Best Free Texture-Creating Software?

I am thinking about learning to create textures, now looking for the tools to start with. I aim to make a game in UE4 so I want to have the ability to make custom texture. In terms of free, professional texture-creating, would Blender alone do the job? Should I use other free software to do this? (if so, which one? Inkscape? Gimp? Krita? other software?), I would be glad to hear some practical advices from experienced people.

it really depends on the style your going for and the type of textures you want to make. it also helps if your artistic. blender is good for creating textures from sculpts / models, and with its node system you can create some good stuff. kryta and gimp are also good for painting and modifying textures. if i were to compare using blender to something like substance (i havent used substance but ive seen a few videos) i would say that you could probably get similar results but it may take a bit more work with blender.

Well, I have some ideas about textures, but I have no idea what software is fit with my style. So I am fine with any efficient and powerful software. I just want to make sure it is worthwhile to dedicate a lot of learning time in texturing in Blender in order to make something quality. Could you explain more about creating textures in Blender? Let alone some high-end paid software, is Blender texture-creating tools complete, efficient enough for making amazing textures, I mean, for a indie game developers?

Ok. Thx a lot for the link. :slight_smile:

it really depends on the style and look your after. im no expert and there isnt a specific work pipline to with, it really depends on the what your comfortable working with. for instance if you want a hand drawn style then you may want to use the texture painting mode where you can paint directly on a mesh. but if your like me and cant draw to save your life that doesnt exactly work out. then theres the option to to create a 3d model then render it to a 2d texture. this is another good way to make textures and can be done with less artistic skill required. though is you do have skill then you can create some really nice things here too. then theres the node editor which is similar to unreals material editor, where you can modify textures or create your own via noise and masks, and you can modify them to your hearts content.

as for being complete and efficient well again that depends. i would say it can do just about anything given the users skill and enough time. as for efficient it depends on you and your style so i cant really say. i will say that there probably is a reason that many pro studios use programs like substance, i dont have experience with it but the textures ive seen made with it are amazing (look on art station to see some). if i were you i would look into some tutorials and watch those to see if its something you want to pursue.

heres a few links to some good tutorials and or youtube channels for using blender.

How to Make Photorealistic PBR Materials - Part 1 - YouTube

Game Assets - Modular Dungeon [ Part 1 ] - YouTube
Tutorial - Hand Painted Textures in Blender - YouTube
How to Create Textures From Scratch! - YouTube