Image In
Loads an image from disk (PNG, JPEG, WebP, TIFF, PSD, OpenEXR, Radiance HDR, SVG, TGA, or BMP) as the starting point of your pipeline.
Image In is the most common starting node: point it at a file and it loads that image into the graph. High-bit-depth sources (16-bit PNG and TIFF, float TIFF, HDR, and EXR) keep full precision in a 32-bit (Float) document. In an 8-bit document they convert down, and the node notes “16-bit file shown at 8-bit” so you know 32-bit would recover the precision.
The Input readout names the channel count and the precision the file was saved at, such as “RGBA (4ch), 16-bit” or “RGBA (4ch), 32-bit float”. It describes the file, not the document.
A multi-layer or multi-part EXR (a beauty pass plus per-light or AOV passes, for example) shows a Layer picker listing every layer in the file; hover one to preview it live. Tiled EXRs load the same way. EXR Alpha says how the file stores color under transparency: Associated (premultiplied, the OpenEXR convention and what ArcBrush exports) or Straight, which older documents keep.
Watch File reloads the node whenever the file changes on disk, so you can keep editing the source in another app (Photoshop, Krita, Aseprite) and see each save arrive. Reload re-reads the file on demand.
Apply EXIF Orientation (on for new nodes) turns a photo upright using the orientation its camera recorded, before Custom Size or anything downstream sees it. Projects saved before the option existed keep it off so their pictures do not move; turn it on to straighten them. TIFF files were always imported upright.
With Custom Size on, Fit Mode chooses how the picture meets the size: Stretch, Fit, Fill, Width or Height (keep aspect), or Longest Side (keep aspect), which sets the longer side of a portrait or landscape picture to one length. See Image Size & Large Images. An SVG file is drawn at that size instead of being enlarged from a small picture, so its edges stay sharp at any size. The resampling filter does not apply to an SVG (Fit and Fill finish with Lanczos). An SVG in a project saved before this change turns sharp when the project is reopened, with nothing to change.
A PSD or PSB file opens as its flattened picture with transparency kept, in every color mode but Multichannel and at 8, 16, or 32 bits per channel; the Source row reads PSD, flattened. The file must have been saved with Maximize Compatibility on. See PSD Files & Color Profiles.
File paths can be relative: assets/logo.png resolves relative to your .arcb file, keeping a project portable across machines. Hover the hint below the field to see the resolved absolute path.
Color space and normal maps
Section titled “Color space and normal maps”Input Color Space tags the source. On Auto, a file with an embedded color profile (an Adobe RGB or Display P3 photo, for example) is converted through that profile, and the Profile row names it, such as Adobe RGB (1998), converted. Otherwise an 8-bit file is treated as sRGB and a float, EXR, or HDR file as already in the working space. A space you pick here wins over the file’s profile. Naming a space converts into the working space in a 32-bit document, or to the sRGB display look in an 8-bit one. See Color & Bit Depth.
Data (Normal, Roughness, ORM) sits with Auto at the top of the list (it was named Normal Map before; a document that picked it keeps it). It reads the file’s values exactly as stored, with no color conversion, and shows the map on screen as the file looks, even under ACES. A normal, roughness, metallic, or packed ORM map already reads correctly on Auto in every node that reads it as data, so Data is for seeing the map’s own codes: a float EXR normal on Auto looks washed out in the Preview. Nothing is detected automatically. See Data maps: Auto or Data.
Output format
Section titled “Output format”On Auto (the default for new nodes), Output Format keeps a natively single-channel file (a grayscale PNG, JPEG, TGA, or TIFF) single-channel and promotes everything else to RGBA. Projects saved before the option existed open as RGBA.
Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”Pins
File
Path to source image file (PNG/JPEG/BMP/TGA/WebP/TIFF/EXR/HDR/SVG/PSD)
Automatically reload when the file changes on disk, checking once per second.
Useful when editing in an external tool.
Turn a photo upright using the orientation its camera saved in the file. Older documents import files as stored
Output
Note: a grayscale frame becomes RGBA again at any color-only downstream node; the node body shows 'Gray' where it is still single-channel
Which channel or formula to use when converting a multi-channel source to grayscale.
No alpha premultiply is applied (preserves heightmap and depth map data where the source may be transparent yet carry meaningful values).
Note: a grayscale frame becomes RGBA again at any color-only downstream node; the node body shows 'Gray' where it is still single-channel.
Size
Override the source's native dimensions. When off, the output matches the original size
How the image is sized to target dimensions
Resampling filter used when scaling.
SVG files are drawn at the chosen size instead of being scaled, so this filter does not apply to them (Fit and Fill finish with Lanczos).
Output width in pixels. At Longest Side, the length of the longer side
Output height in pixels
Color Space
Color space of the source image.
- Auto: an 8-bit file (PNG, JPEG, ...) is treated as sRGB; a float / EXR file is treated as already in the working space.
- Data (Normal, Roughness, ORM): reads the file's values exactly as stored, with no color conversion. Use it for normal, roughness, metallic and packed ORM maps.
Choose a specific space to override.
EXR
How the EXR file stores color where it is partly transparent.
- Associated: color is already multiplied by alpha, the OpenEXR convention and what ArcBrush exports.
- Straight: color is stored as is. Older documents read EXR files this way.
Usage Tips
Section titled “Usage Tips”- Drag and drop an image file onto the graph canvas to create an Image In node.
- Paste an image from the clipboard with Ctrl+V to create an Image In node from it.
- Set Output Format to Grayscale and Grayscale From to Alpha to pull a transparency mask straight off an RGBA source, with no Mask From Image node.
- For a multi-layer EXR, add more Image In nodes pointing at the same file to work on several AOVs at once.