The 3D Handbook
Part 2 — Tools The software landscapePage 35 of 248 on the reading route
Reference

Texturing and material software

A neutral directory of 3D painting, node-based material, photo-to-material and AI material tools, 2D image editors and free material libraries for game texturing, with platforms, licences, October 2026 prices and current status.

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Texturing software turns a UV-mapped mesh into a finished surface: base colour, roughness, metallic, normal and other texture maps explained. The tools fall into five groups: 3D painters, node-based material generators, photo-to-material and AI tools, 2D image editors, and free material libraries.

#How to choose

Most game environment work needs two things: a 3D painter for unique assets and a way to make tileable materials and trim sheets. Substance 3D Painter and Designer are a common pair, and higher-education students can get them free (substance3d.adobe.com: Substance 3D for education). If you want to avoid subscriptions, look at the Steam perpetual edition of Painter, 3DCoatTextura, Marmoset Toolbag or InstaMAT's perpetual licences. If your budget is zero, Blender with Ucupaint, ArmorPaint, Material Maker and Krita cover most needs. Whatever you choose, keep a 2D editor for channel packing, decals and fixes. For the techniques, see ways to texture an environment, physically based rendering and procedural materials; for tool choice in general, see choosing tools: an overview.

#Substance 3D plans

Adobe sells its Substance 3D apps in bundles, and Painter also on Steam.

Plan What it includes Price (as of October 2026) Notes
Substance 3D Texturing Painter, Designer, Sampler, Substance 3D Assets (Adobe Blog) Subscription; see vendor. Adobe set it at US$24.99/month in March 2025 Adobe's US plan page no longer shows this plan as a card, only in its FAQ (adobe.com)
Substance 3D Collection Painter, Designer, Sampler, Stager, Modeler, Substance 3D Assets (Adobe Blog) US$59.99/month (US list price) (adobe.com); US$599.88/year prepaid in the March 2025 pricing Teams: US$119.99/month per licence
Painter 2026 on Steam Standalone Painter; no Substance 3D Assets or generative AI features (Steam) US$199.99 one-time; or Substance Indie subscription US$24.99/month, which also includes Designer and Modeler Free feature updates until March 2027, then you keep that version
Education Painter, Designer and Sampler for higher-education students and teachers (substance3d.adobe.com) Free for 12 months No commercial work

#3D painting tools

3D painters let you paint directly on the model in layers, usually with masks driven by baked maps. See unique texturing.

Tool Best known for (env/game work) Platforms Licence model Price (as of October 2026) Free / student option
Substance 3D Painter Layer-based PBR painting with built-in baking of AO, curvature and other mesh maps (Adobe Experience League) Windows, macOS, Linux (RHEL; Ubuntu via Steam) (Adobe Experience League) Subscription (Texturing or Collection) or Steam perpetual (Adobe Blog; Steam) See plan table above Free education licence (substance3d.adobe.com)
Mari Foundry's high-resolution painter Windows, Linux (Foundry Learn) Subscription or quarterly rental (foundry.com) Individual: $689/year or $86/month; Teams: $1,289/year or $949 per quarter rental Free Mari Non-Commercial with limits; 30-day trial (Foundry Learn)
ArmorPaint Open-source PBR painter, often treated as a low-cost Painter alternative (CG Channel) Windows, Linux, macOS (Apple Silicon); iOS and Android in early access (armorpaint.org) Compiled builds sold; source code available via git $19 for the desktop version, all updates included Source code free
3DCoatTextura Texturing-only edition of 3DCoat (CG Channel) Windows, macOS, Linux (Ubuntu) Permanent licence with 12 months of updates, subscription, or rent-to-own (pilgway.com) €159 permanent; €10.80/month subscription ; upgrade to full 3DCoat €220 (pilgway.com) Student offer linked on the vendor page
3DCoat Sculpting, retopology and 3D painting (CG Channel) Windows, macOS, Linux As above €379 permanent; €20.80/month (pilgway.com) See sculpting software
Marmoset Toolbag 5 Baking, texturing and rendering in one app (marmoset.co) Windows, macOS 13.5+ (CG Channel) Subscription (all upgrades) or perpetual (5.x updates only) (marmoset.co) Individual US$18.99/month or US$399 perpetual Academic US$119.99 per seat per year for institutions
Blender Texture Paint Painting inside a free general suite (Blender Manual) Windows, macOS, Linux (blender.org) Free, GNU GPL Free Free
Ucupaint (Blender add-on) Layer-based painting in Eevee and Cycles with masks, decals, UDIMs and baking (Blender Extensions) Blender 4.2 LTS and newer GNU GPL v3+ Free Free; sponsor-supported "Ucupaint Plus"

#Mari Non-Commercial limits

Mari Non-Commercial is free for personal and educational use, with two activations (Foundry Learn: Mari Non-Commercial). It caps export at 4K, allows 6 patches and 5 objects per scene, and disables the Python console (Foundry Learn: Mari Non-Commercial). Its .mnc project files can only be created and shared in Mari Non-Commercial, and it cannot open commercial .mra projects, so plan before mixing it with client work (Foundry Learn: Mari Non-Commercial).

