From your first render to scripting the whole app. Pick a track and work through it, or look up any feature below to see exactly where it is.
Ten short lessons, about an hour in all. Bring a model in, dress it, light it and save a picture.
Textures, labels, your own materials, shaped light, focus, grading, saved shots, colourways and turntables.
Node graphs, UV layouts, configurators, render passes, light transport, big assemblies, render farms, scripts and plugins.
Everything in Tequila lives in one of these places. The numbers match the list underneath.
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Type what you're after. Each row says where to find it, what it does and how far in it sits. The › marks one step: a menu, a tab, a section, a button.
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start screen | Shown when Tequila opens, or Help › Start screen | New project, open, import, your recent projects with pictures, and the samples. | Basics |
| Samples | Start screen › Samples | Opens a finished scene as a new, unsaved project to look around in. | Basics |
| Import a model | File › Import model… (Ctrl+I), the toolbar's Import, or drop the file on the window | STEP, IGES, Rhino, glTF, FBX, OBJ, STL, 3MF, PLY, USD and USDZ, IFC, or a KeyShot scene's model. | Basics |
| Open a KeyShot scene | File › Open project…, or drop the .ksp / .bip on the window | A new project with its model, materials, lighting, cameras and look. Importing one takes only the model. | Basics |
| Save, Save as, New, Open | File, or Ctrl+S / Ctrl+Shift+S / Ctrl+N / Ctrl+O | A .tequila project keeps the whole scene, with a picture for the start screen. | Basics |
| Open recent | File › Open recent, or the start screen | The last ten projects. Clear the list empties it. | Basics |
| Recover unsaved work | Offered by itself on the next launch | Tequila saves your work every five minutes; after a crash, Recover brings it back. | Basics |
| Undo and redo | Edit, or Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y | The menu names the step it takes back. A drag, a script or a whole drop is one step. | Basics |
| Updates | Help › Check for updates… | Downloads and installs the newest version and keeps your settings. Checks once a day if you let it. | Basics |
| Appearance | The sun or moon button in the toolbar | Light, Dark or Auto; six colour themes; Compact, Regular or Large. | Basics |
| Crash reports | Help › Crash reports | What happened, with Copy for Discord to report it. | Intermediate |
| Test this computer | Help › Test this computer… | Renders a small scene with every engine and graphics card it finds, checks it, and gives a short report to paste on Discord. Nothing is sent anywhere. | Basics |
| SpaceMouse | Edit › Preferences… | Turn, pan and zoom the view with a 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse; its speed and axes are set here. | Intermediate |
| Export glTF or USD | File › Export glTF (.glb)… / Export USD (.usda)… | What's shown, with its materials, for other apps and AR viewers. | Intermediate |
| Export for AR | File › Export USDZ for AR (.usdz)… | A file an iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro opens in AR, at real size, with the materials baked for AR viewers. | Intermediate |
| Send from Blender, SolidWorks or ZBrush | The add-ons in the repository's integrations folder | Blender's Tequila LiveLink panel sends the model and keeps it in sync; edits you made in Tequila stay. | Advanced |
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orbit, pan, zoom | Left drag, middle drag, scroll | Alt+scroll changes the focal length; Alt+right drag dollies. | Basics |
| Frame the model | F (selection), Shift+F (everything), or the view buttons | Fits it in view without changing the direction you look from. | Basics |
| Standard views | View › Standard view, Ctrl+Alt+1…7, or click the axis legend | Front, Back, Left, Right, Top, Bottom, Isometric. | Basics |
| The four views | View buttons at the viewport's top right, Z to step, D for Rendered and back | Wireframe, Solid, Material Preview (a quick guess) and Rendered (the real picture). | Basics |
| Render frame | View › Render frame (on to begin with) | Shows the shape and size the picture will be. | Basics |
