ArmorPaint is an open-source application for 3D PBR texture painting, built on a custom C-based 3D engine. It targets both artists who want a fast, GPU-accelerated painting workflow and developers who want to extend or integrate the tool via its plugin API. ArmorPaint distinguishes itself through real-time path-traced rendering, a fully node-based material and brush system, built-in AI/neural nodes, and a compact single-binary build that runs natively on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, and in the browser via WebAssembly.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/armory3d/armorpaint/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Key Features
PBR Painting
Paint directly onto Base Color, Normal, Occlusion, Roughness, Metallic, Height, Emission, and Subsurface channels simultaneously on 3D meshes. Full blending modes (Mix, Multiply, Overlay, and 14 others) are available per brush stroke.
Path Tracing
Switch the viewport to path-traced mode (
VIEWPORT_MODE_PATH_TRACE) for physically accurate lighting previews without leaving the application. Fast and Quality path trace modes are available to balance speed and accuracy.Node Editor
Materials and brushes are defined through a visual node graph. The node canvas supports grouping, live node previews, and custom node groups, giving full procedural control over every surface property.
AI / Neural Nodes
Neural node models can be downloaded and used directly inside the node editor. Neural resolution and server settings are configurable from Preferences → Neural, enabling AI-assisted texture generation within the standard node workflow.
Layer System
A non-destructive layer stack supports paint layers, fill layers, black/white/fill masks, and layer groups. Each layer exposes individual channel toggles (base, opacity, occlusion, roughness, metallic, normal, height, emission, subsurface) and blend mode selection.
Multi-Platform
Pre-built binaries and source builds target Windows (Direct3D 12), Linux (Vulkan), macOS and iOS (Metal), Android (arm64), and WebAssembly. A single codebase and the
amake build tool handle all platform targets.Plugin API
Plugins are written in C and loaded at runtime. Each plugin can register
on_ui, on_draw, on_update, and on_delete callbacks. Active plugins are listed and managed from Preferences → Plugins.Export Presets
Configurable export presets let you pack multiple PBR channels into custom texture maps with selectable color space (Auto, Linear, sRGB, DirectX Normal Map). Export modes include visible layers, selected layers, per-object, and per-UDIM tile.
Supported Platforms
| Platform | Graphics API | Architecture |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Direct3D 12 | x64 |
| Linux | Vulkan | x64 |
| macOS | Metal | arm64 |
| iOS | Metal | arm64 |
| Android | Vulkan / GLES | arm64 |
| WebAssembly | WebGPU | wasm32 |
This repository is aimed at developers and the source build may not be stable. Compiled binary distributions are available as a paid download at armorpaint.org/download to support ongoing development. All development happens in the public repository so the source is accessible to everyone.
Workflows
ArmorPaint supports three distinct painting workflows selected from Workspace → Workflow: PBR Workflow (WORKFLOW_PBR) is the default mode. All PBR channels — Base Color, Normal, Occlusion, Roughness, Metallic, Height, Emission, and Subsurface — are available for painting and are visible as dedicated viewport display modes.
Base Color Workflow (WORKFLOW_BASE) strips the channel set down to Base Color and Opacity, streamlining the interface for projects that only need diffuse textures. The Mode menu automatically hides the PBR-only display modes when this workflow is active.
Sculpt Workflow (WORKFLOW_SCULPT) redirects brush strokes into mesh displacement rather than texture painting, enabling direct sculpting on the loaded mesh geometry within the same application.
Next Steps
Build from Source
Clone the repository and compile ArmorPaint on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, or WebAssembly.
Interface Overview
Learn the layout of the viewport, toolbar, sidebar panels, menubar, and the five workspaces.