Baking your mesh

Hi Misty!

That’s a really great question! Baking your mesh in Substance Painter is what unlocks the real power of the program. It generates a set of data maps (like curvature, ambient occlusion, and world space normal) that give Substance Painter detailed information about your mesh’s shape and surface features.

These maps let you get the most out of smart materials, generators, and masks, helping you create textures that feel personalized to your model. Without baking, a lot of the magic just doesn’t work as well.

These maps really shine when driving generators (the Mask Editor generator is my personal favorite and a great example of how these maps come to life in your workflow)