How To Change Texture Size In Blender

When we learn about materials and texturing in Blender information technology is piece of cake to get stuck on tasks that for senior artists have get obvious and even hard to cover. Scaling textures is 1 such job that often is done without thinking. But for beginner artists it can be a claiming to find the right identify in the interface to adjust.

There are primarily two ways nosotros tin calibration or stretch a texture in Blender. Either through the mapping node in the shader editor or for prototype textures, we tin also adjust the UV map directly by scaling it in one or ii axes.

Related content: How to prepare stretching textures and materials in Blender?

Permit's look at how nosotros tin scale and stretch procedural and image textures and what the difference is depending on what way nosotros choose to use.

How practise yous scale a texture in Blender?

Most often we want to scale an image texture that is practical to an object. But there are also procedural textures. Environment textures and textures that nosotros can use together with particle systems, brushes, or modifiers in Blender. We will take a look at an example from this family of textures likewise.

Let'south cover scaling of paradigm textures that are mapped to objects start.

There are primarily 2 means we can scale a texture in Blender. Either with the mapping node in the shader editor or past scaling the UV map itself if we are using an image texture and UV coordinates to map the texture on to the object.

Related content: The definitive tutorial to UV mapping in Blender

Permit's start with the UV map every bit it is the more straight way.

Scaling an image texture by adjusting the UV map

I will utilize the default cube to describe what is happening. Information technology comes with default UV coordinates, and I have added a color test filigree as an prototype texture and connected it to the principled BSDF in the default material.

To setup a similar test scene follow these steps:

Go to the shading tab, press Shift+A in the shader editor and add a texture->image texture
connect the color to the base colour of the principled BSDF node
Press new on the paradigm texture node and change the generated blazon to color filigree and press ok
Modify the bottom left image editor to a UV editor

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To scale an image texture by scaling the UV map follow these steps:

Open a UV editor and a 3D viewport
Enter edit mode
Press A to select everything
The UV Map for your object should be visible in the UV editor.
Hover your mouse in the UV editor
Press S to scale

To scale the UV map precisely you can type a number while the calibration tool is agile. For instance, press S followed by ii on the number row to scale the UV map two times. Note that this makes the texture appear smaller on the object and the UV map is expanding across the original texture space.

By default, the texture is tiling or repeating in all directions fifty-fifty if we tin't run into that in the UV editor. To see how the image texture is repeating you lot can follow these steps in the UV editor.

Press North while hovering the mouse in the UV editor.
Get to the View tab
Expand the Display section
Check "Repeat image"

At present the image will echo and y'all tin encounter how the scaled texture is mapped to the surface on the object fifty-fifty when it expands beyond the original texture.

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Note that nosotros are not scaling the texture itself. We are non changing the resolution of the paradigm. We are merely changing how it is mapped on the different faces of the object.

Let's say that nosotros scaled our UV coordinates by two. To calibration it back to the original size we can scale it by 0.v by following this sequence.

Press S to calibration the selected UV map
Press .(menses) followed by 5
Press enter

This will multiply the scale in the X and Y coordinates by 0.5. As an alternative we can likewise dissever by following this sequence.

Press S to calibration the selected UV Map
Press /(divied) followed by 2
Press enter

We get the same result either way.

The only difference between scaling a texture and stretching information technology is that nosotros scale it on a unmarried centrality instead of both axes. We can do this past pressing X or Y while the scale tool is active. For instance, follow these steps to stretch the UV mapping to twice the size in the horizontal direction.

Press S to scale
Press X to constrain the scaling to the horizontal axis.
Press 2
Press enter

Nosotros tin also change the origin we calibration from.

Past default, nosotros calibration from the center of the selected portion of the UV map. We tin can alter this and scale from a number of unlike points.

In the centre of the header in the UV map editor, you lot will find the pivot menu dropdown. This dictates what signal our transformations are calculated from. By default, it is ready to bounding box center.

For case, we tin can fix the pivot point to be the second cursor. By default, it is in the lower left corner of the epitome texture space. If you press S to scale with this as your pivot, you lot will run into that it scales from this position instead.

