Glossary

The terms below recur throughout the documentation. Each links to the page that covers it in depth where one exists. Ports are typed: textures and values are not interchangeable, and a mismatched connection is not blocked but drawn in red to flag it for review.

Bit depth: the precision textures are authored and exported at: 8, 16 or 32 bits per channel.

Boolean (data type): an on/off value; connects only to boolean ports.

Channel: one map of a material, wired into a named input on the PBR Output node and written out by the exporter. The channels are Base Color, Normal, Roughness, Metallic, Specular, Glossiness, AO, Height, Opacity, Emissive, Clearcoat and Thickness. Thickness drives subsurface scattering.

Custom (data type): an unchecked type used by the Reroute node; connects to anything and bypasses type validation.

Exposed parameter: a node parameter promoted to project level so it can be driven from one place in the Global Variables panel.

Graph: the network of nodes and connections that produces a material.

Mask input: an optional input carried by many nodes across most categories. Where the mask is dark, the node’s effect is removed and the result falls back to the node’s primary input, or to a constant for nodes that have no input.

Material: one node graph within a project. A project may hold several; you switch between them in the Material Library panel.

Material (data type): a whole map-set carried on a single wire, rather than one map per wire. Produced by the PBR Output and Material nodes, consumed by Trim Sheet slots and by another PBR Output’s Material input. Only connects to other material ports.

Multi-output node: a node exposing more than one output port, each carrying different data derived from the same computation. Eight node types do this - Voronoi, Brick, Tile Sampler, Edge Detect, Surface Detail, Trim Sheet, Height Blend and Frequency Split; see the Node Reference.

Node: one operation. Every node is created from a node type that fixes its label, category, ports and parameter list. A placed node stores only its own parameter values and connections.

Parameter: a value stored on a node and edited in the Properties panel rather than supplied through a connection. Parameters come in float, integer, boolean, seed, enum (choice) and color kinds.

Port: a connection point. Input ports receive data; output ports supply it. An input may be required (the node produces nothing until it is connected) or optional.

Resolution: the pixel size a node renders at. Set project-wide, with an optional per-node override.

Seed: a whole number with no slider and a randomize button. Changing it reshuffles a pattern without changing any other characteristic.

Subgraph: a selection of nodes collapsed into a single reusable node, stored with the project and evaluated wherever it is instanced.

Tag: a label applied to nodes and to projects, used to filter the Node Library panel and the Project Hub. Project tags are written into the .surfacelabs archive and travel with a project you share; node tags stay local to your library. Managed on the Library page of Settings.

Texture (data type): image data. Three variants exist: a generic type used by filters that preserve whatever they are given, a grayscale texture for single-channel data such as height, roughness and masks, and a color texture for three-channel data such as base color and normals. The three are freely interchangeable; the distinction drives wire and port color only.

Value (data type): a number or a 2-, 3- or 4-component vector. All value types interconnect.