DocumentationSubstance 3D

Color management with OpenColorIO

Last update: Thu Feb 26 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

This page lists the color management settings related to OpenColorIO (OCIO).

Project settings

The project settings can be set when creating a new project via the new project window or by using the project configuration window.

NOTE
If the OCIO environment variable is present, and specifies a valid configuration file, it will override and disable the settings in UI.

The available settings are:

Section
Setting
Description
Configuration
Color management

Define which engine to use to manage colors.

Possible values:

  • Legacy (default): Use the predefined sRGB/Linear sRGB gamma color correction.
  • OpenColorIO: Use OCIO integration.
  • Adobe ACE: Adobe Color Engine, to support ICC profiles.
OpenColorIO configuration

Which configuration file to use to drive the color management settings.

Possible values:

  • Substance (default): use Linear gamma as working space.
  • ACES 1.0.3: use ACEScg as working space.
  • ACES 1.2: use ACEScg as working space.
  • Custom: use a custom configuration file.
Configuration file
Path to the OCIO configuration file. Disabled if the configuration mode is not set to Custom.
Color settings
Working color space
The color space used by the engine to work inside the application. This the color space from which textures may be converted to (import) or from (export).
Standard sRGB color space

The color space matching the [standard sRGB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRGB) color space (IEC 61966-2-1:1999).

This color space is used in several places inside the application:

  • To convert color set in the hexadecimal field of the color picker.
  • To save and load color swatches within the color picker.
  • To be listed as a Display in the color picker list.
Bitmap import color space defaults
8 bit images
Color space to use by default when importing 8bit image files.
16 bit images
Color space to use by default when importing 16bit image files.
Floating point images
Color space to use by default when importing HDR/EXR image files.
Auto detect color spaces

Allow to define the color space from resources based on specific settings.

Possible values:

  • Disabled: use the default color setting, ignore the resource configuration.
  • Parse file name (default): use OCIO [naming convention](https://opencolorio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/guides/authoring/rules.html?highlight=filename#strictparsing) to extract the name of the color space used by the resource.
  • Use config files rules: use the OCIO configuration to determine how to assign color spaces. This parameter has priority over the previous image file color space settings.
Substance material
Material color space default
Define which color space to use for Substance materials color managed input/output (see below for the list of channels).
Export color spaces
8 bit images
Color space to use by default when exporting 8bit image files.
16 bit images
Color space to use by default when exporting 16bit image files.
Floating point images
Color space to use by default when exporting HDR/EXR image files.

OpenColorIO roles

The following roles are supported and allow to change the default selection of color spaces:

Role name
Description
substance_3d_painter_standard_srgb
Role to specify the color space matching the standard sRGB (IEC 61966-2-1:1999).
substance_3d_painter_bitmap_import_8bit
Role to specify the color space used to import 8bit images.
substance_3d_painter_bitmap_import_16bit
Role to specify the color space used to import 16bit images.
substance_3d_painter_bitmap_import_floating
Role to specify the color space used to import HDR images.
substance_3d_painter_substance_material
Role to specify the color space used for color managed channels in Substance materials.
substance_3d_painter_bitmap_export_8bit
Role to specify the color space used when exporting 8bit textures.
substance_3d_painter_bitmap_export_16bit
Role to specify the color space used when exporting 16bit textures.
substance_3d_painter_bitmap_export_floating
Role to specify the color space used when exporting HDR textures.
NOTE
The OCIO configurations provided with the application can be used as examples on how to use these specific roles.
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