Working with Swatchbin Textures
View, edit, and create swatchbin texture files, including Xbox and PC format variants.
10 min read
The Swatchbin editor views, edits, and creates .swatchbin texture files, and supports both Xbox and PC format variants.
What it handles
- Viewing and replacing textures inside a swatchbin
- Creating new swatchbin files
- Converting between Xbox and PC format variants
- A range of texture formats for both creation and replacement
- HDR formats (used for HDR skies), added in v0.9.2.2
Replacing a texture
Open the swatchbin, select the texture entry, and replace it with your source image, choosing the target format settings for the platform you are building for.
NOTE
A bug where replacing a texture ignored the specified settings was fixed in v0.9.2.0. If replacements seem to ignore your chosen format, update first.
Ambient occlusion textures
AO textures are referenced by path from the carbin rather than edited here. When swapping parts between cars you generally need to update that path — see Swapping a part between two cars.
TIP
External editors such as Paint.NET are commonly used for the image work itself, then brought back in as a replacement texture.
Source
Capabilities from the official feature list and v0.9.1.9–v0.9.2.2 changelogs.
Written against Studio v0.9.2.2. Spotted a mistake? Corrections are welcome on the Forza Mods Discord.
Want to contribute a tutorial?
Guides are community-written. Share yours on the Discord or open a pull request on GitHub.