| Hide panels | Space (Inspector), M (Library), Tab (full viewport) | More room for the picture. | Basics |
| Ground grid | View › Ground grid, or Camera › Ground grid | A guide on the floor, never rendered. | Basics |
| Pause the viewport | P, or the pause button | Stops it rendering and keeps the samples so far. | Intermediate |
| Pick the renderer | In the Rendered view, click the view chip at the top left | Tequila, Cycles (processor) or Cycles (graphics card), for the view and for renders. | Intermediate |
| Render statistics | H, or View › Render statistics | Samples, time, speed, resolution and triangles, over the viewport. | Intermediate |
| Model edges | View › Model edges | Draws edges over the Solid and Material Preview views. | Intermediate |
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select | Click a part; Shift+click adds, Ctrl+Shift+click takes away; double-click for its group | Ctrl+A selects all, Esc none. | Basics |
| The parts list | Scene tab | Every part and group, with an eye to hide and a lock. Click a row to select it. | Basics |
| Hide, isolate, show all | Ctrl+H, /, Alt+H, or right-click a part | Get parts out of the way while you work. | Basics |
| Turn a CAD model upright | Scene › right-click the model › Turn › Upright (drawn Z up) | For STEP and IGES models that arrive lying on their backs. | Basics |
| Split into parts | Right-click a part › Split into N parts | Separates a mesh's loose pieces so each can have its own material. | Basics |
| Rename | Double-click a row in the Scene tab, or F2 | Enter keeps it, Esc cancels. | Basics |
| Group, ungroup, delete | Scene › Group (Ctrl+G), Ungroup, Delete | Groups move together and can be dressed in one drop. | Basics |
| Search the parts | Scene › the search box | Finds by name, or by a field: Material = ABS, AB*. Select all selects what it found. | Intermediate |
| Selection level | Scene › Select: Part, Object, Material, Face | What a click picks. Ctrl+click picks every part with the same material. | Intermediate |
| Move, rotate, scale | The tool strip, or W / E / R, with a part selected | Drag the handles. Each drag is one undo step. | Intermediate |
| Snapping | The magnet on the tool strip | Grid snap, Angle snap (15°, on to begin with) and Vertex snap. | Intermediate |
| Exact position, pivot, drop to ground | Scene › Transform | Type positions with units (2.5in) or sums (=120/2). Hold Insert and click to put the pivot on the model. | Intermediate |
| Reparent | Drag a row in the Scene tab | Onto a group puts it inside; onto another row puts it beside. | Intermediate |
| Units | Scene › Scene units, or right-click a model › Units of this model… | Tells Tequila how big the model really is. Asked by itself for files with no units. | Intermediate |
| Measure | Scene › Measurements › Measure, then click two points | Snaps to corners, midpoints, edges and surfaces; distances are saved with the project. | Intermediate |
| Lock | The lock on a row in the Scene tab | Stops a part being moved, deleted or re-dressed by accident. | Intermediate |
| Improve a model | Right-click a model › Improve model… | Smoother CAD curves, subdivision, and smooth shading with an angle for sharp edges. | Advanced |
| Reload or update a model | File › Reload model from file, or right-click › Update from another file… | Brings in a new version and keeps materials, labels and names, matching parts by name. | Advanced |
| Metadata | Scene › Metadata | Read and edit part fields, find parts by value, and Export CSV. | Advanced |
| CAD layers | Scene › Layers (for files that have them) | Show or hide a layer, or select its parts. | Advanced |
| Tessellation | Right-click a CAD model › Tessellation | Draft, Medium, High or Ultra: how finely curved surfaces are divided. | Advanced |
| Ray visibility and holdout | Scene › Visible to | Whether the camera, reflections, bounced light, glass and shadows see a part; Holdout cuts it out. | Advanced |
| Cutaways | Scene › Add › Cutaway: Plane, Box, Sphere, Cylinder | Cuts the model open; its settings show on the Material tab when selected. | Advanced |
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| The material library | The toolbar's Library, or M | About 330 materials, each shown as a rendered ball. | Basics |
