Did you know you can use GIMP to make your own texture maps?
In this GIMP tutorial I will show you how to use GIMP and a free texture to make your own texture maps.
Seamless Texture
The first thing we need to do is make the texture seamless – I will be using a wood plank texture
I will be making a 1K texture – that is 1024 x 1024
I make a new document that is 1024 x 1024 with a transparent background
I drag the texture into GIMP and scale it so I have the black part on each side
Now all I need to do it go to Filters > Map > Tile Seamless
I leave everything as their defaults and click OK
I now make a new 1024 x 1024 document and copy this texture onto the new document
I scale it down to 512 x 512 and make three duplicates
I can see that my texture is seamless
I export this image as a PNG – this is the color or albedo texture map
Normal Map
I can now make a new document that is 1024 x 1024 and copy and paste the seamless texture onto the new document
I will now make a normal map using a plug-in (link is in the description)
To make the normal map, I just go to Filters > Map > Normal Map
The only change I make is to the Filter – I change this to the 9×9 option
I export this image as a PNG – this is the normal texture map
Specular Map
I make a new document that is 1024 x 1024 and copy and paste the original texture onto the new document
To make the specular map, I go to Filters > Edge-Detect > Neon
I leave everything at their defaults
I then desaturate the colors by going to Colors > Desaturate > Desaturate
I will use the mode of luminance
I now go to Colors > Brightness and Contrast and turn the Brightness all the way down and click OK
I export this image as a PNG – this is the specular texture map
Metalness Map
I make a new document that is 1024 x 1024 and copy and paste the original texture onto the new document
It is important to note that any bright area on the texture map will be metallic and any dark areas will be non-metallic
I then desaturate the colors by going to Colors > Desaturate > Desaturate
I will use the mode of luminance
I can make further adjustments by going to Colors > Levels
If I move the white color stop to the left, the texture will become brighter – meaning a more metallic look
If I move the black color stop to the right, the texture will become darker – meaning little to no metalness
Since this is wood, I will pull the black color stop to the right
I export this image as a PNG – this is the metalness texture map
Roughness Map
I make a new document that is 1024 x 1024 and copy and paste the original texture onto the new document
It is important to note that any bright area on the texture map will be rough and any dark areas will be glossy
I then desaturate the colors by going to Colors > Desaturate > Desaturate
I will use the mode of luminance
I can make further adjustments by going to Colors > Levels
If I move the black color stop to the right, the texture will become darker – meaning a more glossy look
If I move the white color stop to the left, the texture will become brighter – meaning a more rough look
Since this is wood, I will pull the white color stop to the left
I export this image as a PNG – this is the roughness texture map
*NOTE: If you need a glossy map, you can use this map and simply invert it
Height Map
I make a new document that is 1024 x 1024 and copy and paste the original texture onto the new document
It is important to note that any bright area on the texture map will be extruded outward and any dark areas will be extruded inward
I then desaturate the colors by going to Colors > Desaturate > Color to Gray
I will use the default options
I then go to Colors > Levels
If I move the white color stop to the left, the texture will become brighter – meaning the surface will be extruded outward
If I move the black color stop to the right, the texture will become darker – meaning the surface will be extruded inward
Since this is wood, I will pull the black color stop to the right
I then go to Colors > Curves and bend the top third of the curve to the right to make the dark colors a bit darker
I export this image as a PNG – this is the height texture map
AO Map
I make a new document that is 1024 x 1024 and copy and paste the original texture onto the new document
It is important to note that any bright area on the texture map will be well lit and any dark areas will be in shadow
I then desaturate the colors by going to Colors > Desaturate > Color to Gray
I will use the default options
I then go to Colors > Levels
If I move the white color stop to the left, the texture will become brighter – meaning the surface will be well lit
If I move the black color stop to the right, the texture will become darker – meaning the surface will be more in shadow
Since this is wood, I will pull the white color stop to the left
I then go to Colors > Curves and make an S-curve to balance out the lighter and darker areas
I export this image as a PNG – this is the AO map
Importing Maps into Blender
I open Blender and add a plane
I scale the plane up and apply the scale
I make sure I am in material preview
If you are following along, make sure you have node wrangler installed
I split the viewport and open the shader editor
I make a new material for the plane
I select the Principled Shader
I use CTRL + SHIFT + T to open the folder where the maps are located
I then select all of my maps
I can make any adjustments as needed