{
"$baseTexture" "overviews/dod_lennon_rc1"
"$vertexcolor" "1"
"$vertexalpha" "1"
"$translucent" "1"
"$no_fullbright" "1"
"$ignorez" "1"
}


This file would be saved alongside the dod_lennon_rc1.vtf file inside the following directory:
...day of defeat source\dod\materials\overviews

For your texture to work, you must have this file, along with a text file of the same name, saved in the Resource folder:
...day of defeat source\dod\resource\overviews

"dod_lennon_rc1"
{
"material" "overviews/dod_lennon_rc1" // texture file
"pos_x" "-3187" // X coordinate,
"pos_y" "3001" // Y coordinate,
"scale" "6.5" // and used scale used when taking the screenshot
"rotate" "0" // map was rotated by 90 degress in image editor
"zoom" "1.3" // optimal zoom factor if map is shown in full size
}

* the pos_x, pos_y and scale details need to correspond with your actual map.

Presuming you have created your .vtf file correctly, and once you have all these files packratted into your .bsp, you should be good to go.