| Apply a material | Drag a ball onto a part, or select parts and double-click the ball | Dropping on a selected part dresses the whole selection; on a group, the whole group. | Basics |
| Find a material | Library › Search materials, the shelves and All categories | Shelves: All, Mine, Favorites, Recent, In project. | Basics |
| Favourites | The star on a library ball | Keeps it on the Favorites shelf. | Basics |
| Change colour, roughness, type | Material tab, with a part selected | The type's controls, with a live preview ball at the top. | Basics |
| Shared materials and Unlink | Material › Shared by N parts › Unlink | Gives one part its own copy, so editing it stops changing the others. | Basics |
| Drop modifiers | Hold a key while dropping a library ball | Shift: the whole group. Ctrl: every part with the same material. Alt: this part only, unlinked. | Intermediate |
| Select similar | Right-click a part › Select similar | Every part sharing its material. | Intermediate |
| Images on a material | Material › the picture button beside a setting › Image… | Drives that setting from a picture, with a Mapping fold for how it wraps. | Intermediate |
| Patterns | Material › the picture button › a pattern | 17 built-in patterns: Wood, Marble, Brushed, Leather, Weave, Scratches, Perforated mesh and more. | Intermediate |
| Texture packs | File › Import texture pack, or drop a folder or ZIP on the window | A pack's colour, roughness, normal and height maps become one material on the selected parts. | Intermediate |
| Substance materials | Material › Substance…, or open an .sbsar or .sbs file | The material's settings in the Material tab. With Adobe's Substance tools installed, its textures render again as you change them. | Advanced |
| Texture size | Material › Texture size or Texture repeats | How big a texture's pattern is on the part. | Intermediate |
| Save to your library | Material › Save to library… | Keeps a copy of a material you tuned, with its pictures, on the Mine shelf. | Intermediate |
| New library material | The + in the library, or File › New library material… | From a type, the selected part, a texture pack or a file. | Intermediate |
| Import or share a material | File › Import material file…; right-click a library ball › Export… | .fsmat packages, material JSON, and KeyShot .kmp files. | Intermediate |
| Colour ramp | Under a colour driven by a pattern › Colour ramp | Maps the pattern onto colours; presets Greyscale, Wood, Marble and Rust. | Intermediate |
| Colourways | Studios › Material variants | Several materials for the same parts, one in use, switched in a click. | Intermediate |
| Every parameter | Material › Show every parameter | Shows all of a material's settings, not only the ones its type needs. | Advanced |
| Node graph | Material › Edit graph… | Builds a material from nodes in a window of its own. | Advanced |
| Material templates | Material › Material templates | Rules (part name, material name, colour, metadata) that dress a whole assembly at once. | Advanced |
| Volumes | Material › the picture button beside Density › OpenVDB volume… | Smoke and clouds from a .vdb file, in a Scattering Medium. | Advanced |
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add a label | Material › Labels › + Add label… | A logo or artwork printed on the part. A video file lets you pick a frame. | Basics |
| Place a label | The label's + Place, then click the part | Drag to slide it; Ctrl+scroll sizes it, Shift+scroll turns it, Esc finishes. | Intermediate |
| Label placement and finish | The label's Placement & finish | On UV map, Project flat or Wrap around; size, turn, mirror; opacity, roughness, Ink and Foil. | Intermediate |
| UV editor | View › UV editor, Workspace › UV layout, or a label's UV editor | Unwrap, cut, stitch, pack and straighten a part's layout, and place labels on it. | Advanced |
| Export a UV layout | UV editor › Export layout | A PNG or SVG of the layout to design artwork over. | Advanced |
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Load an HDRI | Environment › HDRI › Load… | Lights the scene with a photographed environment (.hdr or .exr). Use built-in goes back. | Basics |