We can motion the 2d cursor either by pressing T to bring up the left side tool panel and select the cursor tool. Y'all tin now click anywhere to position the 2D cursor and scale from that point.

To move the second cursor more precisely. For instance, to the center of a face or to a vertex, select the element y'all want to scale from and press Shift+S to bring up the snap pie menu. Cull cursor to selected at the half dozen'o clock position to motility the 2D cursor to the selection.

Some other style to move the 2d cursor is to press N to open the correct-side panel and go to the view tab. Here yous can expand the 2D cursor section and set the location by inserting the coordinates you desire and scale from there.

To reset the 2D cursor position, set the X and Y value here to 0.0.

Some other useful pivot option is individual origins. If we have multiple loose islands in our UV map and we want to scale them individually we can use this option.

Scaling an image or procedural texture using a mapping node

We can also use the mapping node to scale an image texture. This allows united states of america to keep the UV map the same and arrange it only for a specific purpose. For instance, we may want to utilize the same UV map for different textures at different scales in the same or unlike materials assigned to dissimilar faces of our object. We can practise that by using the mapping node in the shader editor instead.

Let'southward turn our attending to the shader editor. By default, an image texture node uses the default UV map as information technology's texture coordinates, meaning the way information technology will be mapped onto the surface of the object. But at present we will demand to add together a mapping node before our paradigm texture node.

The mapping node in plough does not have a default texture coordinate, so we need to add ii nodes. Both the mapping node and a texture coordinate node to give the mapping node the input that is otherwise fed to the epitome texture node by default without whatever node input.

Follow these steps to setup the nodes necessary for scaling with the mapping node:

Printing Shift+A in the shader editor
Go to Vector->Mapping
Identify the mapping node to the left of the image texture node
connect the mapping vector output to the image texture vector input
Press Shift+A
Go to Input->Texture coordinate
Identify the Texture coordinate node to the left of the mapping node
Connect the UV output from the texture coordinate node to the vector input of the mapping node

With this setup, nosotros can now turn our attention to the mapping node itself. Here we detect three vectors, each with iii values. One for each axis in 3D space.

The lesser vector represents the scale. For paradigm textures the Z direction is non used. So, to modify the calibration we use the 10 and Y values.

Similarly, to the UV map, we can scale by inputting a different value. The resting value for scale is 1.0. If we change this to 2.0, we will double the scale of the mapping, making the texture appear one-half the size compared to a scale of 1.0. If we want the texture to appear larger on the object, nosotros tin can input a value lower than 1.0. For instance, 0.v to one-half the size of the mapping, significant that nosotros zoom in on the texture and it appears twice every bit mig from the original calibration.

We tin can employ math operations in these scale values. We can, for example input "2*five" without the quotes to calibration ten times.

Nosotros can also use other nodes in the shader editor to calculate a value and input into the input socket for the scale value to manipulate the calibration that style.

So far, we have been using an image texture as an instance. There are 2 major differences betwixt procedural textures and image textures. The start one is that procedural textures are 3D or fifty-fifty 4D. This means that nosotros can calibration in the Z direction too as the W management. They are also infinite in resolution, meaning that nosotros can scale them as much every bit we desire without losing any item as opposed to image textures where the lines between pixels will start to show if we scale the image upward also much.

Using the mapping node we can scale a procedural texture similarly to an image texture, only instead of using UV mapping, nosotros often employ generated or object coordinates.

For image textures there is too an alternative to UV mapping that you can read most hither.

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The difference between object coordinates and generated coordinates is similar the difference betwixt scaling from different pivot points. They use different scales and origins to calculate how the texture spread across the surface.

In this example I have used object coordinates. They start at the center of our objects as opposed to the generated that start from the lesser left corner as seen from the front view. I also replaced the epitome texture with a noise texture. I also changed the racket texture from 3D to 4D. This exposes the W value.

Y'all can see that nosotros have a calibration value on the noise texture. This will scale the texture uniformly on three axes. A lower value will make the pattern appear bigger while a higher value will increase the frequency of the dissonance.

