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, filling unpainted areas, and undo.
Everything you paint or generate in the Texture Painter is a layer. Layers keep changes separate, so you can hide, adjust, reorder or delete any of them without touching the rest. This page explains the layer types, every layer action, and how masks on AI layers work.
Layer types
| Type | Shown as | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Base | Base, "The model's original texture" | The texture the model came with. Always at the bottom and can't be painted. |
| Paint layer | Paint layer | Your brush, fill and image brush work |
| Solid colour | Solid colour layer | One colour over the whole model |
| AI layer | AI layer (or AI · 360°, AI · references, AI · upscaled) | An AI result, revealed with a mask you paint |
| Decal | Decal layer | One placed sticker, logo or label |
| Group | Group layer | Several layers kept together. Click the arrow to open or fold it. |
| 360° group | Marked 360°, for example 9 views · blended | The views of an All sides (360°) generation, blended into one result. Each view is a 360° view layer you can paint. |
| Adjustment | Adjustment, indented above its layer | Colour changes (brightness, saturation, hue…) for the layer below it. See Adjust colors. |
Layers higher in the list cover the ones below them. New paint goes on the selected layer.
Add a layer
Click + (New layer) at the top of Layers:
| Item | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Paint layer | An empty layer to paint by hand |
| Solid colour | A layer that covers the model in your current colour |
| Checker pattern | The grey checker the 2D view shows on a blank model, over the whole model without seams. It's shaded by the model's shape (creases, eye sockets and folds come out darker), so details like eyes, mouth and fur stay easy to read, for you and for the AI. Lower the layer's opacity to let the original texture show through, or erase it where you don't want it. |
| Group | An empty group, or a group with the selected layers in it |
| Generate with AI | Jumps to the prompt box to make an AI layer |
| Image or decal | Switches to the Decal tool: upload, pick from your dashboard or generate a sticker |
| Adjustment layer | Colour adjustments for the selected layer (see Adjust colors) |
Work with a layer
- Select: click the row.
Shift-click to select a range,Ctrl-click to add single layers. - Rename: double-click the name, type, and press
Enter. - Hide or show: click the eye at the left of the row (it appears when you hover). A hidden layer keeps its opacity for when you show it again. Groups have an eye too, next to their arrow: it hides or shows everything in the group at once.
- Reorder: drag the row up or down.
- Keyboard: with the list focused,
↑and↓select the layer above or below,Deletedeletes the selected layer, andCtrl+C,Ctrl+XandCtrl+Vcopy, cut and paste layers.
The layer menu
Click ⋯ on a row to open its menu:
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name field | Rename the layer |
| Opacity | How strongly the layer shows (0 to 100%). On an adjustment it's called Strength. |
| Blend | How it mixes with the layers below (see below) |
| Adjust colors… | Brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and more for this layer. With an adjustment already on it, opens that one; Add another adjustment stacks one more. |
| Lock / Unlock | Protect it from painting. A locked layer can't be painted or deleted. |
| Duplicate | A copy of the layer, with copies of its adjustments |
| Merge down | Merge it into the layer below. With several layers selected: Merge … selected. For a group: Flatten group. |
| Put in a group / Take out of the group | Group or ungroup it |
| Move up / Move down | Change its place in the list |
| Upscale (AI and decal layers) | A sharper copy of the layer. See AI painting. |
| Apply with smooth edges (AI layers) | Reveal the whole AI result with soft edges |
| Download the image (AI and decal layers) | Save the layer's source image |
| Fill gaps in this layer / Fill gaps in this group | Fill what this layer or group leaves unpainted with its colours. See Fill missing area. |
| Delete layer | Remove it, together with its adjustments |
Blend modes
Normal, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Darken, Lighten, Color dodge, Color burn, Hard light, Soft light, Difference and Exclusion. Multiply darkens (good for dirt and shadows), Screen lightens (good for glow and highlights), and Overlay adds contrast.
Masks on AI layers
An AI layer works differently from a paint layer: the AI result is fixed, and you paint where it shows. Think of it as a stencil.
- A new AI layer starts fully hidden.
- With the AI layer selected, the brush reveals the AI result and the eraser hides it again.
- Apply with smooth edges reveals everything the AI saw, with soft edges.
- Your brush colour isn't used on AI layers. To paint colour, add a paint layer (Paint colour in the options bar).
This is why you can generate freely: a weak result costs nothing to ignore, and a good one can be used only where it looks right.
Adjust a layer's colors
To change a layer's brightness, contrast, saturation, hue or colour temperature without repainting it, hover the row and click the sliders button (Adjust colors), or choose Adjust colors… in its ⋯ menu. The change is a separate Adjustment row directly above the layer, so you can tweak, hide or delete it any time. Masks work like on AI layers: with the adjustment selected, the eraser hides it and the brush brings it back. See Adjust a layer's colors.
Fill missing area
Fill missing area closes the small holes your layers leave behind. It looks at everything you painted or generated, finds the spots of the model that no layer covers, and fills them with the colours around them, on a new layer.