#Node-based material tools

These tools build tileable materials from graphs of nodes, so a material can be tweaked and re-exported at any resolution. See procedural materials.

Tool Best known for (env/game work) Platforms Licence model Price (as of October 2026) Free / student option
Substance 3D Designer "Creating 2D textures, materials and filters in a node-based interface" (Adobe Experience League) See vendor Texturing or Collection subscription (Adobe Blog) See plan table above Free education licence (substance3d.adobe.com)
InstaMAT Texturing and procedural content tool with Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, Unity and Unreal integration (abstract3d.com) Windows, macOS, Linux (instamaterial.com) Free, subscription and perpetual tiers by revenue Indie $8/month billed annually or $489 perpetual (under $250,000 revenue); Pro $36/month billed annually or $989 perpetual Free Pioneer licence under $100,000 revenue, with attribution
Material Maker Free node-based material authoring and 3D painting, built on Godot (CG Channel) Windows, Linux, macOS Free; MIT licence Free Free

InstaMAT's perpetual licences include two years of updates (instamaterial.com: InstaMAT: licences). Its native Linux edition was announced in April 2026 (abstract3d.com: Press Release Apr 20, 2026).

#Photo-to-material and AI material tools

These tools turn photographs, or text prompts, into PBR materials. See photo-sourced and scanned materials.

Tool Best known for (env/game work) Platforms Licence model Price (as of October 2026) Status / free option
Substance 3D Sampler Image to Material: "a high-quality PBR material from a single input image" (Adobe Experience League) See vendor Texturing or Collection subscription (Adobe Blog) See plan table above Free education licence (substance3d.adobe.com)
Materialize Free photo-to-PBR tool with Unity and Unreal shader packs (CG Channel) 64-bit Windows at release Free, including commercial use; source released under GPL in 2018 Free Old but free; check that it runs on your system
ArmorLab AI generation of PBR textures from prompts or photos, run locally; tiling and upscaling (armory3d.org) Windows, Linux, macOS See vendor See vendor —
Marmoset Toolbag Texturing with baked-map masks alongside baking (marmoset.co) See painting table See painting table See painting table —
Quixel Mixer Blending Megascans into materials; discontinued (CG Channel) Windows, macOS Final 2023.1 version free, offline only Free No updates or support

#Bakers used with texturing tools

Bakers are compared in full on UV, retopology and baking tools. One standalone tool is worth naming here because texture artists often ask about it.

Tool Best known for (env/game work) Platforms Licence model Price (as of October 2026) Free option
Knald GPU baker known for AO and vertex-colour baking (Polycount) See vendor Demo and paid licences; the Freelancer licence allows commercial use by one person See vendor Demo

#2D image editors

You still need a 2D editor for decals, hand-painted detail, channel packing and texture fixes.

Tool Best known for Platforms Licence model Price (as of October 2026) Free / student option
Photoshop Adobe's raster image editor See vendor Subscription (adobe.com) US$22.99/month (annual, billed monthly) or US$263.88/year prepaid; Photography plan US$19.99/month (US list prices) 7-day trial (adobe.com); Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachers US$19.99/month on the annual plan
Affinity Vector, pixel and layout tools in one app; opens PSD files with layers (affinity.studio) Windows, macOS; iPad "coming soon" Free for individuals Free; AI tools need a Canva premium plan Free
Krita Free painting program (krita.org) Windows, macOS, Linux, Android; not iPad or iPhone (krita.org) Free and open source, GNU GPL Free Free
GIMP Long-running free image editor; 3.0 arrived in 2025 after about seven years of work (gimp.org) Linux, macOS, Windows (gimp.org) Free software under the GNU GPL (gimp.org) Free Free
Photopea Browser-based editor that opens and saves PSD files (photopea.com) Web browser Free to use Free Free

#Free material libraries

These are asset sources rather than tools, and they provide ready-made tileable surfaces. See asset libraries and asset licences for licences in depth.