The W value represents the fourth dimension. Normally we accept X, Y and Z every bit our axes in 3D space. Westward is the fourth axis. Even if this is a scale value of the time, nosotros tin retrieve of it as a seed value.

If we turn our attention back to the mapping node and change the X and Y values to ii.0. You lot tin see that the texture starts to stretch along the Z centrality. This is because the procedural textures are 3D as opposed to our image textures that merely exist in 2D space.

Let's now look at a couple of problems we commonly run into that we tin solve by using the techniques and tools discussed so far.

How do you make a texture smaller in Blender?

As nosotros have learned and so far, we don't scale or make changes to the texture itself. Instead, we change the fashion the texture is mapped onto our object.

To make a texture have up a smaller part of the object'due south surface, we can scale the texture mapping upward either by scaling the UV map or with the mapping node. For procedural textures, we need to utilize the mapping node in the shader editor. We as well demand to scale all three axes, or the texture will stretch in the third dimension. For an image texture, it is enough to scale on the Ten and Y axes.

If we want to brand a texture appear smaller and mayhap tile on the surface of our object, follow these steps in the shader editor:

Setup a texture coordinate node with the appropriate coordinates connected to a mapping nodes vector input
Connect the mapping node output to the texture node that is so connected to the principled shader.
Alter the X, Y and Z calibration values to a higher number to make the texture appear smaller.

This will work for both procedural textures and image textures. For epitome textures, we tin can also utilize the UV editor equally discussed before.

In the UV editor, we calibration the texture by a factor of two to make it appear twice as many times on the object. This makes the texture appear smaller and repeat more on the object.

Nosotros can likewise go the other way around and scale the UV map by a number that is smaller than 1.0. The UV map volition and then become smaller but each pixel on the prototype texture volition occupy a larger area on the object.

How do you fix a stretched texture in Blender?

Stretching textures occur when our scale is non uniform or when there is a mismatch between the calibration of the object surface and the UV map. To remove the stretching, we should scale our UV map or adjust the mapping node controlling the texture so that we remove the stretching or at to the lowest degree counter its outcome.

For a detailed guide with multiple examples, you lot can read the guide below to larn how to avoid and fix stretching textures. Here nosotros will cover the most common examples.

Related content: How to fix stretching textures and materials in Blender?

With a stretched texture we can manually scale the 10 or Y coordinates in the UV editor or change the calibration vector in the mapping node using the shader editor. The key is to scale merely one axis.

To practise this in the UV editor, follow these steps.

Enter edit mode and select the stretched area.
In the UV editor Printing S followed past Ten or Y to manually scale the mapping in a single direction.
Hold Shift for fine tune scaling with the mouse
Adjust the UV map so that the stretching is minimized when viewed from the 3D viewport.

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In some cases it may be easier to unwrap the stretched parts of the textures again. In many cases we tin do this with the unwrap method plant in the unwrap card. To unwrap a section of the UV map select it in edit mode, printing U and choose unwrap and Blender will make a new unwrap of the selected faces.

If the newly unwrapped faces appear stretched, follow these steps to apply the scale.

Tab to object mode
Press Ctrl+A and choose scale
Tab back to edit fashion and unwrap again.

You can read more virtually applying scale and why it is necessary in this article.

Related content: How and why practice nosotros apply calibration in Blender?

Sometimes stretching can be desired. For instance, if nosotros have a procedural texture that is office of a larger node tree that needs a directional design. Let's say that we want to create a woods texture, a good starting point could be a noise or Voronoi texture that we stretch in ane direction to outset to create the stretched grain patterns that are mutual in wood.

Final thoughts

At that place are primarily two ways we can calibration a texture in Blender, either in the shader, using the mapping node or by adjusting the UV map itself. For procedural textures nosotros are express to adjusting the scale in the shader editor. Only for image textures nosotros can get either mode.

Nosotros don't accommodate the texture itself, but instead nosotros adjust the way the texture is mapped on to our object.

I promise this was helpful.

Thanks for your time.

Source: https://artisticrender.com/scaling-and-stretching-textures-in-blender/

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