In the last section, we saw how to export the UV Layout as a bitmap file, ready to be edited in software such as GIMP or Photoshop. Now, we have to open one of those software and start painting the textures, logos, characters, and other elements that will compose the texture of the spacecraft. For our spacecraft, the texture used will be an old metallic plate, pasted over the faces as shown in the following screenshot:
When the texture is edited and saved as a PNG or JPG file (PNG is preferred in order to maintain the quality), we can apply the texture to the spacecraft in Blender 3D. To do that, we have to assign the texture to the material applied to the model.
From the Map Input menu press the UV button.
To verify that everything is placed correctly, we can open the image in the UV/Image editor and choose Textured as the draw type to be displayed in the 3D view.
If the texture shows at the 3D view, it will appear when we render the project with YafaRay.