Understanding the Fabrics & Materials Module in Konfiwear

A fabric can add surface detail, texture, roughness, shine, transparency, and depth to your product. When a customer selects a fabric, the 3D model updates in real time to show the selected material.

What Is a Fabric?

A fabric in Konfiwear is a material setup applied to a 3D product.

Each fabric can include:

• A name

• A preview thumbnail

• Texture maps

• Render settings

• Product assignments

• Optional pricing

Fabrics help customers preview how a garment may look with different materials, such as mesh, cotton, satin, knit, or performance fabric.

Key Fabric Properties

If a fabric is disabled, it will not appear for customers, but its settings are still saved.

Texture Maps

Texture maps control how the fabric looks on the 3D model.

Konfiwear supports several texture maps:

You do not need to upload every map for every fabric.

For most fabrics, a good starting setup is:

• Normal map

• AO map

• Roughness or Gloss map

The normal map is usually the most important because it gives the fabric its visible surface detail.

Render Settings

Render settings control how the texture maps are displayed on the 3D model.

Small changes can make a big difference, so it is best to preview the fabric after each adjustment.

Navigating the Fabrics Module

To manage fabrics, go to the Fabrics section under the Customizer area.

From the fabrics list, you can:

• Search fabrics by name or slug

• Filter fabrics by status

• Create a new fabric

• Open an existing fabric

• Delete a fabric

• Copy a fabric ID if needed

Fabric Detail Page

When you open a fabric, you can manage its setup from the fabric detail page.

This page usually includes:

• Fabric information

• Texture uploads

• 3D preview

• Render settings

• Product assignment settings

• Preview thumbnail tools

Use this page to upload texture maps, adjust the material, and test how it looks before making it available in the customizer.

3D Preview

The fabric detail page includes a 3D preview.

This preview lets you check how the fabric looks before customers use it.

You can use the preview to verify:

• Texture repeat

• Normal map strength

• Roughness

• Lighting behavior

• Fabric depth

• Overall appearance

You can also save a thumbnail from the 3D preview. This thumbnail will be used as the fabric preview image in the fabric selector.

How Fabrics Work With Products

Fabrics can be assigned to products.

By default, a fabric can be available for all products. You can also limit it to selected products only.

This is useful when a fabric should only be available for specific garments or product types.

For example, a mesh fabric may be suitable for jerseys but not for hoodies.

How Fabrics Work With Designs

Fabrics and designs are separate.

The fabric controls the material appearance of the garment.

The design controls the artwork, colors, and graphics applied to the product.

This means a customer can select a design and then choose the fabric they want to use with it.

How Fabrics Work With Colors and Patterns

Colors are applied over the fabric material.

The fabric affects how the color looks in 3D. For example, the same color may look different on a matte cotton fabric compared to a glossy satin fabric.

Patterns can also be applied on top of the design while the fabric continues to control the material look underneath.

Delete Behavior

Deleting a fabric permanently removes the fabric record and its settings.

If you only want to hide a fabric from customers, it is better to disable it instead of deleting it.

Disabled fabrics do not appear in the customizer, but their texture maps and settings remain saved.

Best Practices

When setting up fabrics:

• Use clear fabric names, such as Performance Mesh or Brushed Cotton

• Start with Normal and AO maps

• Compress large texture files before uploading

• Use the 3D preview before enabling the fabric

• Adjust the repeat value if the texture looks too large or too small

• Keep roughness realistic for the material type

• Save a preview thumbnail after the fabric looks correct

• Disable old fabrics instead of deleting them when possible

• Test the fabric in the customizer after setup

Summary

The Fabrics & Materials module lets you manage the materials available in the Konfiwear customizer.

Each fabric can include texture maps, render settings, a preview image, pricing, and product assignments.

By setting up fabrics correctly, you can give customers a more realistic 3D preview and make the product customization experience more accurate and professional.