| Turn and brighten the light | Environment › Transform › Rotation, and Brightness | Moves the highlights round the product. | Basics |
| Background | Environment › Background: Environment, Color, Backplate | What shows behind the product. With nothing selected, E, C and B switch it. | Basics |
| Studio presets | Library › Studios | A whole setup of light, camera and look in one click, sized to your product. | Basics |
| Floor shadows and reflections | Environment › Ground | Catch shadows, ground reflections and how they fade, floor bounce, and the floor's size. | Intermediate |
| Lighting pins | Environment › Lighting pins › + Softbox | Softboxes painted into the environment; drag them on the map above, or set Around, Height, Size and Softness. | Intermediate |
| Put a highlight where you click | A pin's ◎ Aim, then click the model | The pin moves so its highlight lands there. | Intermediate |
| Ready-made pin setups | Lighting pins › Three-point, Overhead softbox, Two strips | Replaces your pins with a classic setup. | Intermediate |
| Backdrop | Lighting pins › + Backdrop | A gradient behind the product that doesn't change the light. | Intermediate |
| Sun and sky | Environment › Sun & sky › Light the scene with a sky | Midday, Afternoon, Golden hour or Overcast, with the sun's direction and haze. | Intermediate |
| Lights in the scene | Scene › Add › Light: Area, Disc, Point, Spot, Sun | Real lights you place with the gizmo. Select one to see its settings on the Material tab. | Intermediate |
| Export the environment | Lighting pins › Export HDRI… | Writes the environment with your pins in it, up to 8K, for other apps. | Advanced |
| Light linking | Select a scene light › Light linking / Shadow linking | Which parts a light lights, and which cast its shadows. | Advanced |
| Photometric lights | Select a scene light › Photometric file | A real fixture's light from its .ies file. | Advanced |
| Quality presets | Lighting tab: Performance, Basic, Product, Interior, Jewelry | How light travels; Product is the default, Jewelry traces caustics for gems. | Advanced |
| Bounces and caustics | Lighting › Transport | Ray and transmission bounces, global illumination, and caustics by Photons or Manifold. | Advanced |
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | Camera › Focal length, or Alt+scroll | Long lenses flatten the product; short ones exaggerate it. | Basics |
| Save a view | Camera › Save current view as a camera | Keeps the view; click it in the list to go back to it. | Basics |
| Exposure | Image › Exposure | Brighter or darker, without starting the render again. | Basics |
| Depth of field | Camera › Depth of field | f-number, focus distance, Keep focus, and a round or bladed aperture. | Intermediate |
| Lens type | Camera › Lens | Perspective, Orthographic, Shift (straight verticals) or Spherical (360°). | Intermediate |
| Photographic grading | Image › Photographic | Highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, temperature, tint, vignette, bloom, sharpening. | Intermediate |
| Tone map | Image › Tone map | AgX, ACES, PBR Neutral (the default), sRGB or Raw. | Intermediate |
| Denoising | Image › Denoise, or the Render window's Denoise | Cleans the noise out of the picture as it renders. | Intermediate |
| Camera exposure | Camera › Use camera exposure | ISO and shutter speed, as on a real camera. | Advanced |
| Match a photo's perspective | Camera › Match perspective | Lines the camera up with a backplate from points you set. | Advanced |
| Colour management | Image › Colour management | An OCIO config, with its display and view. | Advanced |
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Render a picture | The green Render button, or Ctrl+R, then Render | Renders in the background while you keep working; renders queue up. | Basics |
| Picture size | Render window › Image size | HD 1080p, 4K UHD, Square, Portrait 4:5, Story 9:16, Web banner, A4 at 300 DPI, or your own. | Basics |
| Quality | Render window › Quality: Draft, Good, High, Final | Samples per pixel: 32, 256, 1024 or 4096. Stop after sets a time limit. | Basics |
| Where it saves | Render window › File | Folder, file name, format. A render never overwrites a file: it adds _2. | Basics |
