In Dimension CC, you can control the way a 3D model looks by applying materials and images to surfaces.
Materials are an asset type that change the way models look. They are made up of a collection of properties which determine the color, whether the object is matte or glossy, and whether the object is metallic or translucent.

Many models have materials that are made specifically for them and get imported into Dimension along with the model, for example, the models in Starter Assets or available on Adobe Stock. If a model is imported without materials, Dimension automatically uses a default material. All materials can be replaced or edited.
You can also apply images to models. Images get layered over the base material and each image layer can have its own additional material properties.

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With the Select & Move Tool active and the image selected, you see a widget in the canvas.
- To position the graphic, drag it inside the circular area.
- To rotate the graphic, drag the circular handle.
- To scale the graphic, drag the square handles. Hold down the Shift key to scale uniformly.
Position and scale the image across the model
Materials are a collection of many properties and you can completely customize each one. To access the properties of a material or graphic, simply select it either by clicking it in the Scene panel or double-clicking in the canvas. Material properties take either a color, an image, or a value. For a full list of individual material properties, see Adobe Standard Material.
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To use an image for a non-color property, drag a black and white image onto the (+) icon or the image swatch next to that property. Hover over the property title to learn more about how the mask affects the property. For example, with the metallic property, black areas become non-metallic and white areas become metallic.
Using a black and white image to change the Metallic property of the selected material
Both materials and
The primary difference is that graphic layers do not cover the entire material region and have fewer material properties. Materials are better when you want a pattern or texture to cover the entire area while graphic layers are better when covering less than 50% of a model. Graphic layers can be prone to more distortion when trying to wrap around an entire 360-degree model.
