Image Browser window

The Image Browser lets you select, view, and evaluate 2D images and textures located on your local hard drive or network.

You can drag and drop images from the Image Browser, for example to copy them into your system file browser or the Color Chooser window. (See also Sample color from an image.)

To display the Image Browser, click the Image Browser tab at the top of the 3D View, below the main menu bar.

Display the Image Browser. A variety of image formats and bit depths are supported. In addition, you can use the Image Browser to:

Note: A minimum screen resolution of 1280 x 1024 is required to view the Image Browser.

Image Browser task overview

To: Do the following:

View an image using the Image Browser.

In the toolbar, click Open Directory , select a directory, and click OK.

The contents of the directory display in the Thumbnail View. (Only valid image files and file directories display in the Thumbnail View.)

Click an image in the Thumbnail View to display it in the 2D View.

Determine information about the image displayed in the 2D View (for example, resolution, bit depth).

The status boxes above the toolbar provide the following information about an image displayed in the 2D View:

  • Image name
  • File size on disk
  • X, Y image resolution (in pixels)
  • Number of color channels
  • Bit depth (8, 16, 32)

Scale an image to fill the 2D View.

Click Scale to Fit .

Scale an image in the 2D View by a pre-determined amount

Click the downward pointing arrow on the Zoom Image Ratio icon and select a scale value.

Zoom in or out of an image in the 2D View. Press the Ctrl key then press the + or - key repeatedly to zoom in or out incrementally.

Pan around an image.

Press the Alt key then drag in the 2D View.

Refresh the display of an image in the 2D View after it has been modified or edited outside of Mudbox.

Click Refresh .

Rotate the display of the image in 90 degree increments.

Click Rotate Left or Rotate Right .

Load an image onto a stamp or stencil brush

Select the image you want to load as a stamp or stencil.

Click Set Stamp or Set Stencil .

Note: Setting a stamp or stencil using the Image Browser applies the image to the current tool, it does not save the image to the stamp or stencil tray. To save to the tray, select Add Stamp or Add Stencil from the tray menu ().

Load an image into the 3D View as a reference image or image plane.

Select the image you want to load as an image plane.

Click Set Image Plane .

In the 3D View, click the Object List tab and open the Perspective camera. Click the Image Plane node to display its properties in the Properties window.

See also Import a reference image.

View the pixels in a high dynamic range image (HDRI - 32-bit floating point image) within a specified range.

Press the + or - keys to increase or decrease the exposure value for the HDR image.

Press 0 to reset the exposure values to the default setting.

View only the pixels that contain negative floating point values in a high dynamic range image (HDRI - 32-bit floating point) Click See Negative As Flat Color to view these pixels in green. (This feature is also useful for evaluating 32-bit extracted displacement maps.)
View the next or previous image in the current directory. Press Spacebar or Backspace to view the next or previous image.

Image Browser toolbar

Hide List of Thumbnails

Hides the thumbnail list.

Open Directory

Opens a file browser, letting you select a directory to browse in the Image Browser.

Parent Directory

Moves to the parent directory of the current directory.

Back

Goes to the previously browsed directory.

Forward

Goes to the next directory in the browser history.

Refresh Thumbnails

Refreshes the thumbnail images.

Bookmarks

Lets you create browser bookmarks for quick access to specific directories.

Set Stamp

Applies the current image as a stamp for the current brush.

Set Stencil

Applies the current image to the current stencil.

Set Image Plane

Applies the current image to the image plane of the current camera.

See Negative As Flat Color

Clips negative values in 32-bit float maps and displays them as a flat color.

Refresh Image

Reloads the main image.

Scale To Fit

Scales the main image to fit the browser window. Scale To Fit can be set so it remains on for all images displayed in the view.

Image Zoom Ratio

Sets of the zoom amount for the image display.

Rotate Counterclockwise

Rotates the image counterclockwise by 90 degree increments.

Rotate Clockwise

Rotates the image clockwise by 90 degree increments.

Image file formats

The Image Browser supports the following image file formats:

File format Bit Depth Number of channels
JPG 8 3
BMP 8 1, 3, 4
GIF 8 1, 3, 4
PNG 8 1, 3, 4
TGA 8 1, 3, 4
TIFF 8, 16 integer, 32 floating point 1, 3, 4
OpenEXR 8, 16 floating point, 32 floating point 1, 3, 4