Materials and textures
Materials bring models to life. Learn to apply colours and textures, set their real-world size, position them on faces and keep file size under control.
In this lesson you will
- Apply materials with the Paint Bucket
- Create and edit materials
- Set texture size and position
- Keep material use efficient
Applying materials
The Paint Bucket (B) applies the selected material from the Materials panel. Click a face to paint it; Ctrl-click (Option on Mac) paints all connected faces; Shift-click replaces a material everywhere in the model. Painting a group from outside paints its default faces; paint inside the group to target specific faces.
Colours and textures
A colour is a flat fill. A texture is an image tiled across the face — brick, timber, stone. Create your own from an image (Materials › Create Material › Use texture image) and set its real-world size, e.g. a brick tile image 1200 × 600 mm, so it looks right at scale.
Positioning textures
Right-click a textured face › Texture › Position to move, rotate and scale the texture with pins, for example to line up floorboards with a wall or brick courses with a window head.
Keep it light
Large texture images bloat files. Use appropriately sized images, avoid dozens of near-identical materials, and purge unused materials. Use only images you have the right to use — your own photos, the built-in library, or properly licensed texture libraries.
Quick reference
| Command / tool | How to start it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Paint Bucket | B | Applies materials |
| Materials panel | Default Tray | Browse and edit materials |
| Texture › Position | Right-click face | Adjusts texture placement |
| Purge Unused | Model Info › Statistics | Removes unused materials |
Common mistakes
Brick looks enormous.
Set the texture's real-world width/height in the material editor.
Painting a group didn't change some faces.
Those faces already have materials inside the group — edit inside.
Exercise
Finish your room
- Create a brick material from a photo you took, sized to real dimensions.
- Paint external walls brick, internal walls a paint colour and the floor timber.
- Align the timber boards with the room using Texture › Position.
- Purge unused materials.
You should end up with: A convincingly finished room.
Checklist
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Lesson quiz
What is the shortcut for the Paint Bucket?
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Free KitWren tools that help
- Length ConverterConvert between metres, centimetres, millimetres, kilometres, inches, feet, yards and miles.
- Area ConverterConvert square metres, square feet, acres, hectares and more.
- Image ResizerResize images to exact pixel dimensions or by percentage, keeping the proportions if you like.
- Image CompressorCompress JPG, PNG and WebP images to make them much smaller — with a before/after preview and the size saved.
- Paint CalculatorWork out how much paint you need for a room’s walls and ceiling, in litres or gallons.
- Flooring CalculatorCalculate how much flooring, timber, laminate or carpet to buy, including waste and boxes.
Free, independent learning material written for KitWren. SketchUp and LayOut are trademarks of Trimble Inc. KitWren is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Trimble. We never provide software downloads, licence keys or cracks — use the official sources.