Steel Cable Texture | Free PBR free download

. Formats: PNG . Free for personal & commercial use.

Preview — Steel Cable Texture | Free PBR

IDsteel-cable-texture-free-pbr
Metal
PNG
Size1k (1024x1024px), 2k (2048x2048px), 4k (4096x4096px), 8k (8192x8192px)
sRGB

This steel cable texture presents a meticulously crafted seamless pattern that authentically captures the complex composition of tightly wound metallic strands. Its base substrate consists of high-grade steel, renowned for exceptional durability and tensile strength, woven into a finely braided structure that forms a distinctive linear grain orientation. The fibers display subtle variations in thickness and gentle curvature, reflecting the natural tension and flexibility inherent to cable construction. The surface finish is predominantly brushed steel with a slightly oxidized patina, which adds realistic weathering effects while preserving a subtle metallic sheen. This pigment-free coloration emerges from natural oxide layers, giving the texture a cool gray tone accented by silver highlights and deeper shadows in recessed areas, enhancing depth and authenticity.

Within the physically based rendering (PBR) workflow, this texture’s BaseColor (Albedo) channel accurately represents the steel’s natural color variations and minute surface imperfections without artificial pigments or dyes. The Normal map simulates the tactile detail of braided cables by highlighting the fine ridges and grooves where individual strands overlap and twist. Roughness values are carefully balanced, ranging from smooth, polished sections to rougher, oxidized patches, which contribute to realistic light diffusion and reflection. The Metallic channel is set to emphasize steel’s inherently reflective and conductive nature, while the Ambient Occlusion map adds depth by shading crevices and interstitial spaces. Height (Displacement) maps capture the raised texture of cable strands, enabling convincing parallax effects and enhancing realism in 3D environments.

Rendered at up to 8K resolution, this steel cable texture is optimized for seamless integration into leading 3D modeling and rendering applications such as Blender, Unreal Engine, and Unity. The exceptional level of detail ensures sharpness and clarity even when viewed closely or applied to large-scale surfaces. For optimal results, it is recommended to carefully adjust the UV scale to maintain the natural appearance of the braided cable without distortion, and to fine-tune the roughness parameter to simulate different environmental conditions—from freshly polished steel to weathered, matte finishes—thereby enhancing the realism of your industrial, mechanical, or architectural visualizations.

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)

  1. Enable the addon: Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Node Wrangler.
  2. Create a material and select the Principled BSDF node.
  3. 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.
  4. Add AO and Height using the “Manual wiring” steps below (5 and 6).

Manual wiring (full control)

  1. Create a material (Material Properties → New) and open the Shader Editor.
  2. Add an Image Texture node for each map. Set Color Space:
    • AlbedosRGB
    • AO, Roughness, Metallic, Normal, Height, ORMNon-Color
  3. Connect to Principled BSDF:
    • albedoBase Color
    • roughnessRoughness
    • metallicMetallic (for wood this often stays near 0)
    • normalNormal Map node (Type: Tangent Space) → Normal of Principled. If details look “inverted”, enable Invert Y on the Normal Map node.
  4. 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).
  5. Height / Displacement:
    Cycles — true displacement
    1. Material Properties → SettingsDisplacement: Displacement and Bump.
    2. Add a Displacement node: connect heightHeight, set Midlevel = 0.5, Scale = 0.02–0.08 (tune to taste).
    3. Output of Displacement → Material Output → Displacement.
    4. Add geometry density (e.g., Subdivision Surface) so displacement has polygons to work with.
    Eevee (or lightweight Cycles) — bump only
    1. Add a Bump node: heightHeight.
    2. 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:

  1. Add one Image Texture (Non-Color) → Separate RGB (or Separate Color).
  2. R (red) → AO (use it in the Multiply node with albedo as above).
  3. G (green) → Roughness of Principled.
  4. B (blue) → Metallic of Principled.

UVs & seamless tiling

  1. These textures are seamless. If your mesh has no UVs, go to UV EditingSmart UV Project.
  2. 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.


AITEXTURED Tools

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