Project Overview: UV Squares
UV Squares is a powerful addon tool designed for Blender's UV Editor, which helps users reshape their UV selections into a neat grid format. Primarily focused on quad selections, this tool enhances the flexibility and precision of UV mapping in Blender projects.
Installation
To install UV Squares, navigate to Edit > Preferences > Addons > Install in Blender. From here, you can select either the .zip file or the unzipped uv_squares.py file for installation.
Location
Once installed, UV Squares can be found in the UV Editor under the N Panel, specifically in the UV Squares section.
Support and Affiliates
For users seeking assistance or wishing to support the UV Squares project, support is available through BlenderMarket. Additionally, if you are interested in promoting the addon via blogs, courses, or videos, you can become an affiliate and receive a percentage of sales.
- BlenderMarket: UV Squares on BlenderMarket
Key Features
UV Squares offers several key features that enhance UV editing:
- Reshape UV Faces: Convert selected UV faces into a uniform grid. This can be done by creating equal squares or by maintaining the shape of an active quad, which creates aligned, but proportionally varied rectangles.
- Multiple Island Conversion: This feature allows the transformation of multiple separate UV islands simultaneously.
- Vertex Alignment: Align vertices in sequence along an axis—either X or Y, based on the natural slope detected by the tool. This alignment keeps them equally spaced.
- Join and Snap: The tool can join selected faces or vertices to the closest unselected vertices, and allows users to snap the 2D cursor to a single vertex.
Shortcut
The functionalities for reshaping to grids and aligning vertices can be accessed quickly with the shortcut: Alt + E.
Usage Notes
Aligning to Axis
- Ensure vertices are sequenced by their X or Y values according to the desired alignment axis. Misordered vertices can lead to swapped positions.
- The tool sets the pivot to the cursor temporarily and snaps the cursor to the nearest vertex for precise alignment.
Reshaping to Grid
- This feature works with any quad-shaped UV selection. Users can specify an active quad by selecting it last, or the tool will automatically choose one.
Joining Vertices
- The tool effectively snaps selected vertices to their closest unselected counterparts. For reattaching islands, the stitch tool can be used with the shortcut Alt V. Press I to toggle the island during stitching.
Development Information
When updating UV Squares to newer versions, developers should ensure to increment both bl_info objects: one in __init__.py for .zip installations and another in the main uv_squares.py file.
By providing these functionalities, UV Squares enhances the workflow of Blender users, making the task of UV editing both efficient and precise.