The key thing to know: it only looks at your layers. The model's own texture (the Base layer) doesn't count as painted. So it is a tool for the moment when your layers are meant to cover the whole model and a few spots got missed.
When to use it
Use it at the end, once the model is almost completely painted by your layers and only small spots are left:
| Situation | What's left unpainted | Why Fill helps |
|---|---|---|
| After an All sides (360°) generation | Spots no camera saw: under the arms, inside the mouth, between the legs, deep folds | Paints them with the colours of the views around them, instead of leaving the old texture or bare spots |
| On a model without a texture (plain grey or white) | Spots your brush strokes or AI layers missed | Closes the leftover specks and strips so no blank surface shows |
| After stitching several AI layers together | Thin strips where two revealed AI layers meet | Blends the strip into the layers on both sides |
When not to use it
Your model came with its own texture and you painted only some parts of it. Then everything you didn't paint counts as "missing", even though your original texture looks fine there. The panel shows most of the model in magenta, for example 1 gap · 85 % of the model, and a fill would cover your original texture with the colours of your strokes. Click Cancel: there is nothing to fill. Your painting on top of the original texture is already finished.
It also isn't the right tool for big areas or detail: it can only spread the colours that are next to a spot. It can't invent a pattern, a face or a logo. For those, use AI (see If the gaps are big).
Rule of thumb: if the magenta areas are small spots scattered between painted areas, use Fill. If magenta covers a large part of the model, don't.
Fill the gaps
Open it
Click the bandage button (Fill missing area) at the top of Layers.
Check the magenta areas
Everything no layer covers turns magenta on the model and in the 2D view. Turn the model to look at them. The panel says how many spots there are and how much of the model they cover, for example 12 gaps · 2.4 % of the model.
Pick a style
Smooth (the default) blends the surrounding colours across each spot. Nearest gives each spot the colour of the closest painted area.
Click Fill
A new paint layer, Filled gaps, appears above the layers it fills. One Undo removes it.
Use Smooth for most models. Nearest suits hard-edged, flat-coloured styles where blends would look blurry.
Options
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| All layers / This layer (or This group) | Shown when you start from a layer's or group's menu: fill what every layer leaves unpainted, or only what this one does |
| Ignore tiny gaps | Leaves spots smaller than the size you set alone |
| Only near painted areas | Fills only up to the distance you set from painted areas, so far-away spots stay as they are |
You can also start it from a layer's ⋯ menu (Fill gaps in this layer) or from a 360° group's ⋯ menu (Fill gaps).
Good to know
- The fill follows the model's surface, so colours continue across the seams of the texture instead of stopping at them.
- Filled gaps is a normal paint layer: paint over it, erase parts you don't like, lower its opacity, or delete it.
- A 360° group's Fill in setting (in its blend settings) does something similar inside the blend, using the nearest view. Fill gaps adds a separate layer you can edit.
- Gaps behind other parts, like the body under an arm: the panel links to See through (Experimental), which cuts away the part in the way so you can paint or generate there, and lists the spots no view reached with Find hidden spots.
If the gaps are big
When one spot covers more than a few percent of the model, the panel offers a button to repaint it with AI instead. It doesn't generate anything by itself, and nothing costs credits until you click Generate.
- For a 360° group the button reads Use Fix gaps (AI). The camera turns to the largest spot no view saw and Generate with AI opens with the group's prompt. Click Generate: the new view joins the group.
- Otherwise the button reads Repaint with AI. Generate with AI opens; turn the model so the spot is in view, then click Generate.
Compare with the original
Press and hold the eye icon at the top of Layers (Hold to compare) to see the original model without any of your layers. Release it to bring them back.
Undo and redo
Undo and Redo are in the top bar, or use Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z (Ctrl+Y also redoes). One brush stroke is one undo step. Undo covers paint, layer changes and model rotations. On a touch screen, tap with two fingers to undo.
Related
- Painting tools
- AI painting
- Adjust a layer's colors
- The 2D view: check a single layer.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Base layer is the model's original texture and stays untouched, so you can always go back. Paint on a paint layer above it; the 3D view offers a Paint layer button.
Use Merge down in the layer menu, select several layers and choose Merge … selected, or press Ctrl+E with the layer list focused. For a group, choose Flatten group.
Click the bandage button (Fill missing area) at the top of Layers, check the magenta areas, and click Fill. The colours around each spot fill it on a new Filled gaps layer that you can paint over or erase. It works best at the end, for example after an All sides (360°) generation, when your layers cover almost the whole model.
Fill missing area only counts your layers as painted, not the model's own texture. If your model came with a texture and you painted only some parts, everything else shows as missing. That's expected: there is nothing to fill, so click Cancel. The tool is meant for small spots left between your layers, see When to use it.
Layers higher in the list cover the ones below. Drag your paint layer above the AI layer.
AI painting
How to repaint a 3D model with AI in the Texture Painter: writing prompts, choosing a model and quality, what the AI sees and the depth guide, all-sides (360°) generation with reference images, revealing AI layers, upscaling and credits.
Adjust 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.