UV Editor overview

The UV Editor lets you view and interactively edit the UV texture coordinates for polygon, NURBS, and subdivision surfaces within a 2D view. You can access it from either Windows Modeling Editors UV Editor or the UV > UV Editor menu in the Modeling menu set. For more information on how UV shells are used, see the related topics below.

You can select, move, scale, and generally modify the UV topology for a surface very much like you work with other modeling tools within Maya. You can also view the image associated with the assigned texture map as a backdrop within the UV Editor and modify the UV layout to match as required.

You can easily compare a 3D object to its 2D texture coordinates by right-clicking the layout shortcuts section of the Toolbox and selecting Persp / UV Editor. This layout displays the perspective view and the UV Editor simultaneously, allowing you to see how UVs within the 3D scene view pertain to those in the UV Editor's 2D view and vice versa.

All major UV tasks are accessible either via the UV Editor's toolbar and menus, or from the Modeling menu set's UV menu.

UV Tool buttons

	UV Lattice Tool	The UV Lattice Tool manipulates the layout of UVs as a group by letting you create a lattice around the UVs for deformation purposes. See Modify UVs using the UV Lattice Tool.
	Move UV Shell Tool	The Move UV Shell Tool lets you select and reposition a UV shell by selecting a single UV on the shell. You can automatically prevent the repositioned UV shell from overlapping other UV shells in the 2D view.
	Select Shortest Edge Path Tool	The Select Shortest Edge Path Tool lets you select a path of edges between two vertices on a surface mesh. It determines the most direct path between any two selection points and selects the polygon edges in between. See Select a path of edges between two vertices.
	Tweak UV Tool	The Tweak UV Tool lets you freely transform components in the UV Editor. See Tweak UVs.
	Unfold UV Tool	Unwraps the UV mesh using the Unfold3D method.
	Cut UV Tool	Splits UVs along edges.
	Grab UV Tool	Selects and moves UVs based on the distance and the direction you drag. Useful for making subtle adjustments.
	Pinch UV Tool	Pulls vertices in towards the center of the tool cursor. Useful for more sharply defining an existing crease.
	Optimize UV Tool	Untangle and even out spacing between UV coordinates on a shell.
	Sew UV Tool	Welds UVs along the seams where you drag.
	Pin UV Tool	Locks affected UVs so they cannot be modified. By default, pinned UVs appear blue.
	Smear UV Tool	Moves UVs in a direction that is tangent to their original position on the surface in the direction you stroke.

UV orientation buttons

These items let you edit the orientation and rotation of UVs.

	Flip U	Flips the positions of the selected UVs in the U direction. Shortcut for UV > Flip.
	Flip V	Flips the positions of the selected UVs in the V direction. Shortcut for UV > Flip.
	Rotate UVs counterclockwise	Rotates the positions of the selected UVs by 45 degrees in a counterclockwise direction. Shortcut for UV > Rotate.
	Rotate UVs clockwise	Rotates the positions of the selected UVs by 45 degrees in a clockwise direction. Shortcut for UV > Rotate.

Cut and sew UV buttons

These items let you cut and sew UV shells.

	Cut UVs along selection	Separates UVs along the selected edges, creating borders. Shortcut for UV > Cut UV Edges.
	Split UVs	Separates UVs from each other along the edges connected to the selected UV points, creating borders. Shortcut for UV > Split UVs.
	Sew UVs	Attaches UVs along the selected borders, but does not move them together in the editor view. Shortcut for UV > Sew UV Edges.
	Move and Sew UVs	Attaches UVs along the selected borders, and moves them together in the editor view. Shortcut for UV > Move and Sew UV Edges.

UV layout buttons

	Layout	Attempts to arrange the UVs into a cleaner layout, based on the settings in the Layout UVs option box. Shortcut for UV > Layout.
	Grid UVs	Moves every selected UV to its nearest grid intersection in texture space. Shortcut for UV > Grid. To change the grid, right-click the View Grid button on the toolbar.
	Unfold	Unwraps the selected UV mesh while attempting to ensure that the UVs do not overlap. Shortcut for UV > Unfold.
	Select Faces	Selects any UV faces connected to the currently selected UVs.

UV alignment buttons

	Align Min U	Aligns the positions of the selected UVs to the minimum U value. Shortcut for UV > Align.
	Align Max U	Aligns the positions of the selected UVs to the maximum U value. Shortcut for UV > Align.
	Align Min V	Aligns the positions of the selected UVs to the minimum V value. Shortcut for UV > Align.
	Align Max V	Aligns the positions of the selected UVs to the maximum V value. Shortcut for UV > Align.

Isolate selection buttons

These items let you work on a subset of UV faces while hiding the rest.

