Albedo, normal, and roughness maps are the core of most PBR materials. Knowing what each one does will help you set up and tweak materials correctly in any engine. This guide explains each map and how to use them together in Blender, Unreal Engine, or Unity.
Albedo (base color) map
The albedo map holds the base color of the surface—the color under neutral, even lighting. It should not include shadows, highlights, or ambient occlusion. For metals, albedo is the reflected color; for non-metals it's the diffuse color. Keeping albedo clean ensures your material looks right under any lighting. You can use our free textures as a source for albedo; many packs include albedo as the main color map. For the difference between diffuse and albedo, see diffuse vs albedo.
Normal map
Normal maps encode surface detail (bumps, grooves, scratches) as directions "per pixel." The engine uses them to fake lighting on flat geometry, so you get the look of detail without extra polygons. Normal maps are usually in tangent space and work with both metalness and specular workflows. They don't change the silhouette of the mesh—only the shading. Always use non-color/linear color space when loading a normal map. For more on PBR workflow, read what are PBR textures.
Roughness map
Roughness controls how sharp or soft reflections are. Black (0) = mirror-like; white (1) = fully rough, diffuse-like. In real materials, roughness often varies (e.g. worn spots vs polished areas), so a roughness map gives much more realistic variation than a single value. Many of our stone and metal textures include roughness for this reason. Load roughness as non-color/linear so the engine doesn't apply gamma correction.
Using them together
In Blender, Unreal, or Unity you connect albedo to base color, the normal map to the normal input (via a Normal Map node in Blender), and roughness to the roughness parameter. Always use the correct color space: sRGB for albedo, non-color for roughness and normal to avoid washed-out or incorrect lighting. For step-by-step setup in Blender, see how to import PBR textures in Blender and how to apply PBR textures in Blender step by step. Browse our full texture list and blog for more guides.
Frequently asked questions
What is an albedo map?
The albedo map (or base color map) is the color of the surface under neutral lighting, with no shadows or highlights. It is a core input for PBR materials and must be in sRGB color space.
What is a normal map used for?
A normal map stores surface detail (bumps, grooves) as per-pixel direction. The engine uses it to shade the surface without adding geometry, so flat meshes look detailed.
What does the roughness map do?
The roughness map controls how sharp or soft reflections are. Black (0) is mirror-like; white (1) is fully rough. It should be in linear/non-color space.