Setting Up PBR Materials for Your Fabrics in Konfiwear
PBR (Physically Based Rendering) are what make your garments look realistic in the 3D customizer. By uploading texture maps and tuning render settings, you control whether a fabric looks like a smooth satin, a rugged mesh jersey, or a soft brushed
Before You Begin
Make sure you have:
An existing fabric in your account (see Fabrics & Materials Module for creating one)
At least one texture map image prepared (PNG, JPEG, or WebP format)
An understanding of which map types you need for your material (see the texture map reference below)
⚠️ Important: Texture maps should be square, power-of-two dimensions for optimal GPU performance (e.g., 512×512, 1024×1024, or 2048×2048). Non-square textures work but may produce stretching or tiling artifacts.
Setup Instructions
1. Open the fabric detail page
Navigate to Fabrics from the Customizer section in the sidebar. Click the fabric you want to configure.
Caption: The fabric detail page ready for texture uploads and render settings configuration.
2. Upload your texture maps
In the left column, locate the Textures card. It shows five upload slots — one for each PBR texture map type:
Slot | Map Type | What to Upload |
Normal | Surface detail | A tangent-space normal map (typically purple/blue tones). This is the most important map — it creates the illusion of threads, weave, and surface micro-detail. |
Ambient Occlusion (AO) | Shadow depth | A grayscale image where darker areas represent shadowed crevices. Adds realism to creases and thread intersections. |
Displacement | Height variation | A grayscale height map where brighter pixels represent raised areas. Subtler than normal maps, adds dimensional depth. |
Gloss | Shininess | A grayscale map where brighter areas are shinier. Controls per-pixel roughness variation. |
Alpha | Transparency | A grayscale map where white is opaque and black is transparent. Used for mesh fabrics and perforated materials. |
For each texture you want to add:
Click the Upload button on the appropriate row
Select the image file (PNG, JPEG, or WebP)
Wait for the upload to complete — the file uploads directly to cloud storage
The texture URL is automatically saved to your fabric
Caption: Normal and AO texture maps uploaded. Remaining slots are available for additional maps.
💡 Tip: Start with just the Normal and AO maps. These two produce the most dramatic visual improvement. Add Gloss, Displacement, and Alpha as refinements.
3. Remove or replace a texture (optional)
To remove a texture map:
Click the trash icon on the texture row
The texture URL is set to null — the slot returns to its empty state
To replace a texture, upload a new file to the same slot. The new file overwrites the previous one at the same storage path.
4. Configure render settings
In the right column, locate the Render Settings card. These parameters control how the 3D engine interprets your texture maps.
Click the edit icon on the Render Settings card to open the editing interface. Adjust the following values:
Setting | What to Set | Guidance |
Repeat | How many times the texture tiles across the garment | Start with the default ( |
Normal Scale | Intensity of surface bumps | Default is |
Roughness | Matte vs. shiny surface |
|
AO Map Intensity | Strength of occlusion shadows | Default is |
Metalness | Metallic surface behavior | Keep at |
Click Save to apply the settings.
Caption: Render settings configured for an athletic mesh fabric: repeat 43, normal scale 2.3, roughness 1.0, AO intensity 0.6.
⚠️ Important: Render settings interact with each other. Changing the repeat value affects how the normal map and AO map tile, which changes the overall look. Make one adjustment at a time and preview the result.
5. Preview in the 3D viewer
After uploading textures and setting render parameters, check the Preview card in the right column. It renders a 3D cloth model with your textures and settings applied in real time.
Use the preview to verify:
The weave pattern looks correct at the current repeat value
Surface detail (bumps, threads) appears at the right intensity
The overall sheen matches the real material you're trying to replicate
Alpha transparency works correctly (for mesh fabrics)
Rotate and zoom the 3D model to inspect the fabric from multiple angles.
Caption: The 3D preview showing the configured fabric with normal map and ambient occlusion applied.
💡 Tip: Use the Save Thumbnail button in the preview toolbar to capture the current 3D view as the fabric's preview image. This thumbnail is what customers see in the fabric selector.
6. Save a thumbnail from the 3D preview
Position the 3D model at an angle that shows the fabric detail clearly
Click the Save Thumbnail button in the preview toolbar
The screenshot is uploaded to cloud storage and saved as the fabric's preview image
This replaces any previously set preview image with an accurate representation of the configured material.
Verify It Works
Follow these steps to confirm the material renders correctly:
On the detail page, verify the Preview card shows your fabric with the intended look
Open the customizer with any enabled product
Go to the Fabrics panel and select your fabric
Verify the 3D model updates with the correct material appearance — texture detail, roughness, and sheen should match what you saw in the admin preview
✅ Done! Your PBR material is configured. The 3D customizer will render this fabric with realistic texture detail, surface sheen, and depth.
Reference: Fabric Presets
Here are render settings for common fabric types to use as starting points:
Fabric Type | Repeat | Normal Scale | Roughness | AO Intensity | Notes |
Athletic Mesh | 40–80 | 2.0–2.5 | 0.8–1.0 | 0.5–0.7 | High repeat for fine mesh detail. Strong normal scale for visible holes. |
Cotton Jersey | 50–70 | 0.8–1.2 | 0.9–1.0 | 0.7–0.9 | Medium repeat, subtle bumps, very matte. |
Polyester Performance | 30–50 | 0.5–1.0 | 0.5–0.7 | 0.5–0.6 | Lower roughness for slight sheen. |
Satin / Silk | 15–30 | 0.2–0.5 | 0.2–0.4 | 0.3–0.5 | Low roughness for glossy appearance. Minimal normal scale. |
Brushed Fleece | 20–40 | 1.5–2.0 | 0.9–1.0 | 0.7–0.8 | Strong normal for fuzzy texture. Fully matte. |
Structured Knit | 50–80 | 1.0–1.5 | 0.7–0.9 | 0.6–0.8 | Visible knit pattern at high repeat. |
💡 Tip: These are starting points. Every texture map is different — a high-detail normal map at repeat 40 will look very different from a low-detail one at the same repeat. Always preview and adjust.
Troubleshooting
The 3D preview shows a flat, untextured surface No texture maps are uploaded. Start by uploading at least a normal map in the Textures card.
The weave pattern is too large or too small Adjust the Repeat value. Higher values make the pattern finer; lower values make it larger. The change is visible immediately in the preview.
The fabric looks too shiny or too matte Adjust the Roughness setting. Lower values increase shininess; higher values increase matteness. For a quick fix: athletic fabrics usually want 0.7–0.9, dress fabrics 0.3–0.5.
Surface bumps are too aggressive or barely visible Adjust the Normal Scale setting. Higher values amplify the surface detail; lower values flatten it.
The texture looks blurry or pixelated Your texture map resolution may be too low for the repeat value. Use higher resolution maps (1024×1024 or 2048×2048) when using repeat values above 40.
Textures don't update after uploading The page may be serving a cached version. Refresh the page — the fabric detail loader generates fresh URLs with cache-busting timestamps on every load.
💡 Tip: If you're still experiencing issues, contact our support team at support@konfiwear.com or use the live chat in your dashboard.
Next Steps
Now that your PBR material is configured, here's what to do next:
→ Understanding the Fabrics & Materials Module — Learn how fabrics connect to products, designs, and the customizer rendering pipeline
→ Understanding the Designs Module — Designs control the surface graphics; fabrics control the material underneath
→ Product Setup Guide — Ensure your products are fully configured to work with your fabrics