Before you can begin PTEX painting, you must set the required texel resolution for each base-face of the mesh. Since different areas of a model can have different base-face resolutions, you will be able to move the texel budget where it is most needed. Mudbox uses this information to create paint layers. For PTEX models, this paint information is stored in one or more PTEX files.

To prepare a model for PTEX painting

1. Select Mesh > PTEX setup.
   NoteYou must be on level 0 to prepare your mesh for PTEX painting.
2. (Optional) If your model has existing paint layers, the PTEX Painting window appears. You can choose to delete existing UV paint layers (click Delete Them) or convert them to PTEX layers (click Convert them to PTEX layers).
3. In the PTEX Setup window, click Increase to make the resolution sharper or Decrease to save texture memory. Click Done.

   The mesh is now prepared for PTEX painting.

4. Select a Paint Tool and apply paint on your model.

   If you have existing paint layers after step 3, new PTEX paint is applied to the currently active layer. If you have no layers, the Create New Paint Layer window appears. Notice that all file types listed in the Save As drop-down list are now PTEX file types. See also Create a new paint layer.

If you decide to stop using PTEX painting on this model, you can exit PTEX painting by assigning another material to the mesh. PTEX and non-PTEX meshes cannot share the same material.