Editing Textures

Open any texture your character uses in your image editor, save it, and see the change in game a second later. No converting between TEX and TGA, no TexTools.

You need an image editor that saves 32-bit TGA files, chosen during setup or in Settings > Editors.

Step by step

1. Type /ie and open On Screen (or Mod Browser for a mod you aren't wearing).

2. Click the Textures chip to list only textures. Hover a texture to see a preview.

3. Press the brush button on the texture's row (or right-click, Edit texture).

4. The texture opens in your editor as a TGA file. Edit it however you like: layers, adjustments, painting.

5. Save it back to the same file as a flattened 32-bit TGA with alpha (see below).

6. A moment later the game shows your change.

Every time you save, Instant Edit converts the TGA back to the game's format, keeps a backup of the mod's file, replaces it, reloads the mod and redraws your character. Save as often as you like.

Note: If other models use the same texture file, they will be affected too.

Saving the right way

The game needs a flattened TGA: one layer, 32-bit (8 bits per channel), with an alpha channel. Both uncompressed and RLE-compressed TGAs work.

Saving that by hand every time is tedious, and "Save As" in most editors wants to flatten your working document. The Save Flattened TGA scripts solve this: they save a flattened copy over the TGA and leave your layers alone. Setup installs them for you. Afterwards they're here:

Editor	Save in place	Save as a variant
Photoshop	File > Scripts > SaveFlattenedTGA	File > Scripts > SaveFlattenedTGAVariant
GIMP	File > Export > Save Flattened TGA (In Place)	File > Export > Save Flattened TGA As Variant...
Krita	Tools > Scripts > Save Flattened TGA (In Place)	Tools > Scripts > Save Flattened TGA As Variant...
Paint.NET	Normal Save (Ctrl+S); pick 32-bit when asked	Save a copy under a new name

Give the script a keyboard shortcut in your editor so saving is a single key press. In Photoshop: Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > App Menus > File > Scripts.

Keep your layered work file (PSD, XCF, KRA) next to the TGA if you want to come back to it later.

Changing the size

You can change the texture's resolution in your editor, up to 8192 × 8192. For compressed textures (most of them), the width and height must be divisible by 4.

Compression

By default your edit keeps the texture's original compression (BC1 to BC7), so the file stays small. To save uncompressed instead (larger files, but no compression artifacts), turn off Recompress saved textures in the toolbar's options (sliders) button.

Making colour variants

You can add several versions of a texture as options in the mod:

1. With the texture open, make your change.
2. Save a copy under another name in the same folder, for example Red.tga. The "variant" save script then asks for the name.
3. Instant Edit adds it to the mod as an option called Red, in a group named <texture> variants, and selects it for your character.

The group's Original option shows the main texture. Saving the main TGA again switches back to it. Saving a variant again updates that variant.

Editing a game texture (no mod yet)

1. In On Screen, tick Include vanilla so textures straight from the game are listed.
2. Press the brush on the texture. Instant Edit asks for a Mod name.
3. Your first save creates that mod and enables it for your character. Nothing changes in the game files.

Managing sessions

Each texture you open becomes a session, listed in the Sessions tab. A session keeps watching its TGA for saves until you stop it.

Each card shows the texture, where saves go, when it was last saved and its state (Watching, Paused, Conflict, Needs mod). The buttons on a card:

Button	What it does
Pencil	Open the TGA in your editor again. A paused session starts watching again.
Folder	Open the session's working folder.
Pause / Play	Stop or start reacting to saves.
Circular arrow	Retry the last save: resume, reload the mod and redraw.
Clock	Restore the previous saved texture (or the original from before your first edit), then pause.
Trash	Discard the session's working files. The mod and its backups are kept.

Clean up all sessions at the top discards every session and Substance Painter project at once, after asking. Your mods and backups are kept.

Sessions pause when the game or plugin restarts. Opening the texture again (or the pencil on its card) resumes it.

See also

• Painting in Substance Painter: paint on the 3D model instead of the flat image.
• Backups and undo