Library What it offers Licence Price
Poly Haven HDRIs, textures and 3D models (polyhaven.com) CC0, no credit required; logos and site text excluded Free; optional Patreon
ambientCG 2,000+ PBR materials, HDRIs, substances and models (ambientcg.com) CC0 Free; funded by Patreon and Ko-fi

#Choosing a texturing tool

#Further reading

References

  1. Adobe · Substance 3D for education · substance3d.adobe.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  2. Adobe · Substance 3D innovations and pricing updates · Adobe Blog, 2025 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  3. Adobe · Compare Substance 3D plans · adobe.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  4. Adobe · Substance 3D Painter 2026 (Steam store page) · Steam, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  5. Adobe · Compare Substance 3D plans (India) · adobe.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  6. Adobe · How to bake mesh maps (Substance 3D Painter) · Adobe Experience League, 2026 · docs · accessed 2026-10-21
  7. Adobe · Supported systems (Substance 3D Painter) · Adobe Experience League, 2026 · docs · accessed 2026-10-21
  8. Foundry · Mari installation and licensing · Foundry Learn, 2026 · docs · accessed 2026-10-21
  9. Foundry · Buy Mari · foundry.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  10. Foundry · Mari Non-Commercial · Foundry Learn, 2026 · docs · accessed 2026-10-21
  11. Jim Thacker · ArmorPaint 1.0 is out · CG Channel, 2026 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  12. ArmorPaint · Download ArmorPaint · armorpaint.org, 2026 · tool · accessed 2026-10-22
  13. Jim Thacker · Pilgway releases 3DCoat 2025 and 3DCoatTextura 2025 · CG Channel, 2025 · article · accessed 2026-10-20
  14. Pilgway · 3DCoat licence types (permanent, rent-to-own, subscription) · pilgway.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  15. Pilgway · 3DCoat and 3DCoatTextura prices and upgrades · pilgway.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  16. Marmoset · Marmoset Toolbag · marmoset.co, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  17. Jim Thacker · Marmoset releases Toolbag 5.0 in free public beta · CG Channel, 2024 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  18. Marmoset · Marmoset shop · marmoset.co, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  19. Blender Foundation · Texture Paint (Blender 3.5 Manual) · Blender Manual, 2023 · docs · accessed 2026-10-21
  20. Blender Foundation · Blender FAQ · blender.org, 2026 · docs · accessed 2026-10-20
  21. ucupumar · Ucupaint (Blender Extensions) · Blender Extensions, 2026 · tool · accessed 2026-10-21
  22. Cyril Dellenbach (Adobe Community Manager) · How do Steam perpetual licenses work exactly? · Adobe Community, 2025 · forum · accessed 2026-10-21
  23. Adobe · Substance 3D Painter 2025 (Steam store page) · Steam, 2025 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  24. Cyril Dellenbach (Adobe) and community members · Will the 2027 version of Substance Painter have a perpetual license on Steam? · Adobe Community, 2026 · forum · accessed 2026-10-21
  25. Adobe · Overview (Substance 3D Designer) · Adobe Experience League, 2026 · docs · accessed 2026-10-21
  26. Abstract · Abstract unveils InstaMAT · abstract3d.com, 2024 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  27. Abstract · InstaMAT: licences · instamaterial.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  28. Jim Thacker · Material Maker 1.4 released · CG Channel, 2025 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  29. Abstract · Press Release Apr 20, 2026 · abstract3d.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  30. Adobe · Image to Material (Substance 3D Sampler) · Adobe Experience League, 2026 · docs · accessed 2026-10-21
  31. Jim Thacker · Free tool Materialize converts photos to PBR materials · CG Channel, 2018 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  32. Armory3D · ArmorLab · armory3d.org, 2026 · tool · accessed 2026-10-21
  33. Jim Thacker · Quixel Mixer has been discontinued: get the final version for free · CG Channel, 2026 · article · accessed 2026-10-20
  34. 80 Level · Quixel Mixer Officially Discontinued · 80 Level, 2026 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  35. Polycount forum members and Knald staff · Knald thread (Knald 1.1.2 discussion) · Polycount, 2016 · forum · accessed 2026-10-21
  36. Adobe · Compare Photoshop plans · adobe.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  37. Adobe · Photoshop plans and pricing · adobe.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-22
  38. Canva · Affinity · affinity.studio, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  39. Krita Foundation · Krita · krita.org, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  40. Krita Foundation · Download Krita · krita.org, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  41. GIMP Team · GIMP 3.0 Released · gimp.org, 2025 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  42. GIMP Team · Downloads · gimp.org, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  43. GIMP Team · About GIMP · gimp.org, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  44. Ivan Kutskir · Photopea · photopea.com, 2026 · tool · accessed 2026-10-21
  45. Poly Haven · License · polyhaven.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  46. Lennart Demes · ambientCG: free 3D assets · ambientcg.com, 2026 · web · accessed 2026-10-21
  47. Polycount forum members · Recommended software for baking normals/ambient occlusion maps · Polycount, 2018 · forum · accessed 2026-10-21

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Last updated 2026-10-22