Substance 3D

The Adobe Substance 3D suite covers the full material and visualization pipeline. A23D models and PBR texture sets work across all five applications - each app plays a different role, and the guides below explain how A23D assets fit into each one.

• Stager - scene composition and photorealistic product visualization. Import A23D models and apply PBR textures directly in Stager's Material panel.
• Painter - PBR texture painting. Import an A23D model as the base mesh and use A23D PBR texture maps as fill layers to start with a production-ready material, then paint and customize on top.
• Designer - procedural material creation. Import A23D PBR maps as bitmap nodes in a material graph and combine them with procedural nodes for variation or custom material development.
• Sampler - texture capture and enhancement. Load A23D PBR maps as multi-channel input layers and use Sampler's adjustment stack to remix, enhance, or re-export the texture set.
• Modeler - 3D sculpting and modeling. Import A23D models as reference or sculpting-base meshes, apply A23D textures for material preview, then hand off to Painter for final texturing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about using A23D assets with the Substance 3D suite

Which file format does A23D deliver for Substance 3D?

Select Substance 3D in the Software dropdown on any asset page - A23D delivers the format automatically. For 3D models that's .fbx (preserving mesh, UVs, and material groups), and for texture sets that's PNG maps (Base Color, Normal, Roughness, Metallic, AO, Height, Opacity, Emissive) sized for the selected resolution.

Which Substance app should I use to apply A23D textures?

It depends on your goal. For the fastest result in a scene, use Stager - import the model, load the A23D PNG maps into the Material panel, and render. For texture painting and customization, use Painter - import the mesh, bring in the A23D maps as fill layers, then paint on top. For procedural remixing, use Designer or Sampler.

Do I need a plugin to use A23D assets in the Substance 3D apps?

No. All five Substance 3D apps import A23D models and textures natively - via File > Import, drag-and-drop, or the asset shelf. No third-party plugin is required.

Can I use A23D PBR textures in Substance 3D Painter?

Yes. Import the A23D PNG maps via File > Import Resources, then create a Fill Layer and assign each map to its corresponding channel (Color, Roughness, Metallic, Normal, Height). This gives you a fully shaded starting point that you can paint over and refine using Painter's full toolset.

Can I use A23D textures in Designer to build procedural materials?

Yes. Add Bitmap nodes to your Designer graph, point them at the A23D PNG files, set the correct color space (sRGB for Base Color, Linear/Raw for all other channels), and connect them to the matching PBR output nodes. You can then blend procedural nodes on top for variation or full material customization.

Can I use A23D Decals in Substance 3D?

Yes. In Stager, drag the A23D decal color and opacity images onto a surface and switch the projection to Decal Mode in the Material panel, then position and scale the decal. In Painter, create a Fill Layer with the decal images and use a mask driven by the opacity map to confine the decal to the target area.

What texture resolution should I use across the Substance 3D apps?

Use 4K for hero assets and close-up product shots, 2K for general scene elements, and 1K for background props. Stager's path tracer and Painter's GPU-accelerated viewport both handle 4K efficiently - tiered resolutions keep memory usage reasonable in complex scenes.

Can I export a Substance 3D Stager scene for web or AR?

Yes. Stager exports scenes as .glb for embedding interactive 3D content on the web and publishes to Adobe Aero for AR experiences. It also renders directly to image sequences or video.

Can I transfer work between Substance 3D apps?

Yes. The apps are designed to work together - Modeler exports mesh geometry for Painter to paint, Designer outputs .sbsar files that Stager and Painter accept as parametric materials, and Sampler exports both flat PNG sets and .sbsar files for use downstream.