# image maps for more controlled materials Substance Stager has a decent supply of starter materials to work with. Those are good for applying over the entire model. [[stager materials|My notes on using Stager materials.]] You can also add [[stager decals|image decals as stickers]]. For even more controlled materials, you can add your own images to the settings for everything from color to opacity to the opacity of the sheen. It is a powerful away to add more complexity to your materials. With every material, you will find a collection of sliders and toggles for the different material properties. On the right side of every property, you will notice a color swatch or a plus-sign icon. These allow you to add your own images for those particular material properties. ![[stagerMaterialImageMap.png]] Click the color sample or plus-sign icon and load an image. In the pop-up, you can change scale, offset, and rotation for how the image map is applied. ![[stagerMaterialGradient.png]] --- ## examples Often, the images you use for these image maps are black and white and applied similar to a Layer Mask in Photoshop. For example, take this stepped gradient image map: ![[BWgradient.png]] Applying the map to the **Opacity** property of an orange torus creates the following effect. ![[stagerTransparentTorus.png]] Instead, I applied the same map to the Coat Opacity on a cube. You can see areas where the material is shiny and areas where it isn’t. ![[stagerMaterialSheen.png]] With a bit of creativity, you can quickly create interesting materials on your objects. --- tags: #3d #resources #substance #stager home: [[! 3d modeling - substance]]