Using The Quick Edit Tool For Decals In Blender 2.8x

Every once in a while I'll be asked, "Is there a simple way to add a decal to a model texture without having to buy an expensive paint program?"

The answer is Yes! We can use the Quick Edit Tool in Blender and a simple image editor like GIMP (or whatever 2D image editor you're familiar with.)

This guide ASSUMES that you already know how to CREATE or APPLY and BAKE textures in and from Blender. It does not cover these topics.

In this guide I will be using GIMP 2.10 as an Image Editor for the process, but you can use any image editor you feel comfortable with.

Adding Decals to a Pre-made Texture.

Let's say I've created a really detailed and the object I want to add a decal to has unwrapped weirdly and the UV islands for the mesh I want the decal to cover are all over the map. I've tried to use a stencil to add the decal, but it isn't doing the job I want it to and there is no way I can paint the decal onto the model manually.





I can't justify spending the money to buy an expensive paint program like 3D-Coat or Substance Painter because I don't ever plan to have to do this ever again, but I really want the decal on this model.

The First Thing We Need To Do

There is a tool inside blender that will allow us to send a screen shot of the area we want to repaint, add a decal to, or want to manually manipulate to an image editor and have Blender launch the image in the editor automatically, but the Image Editor has to be set up in the Blender Preferences.



And with that done, we're set to go!

Capturing the Image for Editing.

This where it can get tricky, but if you do it right, the results are usually pretty good.

Take the model into Texture Paint mode.

This Texture that is already on the object is a 2D image that is painted onto the 3D space so when I start this process, I usually start in Ortho(graphic) view mode and try that first.




When the Image editor opens, the shot you sent to it will ready for editing and will already be named and Blender is currently waiting for this name to be returned to it after editing.




We can now edit the image as if we were applying the changes directly to the model.

Bringing the Changes Back to Blender

Once the image is edited and ready to be brought back to Blender, the process I usually follow is to

From the Image Editor:

1) I ensure that the Edit layers are scaled to the image size.


2) I merge my edit layers into one layer.
When the merge is complete, I'll have 2 layers, The Edit and The Original layer created by Blender


3) I turn off the original layer, leaving only the edit layer visible. Anything that has not been edited should be transparent. When we send this back to Blender, it will act as an OVERLAY on the original texture that is already applied to the model.

4) I select File and OVERWRITE the image that was created by Blender. Blender is waiting for this filename to be returned.



In Blender

1) with the model still in texture mode, select Options then select Apply.


The image that came from the image editor should now overlay the original texture.

If we take the model into Object or Edit Mode and look at the texture in the UV Editor, we should find that the texture spaces have been correctly assigned to the UV map.

Now it just a matter of Baking the texture (if it hasn't already been baked) or saving the changed texture image if it has.



If the results are not to you're liking, repeat the process, but try re-positioning the camera, increase the resolution of the image coming from blender, try perspective mode on the viewer before sending the image to the image editor OR, buy a paint program like 3D-Coat or Substance Painter.

LOL!!!