Requirements

  • Windows, MacOS or Linux
  • Blender 3.6 LTS

Experimental Builds

Experimental Blender builds such as 4.0-alpha are not supported, and fixing any issues related to them, will not be a priority, but reporting them is still encouraged.

Custom Builds

Custom Blender builds such as OctaneRender for Blender may not support all of Blender's native shader nodes.
DECALmachine only relies on native Blender nodes and is not at fault for any issues resulting from using custom builds.

Blender on MacOS

MacOS users should install Blender properly, by following the official instructions.
Avoid running it just from the Downloads folder!
Note that, for dragging of files and folders, you need to hold down the COMMAND key.
This will ensure AppTranslocation1 is avoided.

Blender on Arch Linux

Arch Linux users and users of other Arch based or similar rolling release distros are advised to use the official Blender builds.
The Blender package in the Community repository does not supply its own Python, and does not follow official recommendations.
As a consequence, the system's python version may not work with DECALmachine.

Latest DECALmachine

The latest version of DECALmachine is 2.8.1 - available on Gumroad and Blender Market.
See this page to learn what's new in the latest versions, or see the changelog for the full, detailed release history.

PIL/Pillow

For more advanced usage of DECALmachine, a python module called PIL/Pillow is required.
PIL enables DECALmachine to manipulate images, and so is required for Decal and Trim Sheet Creation, as well as for Atlasing and Baking.
Installation has been automated and is covered below. Some additional information can be found the FAQs.

Updating

Decal Backup

Attention

If you are updating from a previous version, you are at risk of loosing any Decals, Atlases, Trim Sheets you may have created or any Bakes you may have done.

If you have not chosen a decal assets location outside the DECALmachine folder in Blender's addons folder, you should backup your decals as described in the video, and outlined below.

Installation

this video covers installation, decal backup, PIL, external assets path, support and more

The same instructions as in the video, but in text form:

1. Fresh Installation

NO previous version of DECALmachine installed

  • start Blender, bring up preferences
  • switch to the Add-ons tab and click the Install... button at the top right
  • locate the downloaded DECALmachine_2.8.1.zip file and double-click it
  • activate the addon by ticking the checkbox
  • ensure your preferences are saved (by default done automatically)
  • optionally, switch to the Decal Creation + Export tab, and install PIL
  • close preferences and in the 3D View press the D key to bring up the DECALmachine pie menu

2. Update Installation

previous version of DECALmachine installed already

2a. Update Installation in Blender

  • start Blender, bring up preferences
  • switch to the Add-ons tab and use the search input at the top right to find your currently installed DECALmachine version
  • unfold DECALmachine and shift click on the folder icon of the assets path
  • in your filebrowser copy your old decals to a safe location
  • in the Blender/DECALmachien addon preferences, click the Remove button
  • with the old DM now uninstalled, click the Install... button at the top right
  • locate the downloaded DECALmachine_2.8.1.zip file and double-click it
  • activate the addon by ticking the checkbox
  • ensure your preferences are saved (by default done automatically)
  • optionally, switch to the Decal Creation + Export tab, and install PIL
  • close preferences and in the 3D View press the D key to bring up the DECALmachine pie menu

2b. Update Installation in the File Browser

Attention

Never install DECALmachine in Blender's program folder.
On Windows, that would be C:\Program Files\... DECALmachine needs write access to its installation folder, so you need to install it into Blender's addons folder.

  • with Blender closed, navigate to Blender's addons folder
  • find DECALmachine, and copy the DECALmachine/assets/Decals folder to a safe location to backup your existing decals
  • remove the DECALmachine folder
  • in your Downloads location, extract the DECALmachine_2.8.1.zip file
  • copy the DECALmachine folder from the zip file to Blender's addons folder
    • note, if you have a DECALmachine_2.8.1 folder after extraction, don't copy this one, instead copy the DECALmachine folder contained in it
  • start Blender and check if the pie menu (D key) comes up
  • optionally, switch to the Decal Creation tab, and install PIL if it isn't already

Blender's Addons Folder

Addons Folder (in user scripts location)

Linux: /home/name/.config/blender/3.3/scripts/addons
MacOS: /Users/name/Library/Application Support/Blender/3.3/scripts/addons
Windows: C:\Users\name\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.3\scripts\addons

  1. Learn more about AppTranslocation. ↩