In Substance Painter, the Stylization filter is a powerful tool to help achieve unique and artistic textures that can give your 3D models a hand-painted or cartoon-like appearance. In this tutorial, we’ll walk through how to apply and use the Stylized filter in Substance Painter.
Step 1: Setting Up Your Project
First, you need to create a project or open an existing one in Substance Painter.
Make sure you have your texture maps baked so you have more control over the Stylized Filter.
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Step 2: Applying Materials to Your Model
You can use the Stylized filter in combination with various materials to get a stylized look.
In the Shelf window, go to Materials.
Drag and drop a material onto your model in the 3D View.
You’ll now see the basic texture applied to your model.
If you want to use the same material I am using, I do have a tutorial showing you how to make it from scratch. The link is in the description.
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Step 3: Applying the Stylized Filter
The Stylized filter works as a post-processing effect that modifies the way the materials and textures look.
Go to the Layer Stack panel, right-click in the Layer Stack and select ‘Add Filter’. Make sure to turn off all the channels except Color.
In the filter list, choose Stylization.
Alternatively, if you’re working with a particular layer (like the Base Color), you can also apply the Stylized filter directly to that layer by right-clicking and selecting Add Filter.
After applying the Stylized filter, you’ll see the Properties panel for the filter.
Here, you’ll have several sliders and options to tweak the effect.
In addition, you have Presets that can be used.
Play around with these settings to get a feel for how they impact the look of your model. There is no “right” setting—this is an artistic process, and the exact settings depend on the style you’re aiming for.
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Conclusion
Using the Stylized filter in Substance Painter can quickly give your models a unique, hand-painted, or cartoonish aesthetic. By adjusting the various settings such as Stylization, Contrast, Saturation, and Outline, you can create a wide range of stylized looks.