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Tri-Planar Unwrap

Tri-Planar Unwrap is a fast projection-based UV setup for hard-surface objects, blockouts, trims, and forms where a clean directional layout matters more than a stretch-optimized organic unwrap. It projects faces into six UV groups based on their face normals, then lays those groups into a 3 by 2 tile layout.

Tri-Planar Unwrap projecting visible mesh faces into directional UV groups in Blender

What it does​

  • Projects visible mesh faces from the dominant normal direction.
  • Splits the UV result into six directional groups: positive and negative X, Y, and Z.
  • Fits each direction into its own tile in the 0 to 1 UV space.
  • Can limit the operation to selected faces.
  • Can mark seams where projection groups meet.
  • Can pack the resulting UV islands after projection.

Selected faces​

Use Only Selected when you want to update a specific region without replacing the whole visible UV layout. In this mode, Tri-Planar Unwrap ignores unselected faces and only writes UVs for selected visible faces.

Tri-Planar Unwrap updating only selected mesh faces in Blender

Where to find it​

  • View3D > Sidebar > Easeam > UV Tools > Tri-Planar Unwrap
  • View3D > Mesh Edit Mode > Alt + S > Tri-Planar Unwrap

Best use cases​

Use Tri-Planar Unwrap when the model benefits from directional projection:

  • hard-surface blockouts
  • boxes, panels, brackets, and machine parts
  • quick texture previews before detailed seam work
  • meshes with clear planar faces aligned to object axes
  • selected-face fixes where Blender unwrap would create unnecessary distortion

Tri-Planar Unwrap is less suited to curved organic surfaces, because each face is assigned to a direction based on its normal instead of being solved as a continuous island.

Settings​

Only Selected​

Limits the unwrap to selected visible faces.

Default: uses the current Easeam Only Selected unwrap preference when the operator starts.

Turn this off when you want every visible face in the editable mesh objects to receive a new tri-planar UV projection.

Add Seam​

Marks seam edges where tri-planar projection groups meet. Boundary edges on processed faces are also marked as seams.

Default: enabled

Use this when you want the mesh seam layout to reflect the generated UV groups.

Auto Pack​

Packs UV islands after the tri-planar projection.

Default: off

This uses Easeam's configured unwrap margin and Blender's axis-aligned packing. Leave it off when you want to inspect the six directional groups exactly as projected.

Tips​

  • Use Only Selected for localized UV updates on a larger mesh.
  • Keep Add Seam enabled if you want later unwrap operations to respect the tri-planar regions.
  • Keep Auto Pack disabled while checking the directional layout, then enable it when you need a packed final result.
  • For angled bevels or curved areas, inspect the UV result after projection; faces switch groups when another normal axis becomes dominant.