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I'm trying to setup a label for a supplement bottle.

I want to have 2 materials, one that is the "main label" (.jpg image) and another that overlays that label with a metallic foil (which is a .png image with transparent knockouts around the metallic areas).

Attaching some screenshots of what I've been able to accomplish so far (screenshot 2 is just to show what the underlying "main label" should look like), but can't seem to get both the main label and the metallic overlay to show up at the same time. Here's some questions I have:

  1. Should these be setup as 2 distinct materials, or should the main label be the material and the foil overlay a texture?
  2. I have read a bit about "UV unwrapping," but felt it doesn't apply here, is that what I'm missing?
  3. In screenshot 1, you can see I have 2 image nodes - the one connected is the foil overlay, which seems to be working with transparency, but how can I add in the "main label" image underneath that? Am I missing something there? Every time I add it in it doesn't show up.

Metallic foil overlay

Metallic foil overlay

Underlying image needed

Underlying image needed

susu
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FeastofSteven
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  • Welcome to Blender.SE. Use only one material. Forget transparency, use the the png alpha to mask two materials: one with metallic properties and one with the plastic lable. – Carlo Nov 28 '20 at 17:39
  • Thanks! Can you be more specific? I'm a little confused with terms like "use the png alpha" with no context or usage direction. I have tried adding both of my labels as materials for the same object (the label object), but as I mentioned I cannot get both of them to show at once, and if I use the transparency as a material without setting the transparency nodes it shows the transparency as black. – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 17:51
  • is your text image a png with transparency? – moonboots Nov 28 '20 at 17:56
  • @moonboots yes, as I mentioned I have 2 images - one for the underlying "main label" image, and one for the overlaying metallic foil knockout. The underlying image is currently a .jpg because I don't need anything to show through there, while the metallic foil image is a transparent .png. As I mentioned in a previous reply, if I use the .png as a 2nd material over top of the "main label" image, it displays the transparency as black and will not allow the underlying material to show through. Any ideas? – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 18:09
  • please pack your images (File > External Data > Pack All Into .blend) then share your file: https://blend-exchange.giantcowfilms.com/ – moonboots Nov 28 '20 at 18:13
  • thx again @moonboots, seems I should add it to the original post, right? adding now – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 18:20
  • yes, click on Edit on the bottom of your original post, or copy paste on a new comment – moonboots Nov 28 '20 at 18:20
  • @moonboots done, lmk what you see, thx! – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 18:21
  • Jpeg images will not work as they have no alpha channel. In that case create a mask to determine what parts of the material show the image, and what shows the color of the material. Read the following link carefuly: add a transparent image on top of a material – susu Nov 28 '20 at 18:28
  • @susu to clarify, as mentioned, the image that I want to be the metallic overlay is a .png with transparencies. I don't see any harm in using a .jpg as the underlying image that fills the entire label object surface, do you? Either way, I can make it a .png but there are no transparencies in that underlying label image so I don't think that will solve the issue. In the post you referenced here, it seems they are addressing my question #2 in the original post. Are you saying I should look more into the UV mapping as a solution? – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 18:54
  • You don't necessarily need a PNG image with alpha channel, but you do need a black and white image to use as mask to determine the mix of colors or shaders. UV mapping will allow you to place the texture with more precision in particlular faces of the object. Again, read the link suggested above. – susu Nov 28 '20 at 18:59
  • @susu that makes sense. Can you help clarify and document the procedure I'd need to do here? Something like:
    1. Apply the overall label image as a material (again, this is a .jpg with NO transparency needed, because it fills the entire label object)
    2. Create a 2nd material with a black-and-white .png of the foil areas needed
    3. then what?\
     – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 19:01

3 Answers3

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Another way you can do this is to combine the label text and the gold foil using a mix shader, and the alpha value of the foil image as a mix factor. I took the b&w value from the foil and used it as a metallic factor as well. You can increase the "metalness" by dragging the slider on the right side.

Combined

Christopher Bennett
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  • Thanks! I'm trying this now as it seems a more elegant/editable solution. Does it make sense to output the metallic layer as black (either here or in the future), thereby bypassing the nodes changing from rgb to BW? Or are you saying I need to use that color ramp node to adjust the "metalness" - wouldn't it be easier to control it via the "metallic" feature in the principled BSDF node? – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 19:19
  • Well, I just noticed I made a mistake. I was playing around with the sliders and forgot to reset them before I took the screenshot. I meant to invert the ColorRamp. Drag the black slider on the left all the way to the right (past the "white" arrow) and then bring the white arrow a bit closer to it. Then plug the result into the surface to see what it does. The idea is to make a metallic "mask" so only the areas of your image you want to be metallic (the white parts in the result) are cast that way, leaving the rest untouched. It doesn't matter that much for this image, but might for others. – Christopher Bennett Nov 28 '20 at 19:36
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This can also be:

enter image description here

Base color to jpg when no alpha.

Metallic when alpha (with a color ramp to tune it).

Roughness differently handled depending on alpha.

lemon
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Here is how you can organize your nodes. Actually you want your orange surface to be a mix between orange and metallic I suppose, therefore I've mixed a Diffuse with a Glossy node, then I've used the alpha to mix between this orange material with the background of the label.

enter image description here

enter image description here

moonboots
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  • Thanks again! To clarify, as I mentioned in my OP, there is already a transparent .png in the file I uploaded that defines EXACTLY what I want to be metallic here - which is NOT the black text, but the yellow areas of the label. I can't understand why I can't simply place that overtop of the underlying image of the entire label surface (which is a .jpg of the entire label because there is no transparency in the underlying image). Does that make sense? – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 18:59
  • oh ok my bad, I'm going to edit my answer, but do you mean the orange surface is supposed to be an orange metallic surface? – moonboots Nov 28 '20 at 19:05
  • yes, exactly, thx – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 19:12
  • Thx again Moonboots -- I think both yours and Chris' solution work great for this - they both helped me understand the missing nodes and proper routing I was missing here. I think Chris' solution has a bit more flexibility with the metallic piece via the coolramp node (as opposed to the glossy node which seemed a bit limited at least at first use). They both work though depending on the need, thx! – FeastofSteven Nov 28 '20 at 19:28
  • you're welcome ;) – moonboots Nov 28 '20 at 19:39