How to use A23D PBR Textures in Substance 3D Painter

This guide explains how to use A23D PBR texture maps inside Adobe Substance 3D Painter as the base material layer of a texture painting project. Importing the A23D maps as a fill layer gives you a fully shaded starting point that you can paint over and refine.

1. Download the Texture Set

  1. Sign in to your A23D account.
  2. Browse to the texture you want to use.
  3. In the Software dropdown on the asset page, select Substance 3D. A23D automatically delivers the PBR texture set in the format best suited to Substance 3D Painter (PNG maps) - no manual format selection required.
  4. Click Download, save the .zip, and extract (unzip) the archive. You will find:
  • A23DTEX_Albedo.png - Base color
  • A23DTEX_Normal.png - Tangent-space normal map
  • A23DTEX_Roughness.png - Surface roughness
  • A23DTEX_Metalness.png - Metallic values
  • A23DTEX_AmbientOcclusion.png - Ambient occlusion
  • A23DTEX_Height.png - Height / displacement
  • A23DTEX_Opacity.png - Opacity (where applicable)

2. Import A23D Textures into the Painter Project

Before you can use the textures, add them to Painter's asset shelf:

  1. Open your Painter project (see the 3D Models in Painter guide if you haven't set one up).
  2. In the Assets panel (top-left shelf area), click the Import resources icon (folder with arrow) or go to File > Import Resources.
  3. In the import dialog, click Add and navigate to your extracted A23D texture folder. Select all the PNG files and click Open.
  4. Set the Import destination to Project (so the textures are embedded in this project) or My Shelf (to make them available across all projects).
  5. Click Import to add the textures to the shelf. They will appear under the Textures section of the Assets panel.

3. Create a Fill Layer with A23D Textures

The cleanest way to apply A23D maps is as a Fill Layer at the bottom of the layer stack:

  1. In the Layers panel, click the Add fill layer button (the square-with-plus icon).
  2. A new fill layer appears at the top of the stack. Rename it (e.g., A23D_Base) by double-clicking the name.
  3. In the Fill Layer properties panel on the right side, you'll see channel slots for Color, Roughness, Metallic, Normal, Height, and Opacity.
  4. For each channel, click the texture thumbnail (or the texture icon next to the channel), then search the Assets panel for the corresponding A23D texture:
Painter ChannelA23D Map to UseNotes
ColorA23DTEX_Albedo.pngSets the base surface color.
RoughnessA23DTEX_Roughness.pngWhite = rough, Black = smooth. Set Roughness channel to use this directly.
MetallicA23DTEX_Metalness.pngWhite = metal, Black = dielectric.
Nrm (Normal)A23DTEX_Normal.pngPainter uses OpenGL normals - A23D maps match this convention. No inversion needed.
HeightA23DTEX_Height.pngAdds fine micro-surface relief. Adjust the Height Scale slider for the desired depth.
OpacityA23DTEX_Opacity.pngFor cutout or transparent materials only. Leave at full white if not needed.
  1. With all channels populated, the 3D viewport immediately shows the A23D material applied to the mesh.

4. Use AO as a Generator or Blend Layer

A23D's Ambient Occlusion map adds baked contact shadow detail. In Painter, the best way to use it is as a blended layer above the fill layer:

  1. Add a new Fill Layer above the base layer.
  2. Load A23DTEX_AmbientOcclusion.png into the Color channel of this layer.
  3. Set the layer Blending Mode to Multiply and reduce Opacity to taste (50-70% is typical).
  4. This darkens crevices and adds perceived depth without affecting roughness or metallic values.

5. Paint Over the Base

With the A23D fill layer as your foundation, you can now use Painter's full toolset to customize:

  • Use Paint layers above the fill to add wear, weathering, dirt, or logos.
  • Use Smart Materials and Smart Masks to apply edge highlights, scratches, or grunge non-destructively.
  • Use the Bake Mesh Maps workflow (Texture Set Settings > Bake Mesh Maps) to generate ambient occlusion, curvature, and position maps from the mesh, which drive Smart Masks automatically.

Additional Resources

Substance 3D Painter - Creating Layers
Substance 3D Painter - Adding Resources via Drag and Drop
Substance 3D Painter - Texture Set Settings

Need some help?

Contact our team at support@a23d.co