Retexture a 3D model

Last updated: October 12, 2026

Repaint a finished 3D model with a new surface from a prompt or an image, keeping its shape, for reskins, variants and seasonal events.

Before you start

  • You need a mesh on the board: a model you made in Layer (see Create a 3D model) or one you uploaded. See Supported file types and what you can do with them for the formats Layer reads.
  • Retexture models take different inputs. Some read a prompt, a texture image or both; others need a texture image. The form marks what the model you pick requires.
  • A retexture costs Creative Units, more at a higher Quality. See Creative Units.

Steps

  1. In a session, open Retexture mesh from the side panel. If it isn't listed under Tools, click See all tools and pick it there. You can also open the model in the viewer and choose Retexture mesh under Actions.

  2. Click the model picker and choose a retexture model. The form shows only the controls that model supports.

  3. Select the model on the board, then click Source mesh to add it.

  4. Describe the new surface in the prompt box (Describe the new texture): material, colour, wear and style. To match a palette or a concept exactly, add an image under Texture image as well, or instead.

  5. Set Quality, and turn PBR materials on only if your engine lights the model with metalness and roughness maps. See Settings below.

  6. Click Retexture.

Result

The retextured model lands on the board next to the original as a new GLB file, and the original stays as it was. The geometry is the source mesh's: the same shape, the same face count. Open it to turn it around in the viewer, and download it in your engine's format from Download as... (see Download and export your assets). The details panel lists its Faces, so you can confirm the count matches the source.

Settings

Which of these you see depends on the model you picked.

Quality

Sets the size and detail of the texture map the model paints. Medium is the model's standard texture pass. High is its detailed (HD) pass: a larger texture map with finer detail on small features such as trims, rivets and engraving, at a longer run time and a higher cost. The exact pixel size at each level is set by the model's provider. Start at Medium while you settle the look, then run the version you keep at High, and scale the texture down in your engine if the platform needs a smaller one.

PBR materials

Adds metalness, roughness and normal maps to the colour texture, so the model reacts to light in a game engine. It is off unless you turn it on, and the run uses the switch exactly as it is when you click Retexture. Leave it off for a hand-painted or stylised look, and for mobile games that light with baked or unlit shaders: with PBR on, a painted surface can come back glossy or metallic. To check what a result used, open it and look at its details: PBR Materials is listed when the run made those maps.

Generate textures

On by default. Turned off, the run returns the bare geometry with no colour, which is rarely what you want from a retexture; leave it on.

Production tips

  • One mesh, many skins. Retexture the same base mesh once per variant (faction colours, rarity tiers, a winter or Halloween event) so every variant shares the same silhouette, UVs and polygon budget, and your engine can swap materials without new geometry.
  • Settle the shape first. Bring the mesh under your polygon budget with Remesh before you retexture, so the texture is painted onto the topology you ship. A retexture never changes geometry.
  • Retexture before you rig. Finish the surface, then rig and animate the textured model (see Rig and animate a 3D character).
  • Use an image for brand colours. A prompt describes a look; a texture image pins it. A swatch sheet or a painted concept from your art bible holds a palette across a whole set far better than words.
  • Batch it in a workflow. In a workflow, connect a Meshes or a 3D generation node to a Retexture Mesh node to repaint a set of props in one run, with the model, prompt and settings fixed on the node. See Workflow nodes and Build and publish a workflow.

If something goes wrong

  • "Meshy V5 Retexture has been retired and can no longer generate." Its provider stopped serving it, so Layer retired it. Pick another retexture model in the model picker. In a saved workflow, open the Retexture Mesh node and choose another model there; files the old model made stay where they are.
  • Visible seams or smeared areas. The texture is painted along the mesh's UV layout, so seams show where UV islands meet, worst on uploaded meshes with dense or missing UVs. Run UV unwrap mesh on the model first and retexture the result, or try High quality. Touch up what remains in your texturing tool.
  • Small details are painted wrong (a raised stud painted as a dark hole, a lock plate in the wrong metal). The model guesses what each part is from its shape. Name the parts and their materials in the prompt, or add a Texture image that shows them, and run it again.
  • The shape didn't change. That is by design: a retexture only repaints. To change the form, edit the source image and create a new model from it (see Create a 3D model), or use Remesh for topology.
  • "This model accepts meshes up to ..." The source file is larger than the model takes. Bring it down with Remesh, or export a lighter version from your 3D tool, and try again.

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