This photorealistic, seamless 3D PBR texture showcases wet footprints embedded in fine, natural beach sand. The base substrate consists of organic sandy grains exhibiting subtle variations in size, shape, and color, predominantly soft yellow and beige tones that mimic real coastal sand. These mineral particles form a loosely compacted, porous surface with a natural grain orientation shaped by wind and water movement. The wet impressions of human footprints distinctly reveal detailed footwear sole patterns, created by displaced sand and moisture accumulation. The wet sand surface exhibits a delicate sheen, reflecting the presence of water and adding a subtle gloss effect to the rough, uneven grains. This moisture effect enhances the realistic appearance of the footprint depressions, giving the texture a convincing sense of depth and natural wear from foot traffic on a damp shoreline. The texture’s surface finish balances a smooth yet granular feel, with slight mud-like qualities in the footprint cavities that contribute to its authenticity.
In terms of PBR materials, the BaseColor/Albedo channel captures the natural pigment variations and subtle yellow oxide layers inherent in beach sand, while the Normal map faithfully represents the intricate topography of sand grains and the relief of the footwear sole pattern impressions. The Roughness map reflects the contrast between the dry sandy ridges and the smoother, wetter footprint areas, where moisture lowers roughness to create a soft, reflective surface. The Metallic channel remains near zero, as the organic sand and mud contain no metallic elements. Ambient Occlusion enhances shadowing within the footprint cavities and between sand grains, emphasizing depth and realism. Height or Displacement maps provide precise elevation data for enhanced parallax effects, allowing detailed ground surface relief suitable for close-up renders.
Rendered at an ultra-high 8k resolution, this texture is optimized for use in realistic 3D scenes requiring detailed wet sandy footprints. It is fully ready for integration into Blender, Unreal Engine, and Unity workflows, supporting physically based rendering pipelines. For practical application, adjusting the UV scale to match the actual footprint size ensures natural proportions, while fine-tuning the roughness channel can help simulate varying moisture levels for different environmental conditions. This texture is ideal for outdoor scenes, beach landscapes, or any project demanding authentic wet footprint details on sandy surfaces with seamless tiling and realistic material response.
How to Use These Seamless PBR Textures in Blender
This guide shows how to connect a full PBR texture set to Principled BSDF in Blender (Cycles or Eevee). Works with any of our seamless textures free download, including PBR PNG materials for Blender / Unreal / Unity.
What’s inside the download
*_albedo.png — Base Color (sRGB)*_normal.png — Normal map (Non-Color)*_roughness.png — Roughness (Non-Color)*_metallic.png — Metallic (Non-Color)*_ao.png — Ambient Occlusion (Non-Color)*_height.png — Height / Displacement (Non-Color)*_ORM.png — Packed map (R=AO, G=Roughness, B=Metallic, Non-Color)
Quick start (Node Wrangler, 30 seconds)
- Enable the addon: Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Node Wrangler.
- Create a material and select the Principled BSDF node.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + T and select the maps
albedo, normal, roughness, metallic (skip height and ORM for now) → Open.
The addon wires Base Color, Normal (with a Normal Map node), Roughness, and Metallic automatically.
- Add AO and Height using the “Manual wiring” steps below (5 and 6).
Manual wiring (full control)
- Create a material (Material Properties → New) and open the Shader Editor.
- Add an Image Texture node for each map. Set Color Space:
- Albedo → sRGB
- AO, Roughness, Metallic, Normal, Height, ORM → Non-Color
- Connect to Principled BSDF:
albedo → Base Colorroughness → Roughnessmetallic → Metallic (for wood this often stays near 0)normal → Normal Map node (Type: Tangent Space) → Normal of Principled.
If details look “inverted”, enable Invert Y on the Normal Map node.
- Ambient Occlusion (AO):
- Add a MixRGB (or Mix Color) node in mode Multiply.
- Input A =
albedo, Input B = ao, Factor = 1.0.
- Output of Mix → Base Color of Principled (replaces the direct albedo connection).
- Height / Displacement:
Cycles — true displacement
- Material Properties → Settings → Displacement: Displacement and Bump.
- Add a Displacement node: connect
height → Height, set Midlevel = 0.5, Scale = 0.02–0.08 (tune to taste).
- Output of Displacement → Material Output → Displacement.
- Add geometry density (e.g., Subdivision Surface) so displacement has polygons to work with.
Eevee (or lightweight Cycles) — bump only
- Add a Bump node:
height → Height.
- Set Strength = 0.2–0.5, Distance = 0.05–0.1, and connect Normal output to Principled’s Normal.
Using the packed ORM texture (optional)
Instead of separate AO/Roughness/Metallic maps you can use the single *_ORM.png:
- Add one Image Texture (Non-Color) → Separate RGB (or Separate Color).
- R (red) → AO (use it in the Multiply node with albedo as above).
- G (green) → Roughness of Principled.
- B (blue) → Metallic of Principled.
UVs & seamless tiling
- These textures are seamless. If your mesh has no UVs, go to UV Editing → Smart UV Project.
- For scale/repeat, add Texture Coordinate (UV) → Mapping and plug it into all texture nodes.
Increase Mapping → Scale (e.g., 2/2/2) to tile more densely.
Recommended starter values
- Normal Map Strength: 0.5–1.0
- Bump Strength: ~0.3
- Displacement Scale (Cycles): ~0.03
Common pitfalls
- Wrong Color Space (normals/roughness/etc. must be Non-Color).
- “Inverted” details → enable Invert Y on the Normal Map node.
- Over-strong relief → lower Displacement Scale or Bump Strength.
Example: Download Wood Textures and instantly apply parquet or rustic planks inside Blender for architectural visualization.
To add the downloaded texture, go to Add — Texture — Image Texture.
Add a node and click the Open button.
Select the required texture on your hard drive and connect Color to Base Color.
