Installation and Setup

This page gets you from nothing to a working setup. It takes about ten minutes, most of which is Blender installing the add-on.

What you need

Program	Needed for	Notes
XIVLauncher with Dalamud	everything
Penumbra 1.7.1.0 or newer	everything	Instant Edit reads your mods through Penumbra and writes your edits back into them.
Blender 4.5+	model editing, animations in Blender (optional)	4.5 LTS and 5.2 LTS are tested. Note that functions with MagicFit integration require Blender 5.2+
An image editor that saves 32-bit TGA files	texture editing (optional)	Photoshop CC or newer, GIMP 2.10 / 3.x, Krita 5 / 6, Paint.NET, or anything else that saves TGA.
Adobe Substance 3D Painter 10.0.1 or newer	painting on the model (optional)
SimpleHeels (Dalamud plugin)	baking pose adjustments into animations and applying heels offset (optional)
Glamourer (Dalamud plugin)	automatic refresh of the on screen tab on character changes (optional)

Step 1: Install the plugin

1. In the game, type /xlsettings and open the Experimental tab.

2. Under Custom Plugin Repositories, paste this address and press +:

   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/link-0402/DalamudPlugins/main/repo.json
   

3. Tick Enabled next to it, then press Save and Close.

4. Type /xlplugins, go to All Plugins, search for XIV Instant Edit and press Install.

Step 2: Run the first-time setup

The first time you open the plugin (type /ie), a setup window walks you through everything. Press Next to go forward and Back to go back. Every step except the cache folder can be skipped and done later from Settings.

1. Welcome. A short overview, and a check of the plugins Instant Edit works with. Penumbra is required; Glamourer and SimpleHeels are optional.
2. Cache. Choose a folder where Instant Edit keeps its working files: models on their way to Blender, the TGA files you're editing, a library of skeletons for animations as well as backups for various functions. Pick a drive with a few GB free. Use the default puts it in your local app data folder on the Windows drive. Instant Edit makes its own sub-folder inside the folder you choose.
3. Blender. Setup lists every Blender version it finds on your PC. Press Install add-on next to the one you use.
   • Blender must be closed while it installs.
   • The add-on is installed from GitHub with Check for Updates on Startup turned on, so it updates itself together with the plugin.
   • A Blender installation that isn't listed (for example one unpacked from a ZIP) can be added with Add a Blender that isn't listed.
4. Textures. Pick the image editor you want textures to open in. For Photoshop, GIMP and Krita, press Install save scripts: they add a one-click "save as flattened TGA" command (see Editing textures). Photoshop asks for administrator permission, because its scripts folder is in Program Files. Paint.NET needs nothing. You'll need to map a hotkey for the save scripts yourself.
5. Painter (optional). Tick Paint textures in Substance Painter and press Install Painter plugin. Then start Painter once and enable the plugin under Python > xiv_instant_edit.
6. Press Finish.

Step 3: Check that everything connects properly

1. Start Blender. In the 3D Viewport, press N to open the sidebar and click the IE - Instant Edit tab. The link icon in the Instant Edit header shows that Blender is listening.
2. In game, type /ie. The toolbar of the plugin window shows status dots:
   • Penumbra: OK means Penumbra is running.
   • Blender: Online means Blender and the add-on are running and are the same version as the plugin. Mismatch means one of them is older: update it (see below).
   • Painter appears when Substance Painter painting is turned on.

That's it. Continue with a tour of the plugin window or go straight to your first model edit.

Installing the Blender add-on by hand

Setup does this for you. If you prefer to do it yourself:

1. In Blender, open Edit > Preferences > Get Extensions.

2. Click Repositories, then +, then Add Remote Repository.

3. Enter this address:

   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/link-0402/XIV-Instant-Edit/main/Blender-Addon/blender_repo/index.json
   

4. Tick Check for Updates on Startup (strongly recommended).

5. Find XIV Instant Edit in the list and click Install.

Keeping things up to date

The plugin and the Blender add-on must always be the same version. Other combinations are not supported and can lead to unexpected results or errors.

• The plugin updates through Dalamud like any other plugin.
• The add-on updates when Blender starts, if Check for Updates on Startup is on. Blender's updater sometimes misses an update: if the plugin shows Mismatch, open Settings > Editors in the plugin and press Update add-on, or update it in Blender's Get Extensions.
• When Settings offers Update save scripts or Update Painter plugin, press it and restart that program.

Programs setup can't find

Setup looks in the usual Windows places: the installed-apps list, Program Files, Steam libraries and running programs. It does not find Microsoft Store versions, or native Linux programs next to a Wine install of the game. Set those up by hand: the add-on as above, and the save scripts from the Tools folder.

Setup still lists versions it can't use, with the reason (for example a Blender that is too new, GIMP before 2.10, Krita before 5, Painter before 10.0.1), but won't install into them.