Unfold a UV mesh

There are two ways to unfold a UV mesh: the Unfold command and the Smooth UV Tool.

To unfold a UV mesh using the Unfold3D method

1. Prepare your UV mesh for unfolding.
2. Select the UVs on your mesh you want to unfold.

   Unselected UVs are automatically pinned when you unfold the mesh.

3. Do one of the following:
   • From the UV Editor, select Polygons > Unfold > .
   • From the main menu, select UV > Unfold > .
4. In the Unfold UVs options window that appears, set the Method to Unfold3D and then select from the Unfold3D options to control specific aspects of the unfold operation.
5. Click Apply and Close.
6. If you want to stop the unfold operation, press Esc.

To unfold a UV mesh using the Legacy method

1. Prepare your UV mesh for unfolding.
2. Select the polygon mesh.
3. (Optional) Select the UVs you want to pin.
4. Do one of the following:
   • From the UV Editor, select Polygons > Unfold > .
   • From the main menu, select UV > Unfold > .
5. In the Unfold UVs Options window that appears, set the Method to Legacy and then select from the legacy options to control specific aspects of the unfold operation.
6. Click Apply and Close.
7. If you want to stop the unfold operation, press Esc.
8. (Optional) Select Polygons > Layout as a final step to improve the layout of your UV shells. For more information, see Layout UVs options.

To unfold a set of UVs using the Smooth UV Tool

1. In the UV Editor, select a set of UVs.

   Unselected UVs are automatically pinned when you unfold the mesh.

2. From the UV Editor menus, select Tool > Smooth UV Tool.

   Two small controls appear at the bottom-left of the selected UVs.

3. Drag the Unfold box to the right. The further you drag, the more the selected UVs unfold.
   
   Note: You can reposition the Unfold and Relax controls by dragging the yellow target icon at the top-left of the controls.