Unwrapping

Unwrapping is the process of setting appropriate texture coordinates for a model. The model is "unwrapped" on to a texture.

The Unwrap tool is accessible from the Materials Tool Panel Tab. To demonstrate it's use create a cylinder. Then create a material and assign it to the cylinder you created.

The Unwrap tool unwraps the currently selected faces. We will start by unwrapping the top of the cylinder so select all the faces on the top of the cylinder.

Press the Unwrap Selected Faces button. The Texture Coordinate Editor will be shown with the selected faces unwrapped.

Internally Shaper has determined the plane that best corresponds to the selected faces and projected the selected faces on to this plane. This method of unwrapping means that it is not possible to unwrap the side faces of the cylinder using a single unwrap. Instead it would be appropriate to select the faces corresponding to a quarter of the side of the cylinder and unwrap them. Then repeat the process for the other quarters.