---
title: "Texture Painter Adjustment Layers: Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Hue and More"
description: "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."
source: https://docs.3daistudio.com/textures/texture-painter/adjustments
---

# 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.

[Open the Texture Painter](https://www.3daistudio.com/TexturePainter/app)

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. Hold `Shift` for 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.

> [!NOTE]
> 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

- [Layers](https://docs.3daistudio.com/textures/texture-painter/layers)
- [AI painting](https://docs.3daistudio.com/textures/texture-painter/ai-painting)
- [The 2D view](https://docs.3daistudio.com/textures/texture-painter/2d-view)
- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://docs.3daistudio.com/textures/texture-painter/shortcuts)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Does an adjustment change my original texture?

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.

### Is the adjustment included when I export?

Yes. Exports, screenshots and **What the AI sees** use the texture as you see it, with every visible adjustment.

### Why is Apply greyed out?

**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.

### Why doesn't the adjustment change anything?

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.

### Can I add more than one adjustment to a layer?

Yes, up to four. Choose **Add another adjustment** in the layer's **⋯** menu. They apply from the bottom up.

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> Documentation index for AI agents: https://docs.3daistudio.com/llms.txt