This seamless 8K PBR texture captures the intricate details of warped cardboard, highlighting the natural orientation of pulp fibers and subtle surface variations inherent to this material. The base composition features compressed cellulose fibers derived from wood pulp, forming a fibrous substrate that exhibits characteristic grain patterns and fiber strands aligned along the warp direction. These fibers are bonded with natural adhesives and binders, creating a durable yet flexible sheet with visible waviness and distortion caused by bending or moisture exposure. The surface finish remains matte and slightly textured, reflecting the uncoated, raw nature of cardboard, with gentle porosity that allows for realistic light scattering and shadowing effects.
Structurally, the texture represents a laminated, layered form where overlapping fiber mats generate a three-dimensional relief. This results in pronounced fiber orientation and subtle warp waves that influence the surface’s normal and height details. The cardboard fiber strands create a directional grain, which is evident in the Normal map through fine ridges and valleys, while the Height map emphasizes the warped undulations and fiber clumps. Surface variation is further enhanced by roughness changes that mimic the unevenness of natural pulp fiber deposits and occasional micro-imperfections, avoiding uniformity and increasing realism. The Ambient Occlusion map adds depth by simulating shadowing in fiber intersections and crevices.
The BaseColor channel exhibits a natural cardboard palette, ranging from light beige to soft brown hues that reflect unbleached pulp fiber tones. There are no metallic components; thus, the Metallic map remains black, consistent with organic material properties. The Roughness map varies subtly to represent areas where fibers are more exposed or compressed, contributing to realistic light diffusion. This texture is optimized for high-fidelity rendering workflows in Blender, Unreal Engine, and Unity, with seamless tiling ensuring consistent application across large surfaces without visible repetition.
For practical use, adjusting the UV scale is recommended to maintain the natural fiber grain size appropriate to the cardboard object’s dimensions. Additionally, fine-tuning the roughness channel can help simulate different levels of surface wear or coating effects. When combining this texture with height or parallax mapping, blending the Normal and Height maps carefully will enhance the perception of fiber depth and warp curvature, resulting in a convincing representation of natural cardboard warp suitable for packaging visualization, environmental assets, or close-up product shots.
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.
