User Guide Cancel

The Palette | Substance 3D Modeler

  1. Substance 3D home
  2. Home
  3. Getting started
    1. Install Substance 3D Modeler
    2. System requirements
    3. Public Beta
    4. Supported VR headsets
    5. Desktop and virtual reality
    6. Quick start guides
      1. Desktop quick start guide
      2. VR quick start guide
    7. Controls
      1. Desktop shortcuts and controls
      2. VR shortcuts and controls
    8. Reference images
    9. Join the Community
    10. Glossary
    11. FAQs
  4. Interface
    1. Interface overview
    2. Viewport
    3. The Palette
    4. Actions menu
    5. The Top bar
      1. Top bar overview
      2. Color picker
      3. Materials panel
      4. Assets panel
      5. Environment panel
      6. Viewport panel
      7. Outliner
      8. Node properties panel
    6. The Bottom bar
    7. Preferences
  5. Create with Clay
    1. Tools
      1. Tools and Subtools
      2. Select tool
      3. Clay tool
      4. Erase tool
      5. Split tool
      6. Crop tool
      7. Warp tool
      8. Elastic tool
      9. Smooth tool
      10. Raise tool
      11. Buildup tool
      12. Inflate tool
      13. Crease tool
      14. Flatten tool
      15. Paint tool
    2. Brushes
    3. Brush shapes
    4. Placement modes
    5. Angle and grid snap
  6. Create with Primitives
    1. Get started with primitives
    2. Primitive parameters
      1. Parameter overview
      2. Shape parameters
      3. Combine parameters
    3. Organize primitives
      1. Primitive containers
      2. Manage primitive order
      3. Primitive groups
      4. Repetition
  7. Organize your scene
    1. Scope and scene structure
    2. Layers
    3. Groups
    4. Advanced scene assembly
      1. Instances
      2. Symmetry and repetition
      3. Booleans
    5. Import meshes
  8. Render mode
    1. Render mode overview
    2. Work with cameras
  9. Export Mode
    1. Export your creations
    2. Export presets
  10. Technical support
    1. Technical requirements
    2. How does Modeler work?
    3. Performance
    4. Troubleshooting
    5. Supported file formats
  11. Release notes
    1. V1.17(Current Release)
    2. V1.15
    3. V1.14
    4. V1.13
    5. Public Beta V1.17.50 (Current Release)
    6. Public Beta Archive
      1. Public Beta V1.16.50
      2. Public Beta V1.15.50
      3. Public Beta V1.14.50
      4. Public Beta V1.12.50
      5. Public Beta V1.11.50
      6. Public Beta V1.10.50
      7. Public Beta V1.9.50
      8. Public Beta V1.8.50
    7. V1 Archive
      1. V1.12
      2. V1.11
      3. V1.10
      4. V1.9
      5. V1.8
      6. V1.7
      7. V1.6    
      8. V1.5
      9. V1.4
      10. V1.3
      11. V1.2
      12. V1.1 
      13. V1.0 
    8. V0 Archive
      1. 2022/08/02 V0.17.0
      2. 2022/06/22 V0.14.1
      3. 2022/05/13 V0.10.2

The Palette

The Palette holds many of Modeler's tools and controls and, after the viewport, is the most frequently used part of the interface.

💻 The Palette is always open and by default appears in the top left corner of the screen. You can move the Palette to the top right corner with Preferences > Desktop > Handedness.
🥽 Hold S2 to access the Palette. By default this displays the Palette expanded and Actions menu minimized. If the Palette is minimized, hold S2 then use TJ ← to expand it.

  • Tools:
    • Select a tool.
  • Tool Parameters:
    • Adjust parameters to modify the behavior of your currently selected tool.
    • Access related tools. For example: select the Erase tool, and the Remove tool is available at the top of the Erase tool parameters.

💻 The Palette is always open and by default appears in the top left corner of the screen. You can move the Palette to the top right corner with Preferences > Desktop > Handedness.

🥽 Hold S2 to access the Palette.

Tools and tool galleries

The Tools section holds the tools and tool galleries that you'll use to create your scenes and sculpts. The following tools are available:

  • Select tool
  • Clay tool
  • Erase tool gallery
  • Warp tool gallery
  • Smooth tool
  • Buildup tool gallery
  • Inflate tool
  • Paint tool

At the bottom of the Tools section there are also file management options.

  • Save

Tool galleries

A tool gallery is a collection of related tools.

Select a tool that belongs to a tool gallery and the other tools in that gallery are available at the top of the Palette.

The Tool section of the Palette shows the most recently selected tool from a given tool gallery. For example:

  • By default, the Warp tool is available in the Tool section of the Palette.
  • Select the Elastic tool from the Warp tool gallery, and the Elastic tool will become the default tool for the Warp tool gallery.

The following tool galleries exist in Modeler:

  • The Warp tool gallery holds the Warp and the Elastic tools.
  • The Erase tool gallery holds the Erase, Split, and Crop tools.
  • The Buildup tool gallery holds the Buildup and Crease tools.

Adjust tool parameters

The Tool parameters section shows options to adjust the behavior of the currently selected tool. If the currently selected tool belongs to a tool gallery, you can also select related tools in the Tool parameters section.

Where possible, parameters are consistent across tools and brushes. However, some tools may have unique parameters. Refer to the documentation for each tool to learn more abou their parameters.

Get help faster and easier

New user?