Layer Instances

The new Layer Instances feature lets you share the content of one or several layers across multiple texture sets. This means that different texture sets can now share a single unified layer stack, reducing dramatically the time spent on the look development phase when working on complex assets. The feature is flexible enough so that you can share the full layer stack or only specific layers and folders, giving you the ability to increase productivity while still maintaining good performance on large projects.

For game developers, this means new ways to texture by removing the barrier of texture sets and allowing you to work on multi-material assets in a unified way, no more copy-pasting materials from one piece of armor to the other.

For Visual Effects and Animation artists, this means Substance Painter gets one step closer to your usual UDIM based workflow and allows you to iterate faster on multi-tile assets.

Please note that although Layer Instances are a great way to apply material, smart materials and effects across multiple tiles, painting on Instanced Layers will still be bound to the current Texture Set. That's a limitation we are working on lifting in the near future.