How to make a normal map | Affinity Photo

In this tutorial, I will show you how to make a normal map using a photo in Affinity Photo for your project.

Add-on

I have provided the direct link for the add-on I’m using

Once you have it downloaded – simply drag-and-drop it into Affinity Photo

You will receive a message stating that it has been installed

Under the Window menu, I open the Assets window

Using the dropdown menu, I open the Normal Map Generator

I drag-and-drop my photo into the Document Window – I will be using the tileable texture I made in a previous tutorial

I drag the Normal Map Generator icon onto the photo

I open the Normal folder in my Layers panel

I double-click on the Lighting icon to open the options

I click on the “Load bump map” button and choose the photo I originally opened

I can delete the “Logo” layer

I can now reopen the Lighting options and use the Texture slider to make adjustments to the Normal Map [6]

I now export the image as a PNG

In Blender, I will delete my default Cube and use SHIFT + A to add a Plane to my scene

I use R + X + 90 to rotate the Plane around the X-Axis by 90-degrees

Under the Shading Workspace, I make a new Material and name it

I use SHIFT + A to add an Image Texture Node and open the Color Texture

I connect the Image Texture Node to the Base Color of the Principled Shader

I use SHIFT + D to duplicate the Image Texture Node and open the Normal Map

I make sure the Color Space is set to Non-Color

I use SHIFT + A and add a Normal Map Node

I connect the Image Texture to the Normal Map

I connect the Normal Map to the Principled Shader

I can make adjustments to the Normal Map strength