---
title: "PBR Forge - The Best Online Normal Map & PBR Texture Generator"
description: "Generate normal maps and PBR textures from any image. GPU-accelerated, private, and instant — no install, no upload, no account."
url: https://www.pbrforge.com/
---

# PBR Forge

> Free, browser-based PBR texture generator. Turns any image into normal, height, ambient occlusion, roughness, metallic, emissive, opacity, and signed distance field maps using GPU-accelerated WebGL2 shaders. Every image is processed on the visitor's own device — nothing is uploaded, and no account is required.

This is the Markdown representation of the PBR Forge home page, which is the
application itself. Sending `Accept: text/markdown` to any page on
www.pbrforge.com returns Markdown; browsers get HTML from the same URL.

## What it produces

From one source image, PBR Forge generates:

| Map                   | What it is                                                                             |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Normal                | Tangent-space surface direction, exportable in OpenGL (Y+) or DirectX (Y-) orientation |
| Height                | Grayscale elevation, derived first and used to compute normals                         |
| Ambient occlusion     | Contact shading with adjustable radius and sample count                                |
| Roughness             | Microsurface variation across an adjustable range                                      |
| Metallic              | Metal mask driven by an adjustable threshold                                           |
| Emissive              | Self-illumination mask with threshold and tint                                         |
| Opacity               | Alpha/cutout mask                                                                      |
| Signed distance field | Distance-to-edge field computed with the Jump Flood Algorithm                          |

All maps export as PNG, individually or as a full PBR pack in one ZIP. Images
larger than the GPU's maximum texture size are exported in tiles rather than
downscaled.

## Two processing modes

- **Texture mode** — frequency separation recovers height from luminance. Use it for photographic and tileable materials: brick, stone, wood, concrete, fabric.
- **Sprite mode** — the alpha channel drives shape via the Jump Flood Algorithm, keeping pixel-art edges crisp. Use it for sprites, icons, and any image with transparency.

Mode is auto-detected per image and can be overridden.

## How to use it

1. Open <https://www.pbrforge.com/> and drop in an image (PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, BMP, SVG, AVIF, or APNG). Multiple files can be loaded at once.
2. Confirm the detected mode (texture or sprite), or switch it.
3. Adjust parameters — normal intensity, bevel width, AO radius and samples, roughness range, metallic threshold, emissive threshold and tint. Previews update live in the lit 2D view and the 3D view (plane, sphere, cube, cylinder) with a draggable light.
4. Press 1–9 to jump between map views.
5. Export a single map or the full pack as ZIP, choosing the normal map orientation your engine expects.

## Engine compatibility

Output is plain PNG PBR maps, so it drops into Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot,
Blender, Three.js, Babylon.js, Phaser, and Pixi.js without conversion. Use
OpenGL (Y+) normals for Godot, Blender, Phaser, Three.js, and Unity; DirectX
(Y-) for Unreal, CryEngine, and Source.

## Privacy

Processing runs entirely in the browser through WebGL 2.0. Source images and
generated maps never leave the device: there is no upload, no server-side
rendering, and no storage of creative work. Anonymous product analytics are
EU-hosted and only run after explicit consent. See
<https://www.pbrforge.com/privacy>.

## Cost

Free, with no account required. See
<https://www.pbrforge.com/terms> for the terms governing use.

## More

- [Agent instructions](https://www.pbrforge.com/agents.md): when to use PBR Forge, what it cannot do, and how to drive it
- [llms.txt](https://www.pbrforge.com/llms.txt): structured product summary and page index
- [FAQ](https://www.pbrforge.com/faq)
- [Blog](https://www.pbrforge.com/blog)
- [Changelog](https://www.pbrforge.com/changelog)
- [Roadmap](https://www.pbrforge.com/roadmap)
- [Feedback board](https://www.pbrforge.com/feedback)
- [About](https://www.pbrforge.com/about)
- [Contact](https://www.pbrforge.com/contact)

---

_Markdown representation of [https://www.pbrforge.com/](https://www.pbrforge.com/). Questions: support@pbrforge.com._