| Compare renders | Render window › right-click a finished render › Compare with the one on screen | A wipe between two versions. | Intermediate |
| Transparent background | Render window › File › Alpha | Straight or premultiplied alpha, or Silhouette: the product cut out with solid glass. | Intermediate |
| File types | Render window › File › Format | PNG, JPEG, TIFF, EXR, PSD; 8, 16 or 32 bits. | Intermediate |
| File name tokens | Render window › File name › the + project, + camera… buttons | Names files after the project, camera, view, date, size or samples. | Intermediate |
| Wireframe renders | Render window › Render wireframe | A line drawing in a second or two, dark or on paper. | Intermediate |
| The queue | Render window › the filmstrip, right-click a card | Hold, resume, move earlier or later, remove. | Intermediate |
| Saved shots (Studios) | Studios › + Studio from the current shot | Camera, environment, image and more, recalled in a click. Render all N views renders each. | Intermediate |
| Reorder Studios | Studios › drag a Studio up or down | Each Studio shows its picture, saved with the project. | Intermediate |
| Save a studio preset | Library › Studios › Save current studio… | Your lighting setup, to use on any product. | Intermediate |
| Turntable | Studios › Turntable › Make turntable | Frames all the way round, rendered as numbered pictures. | Intermediate |
| Spin viewer | File › Export spin viewer… | Renders round the product, like a turntable, and builds a web page to turn it by dragging. | Intermediate |
| Configurator | Studios › Configurator › Build a configurator | Options, rules and a picker, from colourways, model sets or Studios. | Advanced |
| Present | Workspace › Present (F5) | Full screen, rendered, with the configurator over it. Esc leaves. | Advanced |
| Export for the web | File › Export for the web… | A folder with a page that opens in any browser: live 3D, photos of every combination, or both. | Advanced |
| Render every combination | Configurator › Try it › Render all N… | Queues one render per valid combination. | Advanced |
| Render passes | Render window › File › Render passes (EXR or PSD) | Diffuse, reflection, depth, normals, masks and more, as layers for compositing. | Advanced |
| Render layers | Render window › Render layers › + Layer from selection | Parts rendered on their own, as extra pictures. | Advanced |
| Relight after rendering | Render layers › Keep light groups for relighting, then Relight | Change each light's strength and tint in the finished picture. | Advanced |
| Render a region | Render window › Render part of the image only | Re-renders just one area. | Advanced |
| Network rendering | Render window › Network rendering, with tequila-cli --worker on the other computers | Spreads shots across machines that share a token. | Advanced |
| Feature | Where | What it does | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant | The toolbar's Assistant | Ask in your own words: materials, textures, lighting, camera. Undo request takes it all back. | Intermediate |
| Connect an AI app | Assistant › Connect an AI… (or Providers…) | Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, LM Studio or any MCP app, one click each. | Intermediate |
| Plugins | Plugins › Manage plugins… | Install from a ZIP, turn plugins on, or start one from the template. | Intermediate |
| Console | The toolbar's Console, or ` | Type commands; help lists them. Run script… runs a file as one undo step. | Advanced |
| Scripting tab | Scripting tab | The scripting channel's address, a log of what scripts did, and instructions to copy for an AI. | Advanced |
| Python | The tequila module | tequila.open() runs Tequila without a window; tequila.connect() drives the one you have open. | Advanced |
| Command line | tequila-cli | Renders and exports without a window, for batches and build servers. | Advanced |
Nothing matches that. Try another word, or ask on the Discord.
Help › Navigation and shortcuts shows these in the app too. On a Mac, use Cmd where it says Ctrl. Keys don't act while you're typing in a field.
| Left drag | Orbit |
| Middle drag | Pan |
| Scroll | Zoom |
| Alt + scroll | Focal length |
| Alt + right drag | Dolly |
| F / Shift + F | Frame the selection / everything |
| Ctrl + