by MarkSeam·Rendering
Images © MarkSeam. Used for product review; image policy.
Earns its place in the superhive library for bringing a layer stack to Blender's texture paint mode, with the same blend modes carried through to the baked PBR maps.
Paintstack adds a layer-based system to Blender's texture paint mode, letting you paint and composite multiple texture types directly in the viewport and then export standard PBR maps. You can work on color, transparent, bump, roughness, and subsurface layers, each connecting directly to the Principled BSDF.
Layers combine through six blend modes — Mix, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Soft Light, and Add — with per-layer opacity that updates in real time. Masked layers hold both a color and a mask image, and you can switch between painting the color and painting the mask with one click, with brush settings adapting to each mode automatically.
When you're finished, composite the visible layers into albedo, normal, height, roughness, and subsurface maps at resolutions from 1K to 8K, with blend modes applied during the bake to match the viewport. Layer management covers reordering, visibility toggles, and opacity, while the active layer is highlighted in both the panel and node editor and a viewport banner shows the current layer and target.
Paintstack is best for blender artists building PBR materials through layered texture painting directly in the viewport.
Paintstack is completely free to download and use.
Paintstack is listed as Blender Extension compatible and built for Blender version 5.1, packaged as an add-on. It works inside Blender's texture paint mode, adding its layer system there, and the render engine used is Eevee. Because compatibility can shift between Blender releases, check the developer's page for the current supported versions before installing. Once added, you paint and composite layers directly in the viewport, and a banner keeps you aware of which layer and target you're currently painting on.
Paintstack exports baked maps by compositing your visible layers into albedo, normal, height, roughness, and subsurface maps. You can bake at resolutions from 1K up to 8K, and the blend modes set on each layer are applied during the bake, so the output matches what you see in the viewport. This lets you take a layered paint job and produce standard PBR maps for use in a material. The result follows the visible layer stack along with its opacity settings.
Paintstack includes six blend modes for combining layers: Mix, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Soft Light, and Add. Each layer also has its own opacity control, and adjustments update in real time in the viewport. The same blend modes are applied when you bake, so the composited maps reflect how the layers stack visually. Layer types cover color, transparent, bump, roughness, and subsurface, with each type connecting directly to the Principled BSDF for shading feedback as you work.
Paintstack is listed as free in this catalog, and it is distributed under the GPL license. Licensing and pricing can change over time, so check the developer's page for the current terms before you download. The add-on brings a layer-based texture painting system to Blender, letting you paint on multiple layer types, use blend modes and opacity, edit masks, and export composited PBR maps. A demo video is also available.
by Physical Addons
Physical Starlight and Atmosphere - Sky is a Blender addon for real-time, physics-based sky and atmosphere rendering. It works in Eevee and Cycles, using photometric measurements and analytic air mass volume calculations for scientifically accurate atmospheric scattering.
by Andrew_D
Extreme PBR Nexus is a Blender addon for managing a library of over 1800 materials, compatible with Cycles and Eevee. It includes texture painting between materials, animated water, and displacement built on native Blender modifiers.
by Community
Tri-lighting is a Blender add-on that places a three-point lighting setup on the selected or active object. Found under View3D → Add → Lights, it was previously bundled with Blender 4.1.
by Håvard Dalen
Lens Sim is a Blender addon that simulates camera lenses using real-world optical data. It extends the standard Blender camera so you can choose and render dozens of lenses in Cycles.
by pioverfour
Sun Position is a Blender add-on that positions and animates the Sun to simulate real-world natural lighting, using geographic location, time and date based on the NOAA online calculator.
by Dynamic Sky
Dynamic Sky is a Blender add-on that creates dynamic sky for the Cycles render engine. Originally authored by Pratik Solanki, it was part of Blender 4.1's bundled add-ons and is now offered as-is.
