How do you create PS1 textures in Affinity Studio and use them for texturing in Blender 3D?

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create PS1-style textures in Affinity Studio, optimize those textures for a retro look, and apply them correctly to a 3D model in Blender 3D.

Part 1: Understanding PS1 Texture Limitations

Before creating textures, it helps to understand what made PS1 visuals unique:

• Low texture resolution (often 32×32, 64×64, or 128×128)
• Limited color depth (often 16-bit color or lower)
• No texture filtering (nearest-neighbor scaling)
• Simple shading with little to no detail maps

We’ll recreate these limitations to achieve an authentic look.

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Part 2: Creating PS1-Style Textures in Affinity Photo

Step 1: Create a Low-Resolution Canvas

1. Make sure you have some photos you want to use as part of the texture downloaded – I would recommend using Pexels.Com

2. Open Affinity Studio and create a new document with DPI of 72 [128]
3. Use a transparent background and the RGB/8 color format
4. To make a PS1 texture, drag-and-drop the photo into Affinity and scale it to the proper size
5. Change the X and Y Positions to 0 to center the photo
6. Export the texture

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Part 3: Applying PS1 Textures in Blender 3D

Step 1: Apply the Texture

1. Import or create a model – this scene is available for download
2. I have already UV unwrapped these models – if you need to UV unwrap your own model, I do have a tutorial on my YouTube channel
3. Split the Viewport and open the Shader Editor
4. Select the wall and add a new Material
5. Drag-and-drop the wall texture into the Shader Editor and connect it to the Principled Shader
6. To control the scale of the texture, make sure you have the Node Wrangler add-on activated
7. With the Texture node selected, use CTRL + T to add a Mapping and Texture Coordinate node
8. You can use the Scale of the Mapping node to control the scale of the texture
9. Open the UV Editor and move, scale, and rotate the UV islands as needed

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Conclusion

Creating PS1-style textures is all about embracing limitations. By working at low resolutions, using limited color palettes, and avoiding modern smoothing techniques, you can recreate the iconic look of early 3D games.