Adjust a Layer's Colors
Change the brightness, contrast, exposure, saturation, vibrance, hue, temperature or tint of any layer in the Texture Painter without changing its pixels: adjustment layers, compare, masks, Applies to and Apply.
An adjustment changes the colors of a layer without touching its pixels. Make an AI result a little warmer, take the saturation out of a paint layer, or brighten the original texture: drag a slider and watch the model change. The adjustment stays editable until you decide otherwise, and deleting it brings the layer back exactly as it was.
Add an adjustment
Pick the layer
Find the layer in Layers. Adjustments work on every kind of layer: paint, solid colour, AI, decal, a group, and Base (the model's original texture).
Click Adjust colors
Hover the row and click the sliders button (Adjust colors). On Base the button is always visible. You can also open the layer's ⋯ menu and choose Adjust colors…, or click + (New layer) and choose Adjustment layer to add one to the selected layer.
Drag the sliders
The Adjustment panel opens next to Layers. Drag any slider: the model and the 2D view update while you drag.
The adjustment appears in the list directly above its layer, indented with a small arrow, and named Adjustment. Below the name it shows what it changes, for example "Saturation -100 · Temperature +40", or "No changes yet".
If the layer already has an adjustment, Adjust colors opens that one instead of adding another. To stack a second one, choose Add another adjustment in the layer's ⋯ menu. A layer takes up to four adjustments; they apply from the bottom up.
The sliders
Every slider starts at 0, which changes nothing.
Light
| Slider | What it does | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Brightness | Lifts or lowers the mid tones. Pure black and pure white stay where they are, so the texture never washes out. | -100 to +100 |
| Contrast | Spreads the tones apart (more punch) or pulls them toward grey (flatter). | -100 to +100 |
| Exposure | Like opening or closing a camera's aperture, in stops: +1 doubles the light, -1 halves it. Bright areas can turn white. | -3 to +3 |
Color
| Slider | What it does | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Saturation | How strong every colour is. All the way down gives a black and white layer. | -100 to +100 |
| Vibrance | Boosts the muted colours more than the ones that are already strong, which keeps skin and fur natural. | -100 to +100 |
| Hue | Turns every colour around the colour wheel by the same amount. At ±180° each colour becomes its opposite. | -180° to +180° |
| Temperature | Warmer (toward orange) or cooler (toward blue). | -100 to +100 |
| Tint | Toward magenta or toward green. Use it to fix a colour cast. | -100 to +100 |
Change a value exactly
- Drag the slider. One drag is one undo step.
- Arrow keys: click a slider, then press
←or→for small steps. HoldShiftfor steps of 10. - Type a value: click the number next to the slider name, type, and press
Enter. - Reset one slider: double-click the slider or its name.
- Reset all: puts every slider back to 0 in one step.
Brightness and exposure both make the layer lighter, but differently. Brightness keeps black and white and changes the tones in between, so it's the safe choice. Exposure multiplies all the light, like a camera: use it when the whole layer is too dark or too bright.
Compare before and after
Press and hold Compare at the bottom of the panel to see the layer without this adjustment. Release it to bring the adjustment back. With the panel open you can also hold C.
You can also click the eye on the adjustment's row to switch it off, the same way you hide any layer.
Choose what it changes
Applies to at the bottom of the panel decides what the adjustment changes:
| Option | What it changes |
|---|---|
| This layer (default) | Only the layer directly below the adjustment. Everything else stays as it is. |
| Everything below | Every layer under the adjustment in the list, like a filter over the whole texture. |
Use This layer to fix one part, for example an AI layer that came out too saturated. Use Everything below to grade the whole texture at once, for example a cooler, darker night version.
Paint where it applies
An adjustment covers the whole layer until you paint its mask. Select the adjustment, then:
- the eraser hides the adjustment where you paint, and
- the brush brings it back.
The options bar says Hides the adjustment or Reveals the adjustment so you always know what the next stroke does. Your brush colour isn't used. Once you have painted, the row shows the mask as its picture: white where the adjustment applies, black where it's hidden.
For example, to warm up only the face: add an adjustment with Temperature +40, choose the eraser, and erase everywhere except the face. Or erase the whole adjustment with a large brush and bring it back on the face with the brush.
Strength
The adjustment's Opacity works as its strength. Open its ⋯ menu and lower Strength: at 50% you get half of the change. This is a quick way to tone down an adjustment without moving every slider.
Keep it live or apply it
An adjustment stays live: you can change it, hide it, move it or delete it any time, and it's saved with your session. Exports and What the AI sees always include it.
To make the change permanent, click Apply in the panel (or in the adjustment's ⋯ menu). The adjustment is baked into the layer's pixels and removed from the list. Undo brings it back.
Apply is available on paint, solid colour and decal layers with Applies to: This layer. On AI layers, Base and groups, and with Everything below, the button is greyed out: the adjustment stays live there, and it is still part of every export.
Move, copy and delete
- Move it to another layer: drag the adjustment row above another layer, or use Move up and Move down in its menu. It always changes the layer directly below it.
- Move a layer: Move up and Move down take the layer's adjustments with it.
- Duplicate a layer: the copy gets its own copies of the adjustments, masks included.
- Delete a layer: its adjustments are deleted with it. One Undo brings everything back.
- Rename and Lock work like on any layer.
Tips
- Start with one slider at a time and use Compare often. Small changes look natural on a 3D model.
- To match a new AI layer to the rest of the model, adjust Temperature and Saturation first, then Brightness.
- A desaturated copy (Saturation -100) is a quick way to check whether your values read well without colour.
- Keep adjustments live while you're still painting and generating, and apply them at the end if you want a clean layer list.
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
No. An adjustment only changes how the layer looks. Hide or delete the adjustment and the layer is exactly as before. Only Apply changes the layer's pixels, and Undo reverts that too.
Yes. Exports, screenshots and What the AI sees use the texture as you see it, with every visible adjustment.
Apply bakes the adjustment into one layer's pixels. It isn't possible with Applies to: Everything below (there's no single layer to bake into), and AI layers, Base and groups are rebuilt from their source, so the adjustment stays live there. It is still included in every export.
Check that it sits directly above the layer you want to change, that its eye is on, that its Strength isn't 0, and that you haven't erased its mask. With This layer it only changes the one layer below it; choose Everything below to change all layers under it.
Yes, up to four. Choose Add another adjustment in the layer's ⋯ menu. They apply from the bottom up.
Layers
How layers work in the Texture Painter: layer types, adding, renaming, reordering, grouping, merging and deleting layers, visibility, lock, opacity, blend modes, masks on AI layers, colour adjustments, and undo.
The 2D view
The Texture Painter's 2D view shows the selected layer on the model, the selected layer flat, the unfolded texture map, exactly what the AI sees, and a running generation. How to open, resize and use each mode.