	Toggle Isolate Select Mode	Switches between showing all UVs and only the isolated UVs. Shortcut for View > Isolate Select > View Set.
	Add selected to isolation	Adds the selected UVs to the isolated subset. When you click the Toggle isolation button the selected UVs will be visible. Shortcut for View > Isolate Select > Add Selected.
	Remove all	Clears the isolated subset. You can then select a new set of UVs and click Toggle isolation to isolate them. Shortcut for View > Isolate Select > Remove All.
	Remove selected from isolation	Removes the selected UVs from the isolated subset. Shortcut for View > Isolate Select > Remove Selected.

Image and texture buttons

These items let you control the display of images and textures in the UV Editor.

	Display Image	Shows or hides the texture image. Shortcut for Image > Display Image.
	Toggle Filtered Image	Switches the background image between hardware texture filtering and sharply defined pixels. Shortcut for Image > Display Unfiltered.
	Dim Image	Reduces the brightness of the currently displayed background image. Shortcut for Image > Dim Image.

	View Grid	Shows or hides the grid. Shortcut for View > Grid.
	Pixel Snap	Chooses whether to automatically snap UVs to pixel boundaries. Shortcut for Image > Pixel Snap.
	Shade UVs	Shades selected UV shells in a semi-transparent fashion so you can determine areas of overlap or UV winding order.
	Toggle Distortion Shader	Identifies areas of stretching or compression by shading faces with squashed and stretched UVs. See Identify UV distortion.
	Exposure	Adjusts the brightness for display. Lowering the exposure allows you to view detail that is not visible in highlights by default. Click the icon to toggle between the default and modified values. This is a diagnostic option that is not saved in the scene, nor applied to rendered output.
	Gamma	Adjusts the contrast, or brightness of the midtones in the image for display. Increasing the gamma allows you to see details in the shadows of your image. Click the icon to toggle between the default and modified values. This is a diagnostic option that is not saved in the scene, nor applied to rendered output. In particular, it is applied on top of the view transform, if any — you do not need to set it to 2.2 to emulate sRGB.
	Toggle Texture Borders	Toggles the display of texture borders on UV shells. Texture borders appear with a thick line.
	Toggle Checker Shader	Applies a checker pattern texture to the surface of the UV mesh and behind UVs in the UV Editor. See Apply the checker pattern shader to a UV mesh.
	Display RGB Channels	Displays the RGB (color) channels of the selected texture image. Shortcut for Image > Display RGB Channels.
	Display Alpha Channel	Displays the Alpha (transparency) channel of the selected texture image. Shortcut for Image > Display Alpha Channel.
	View Transform	Controls the view transform that converts colors from the working color space for display. This is useful, for example, if you want to quickly check the raw color values or temporarily apply a different view transform. The available color spaces that you can choose depend on whether you are using an OCIO configuration file for color management, or have defined user transforms. Click the icon to toggle the view transform off temporarily, and back on again. Use the drop-down list to select a different view transform. These are diagnostic options that are not saved in the scene, nor applied to rendered output. They are not available unless color management is enabled. See Color Management.

UV texturing buttons

	UV Editor Baking	Bakes the texture and stores it in memory. Shortcut for Image > UV Editor Baking.
	Update PSD Networks	Refreshes the PSD textures currently in use for the scene. When you modify a PSD file (in Photoshop) that is connected to a Maya PSD node (in Maya), you can update (refresh) the image in Maya to show the modifications immediately. See Image > Update PSD Networks.
	Force editor texture rebake	Rebakes the texture. If you turn on Image > UV Texture Editor Baking, you must rebake the texture (using Force Editor Texture Rebake) after making changes to the texture (File node and place2dTexture node attributes) in order to see the effect of those changes.
	Use Image Ratio	Switches between showing square texture space and texture space with the same ratio of width to height as the image. Shortcut for Image > Use Image Ratio.

UV edit buttons

	U coordinate, V coordinate	Shows the coordinates of the selected UVs. Edit the text boxes and press Enter to move the points.
	Refresh UV values	The UV coordinates in the text boxes on the toolbar do not update automatically as you move the selected UV point. Click the refresh button to update the values in the text boxes.
	UV Transformation Entry	Changes the UV coordinate entry mode between absolute and relative values. Also provides entry of UV rotation values.
	Copy	Copies the selected UV points or faces (depending on the Copy/paste faces or UVs button) to the clipboard.
	Paste	Pastes UV points or faces (depending on the Copy/paste faces or UVs button) from the clipboard.
	Paste U to selected UVs	Pastes only the U values on the clipboard onto the selected UV points.
	Paste V to selected UVs	Pastes only the V values on the clipboard onto the selected UV points.
	Copy/paste faces or UVs	Switches the Copy and Paste buttons on the toolbar between working on UVs and UV faces.
	Cycle UVs	Rotates the U and V values of the selected polygon.
	Nudge components	Repositions the selected components. See Nudge components in the UV Editor.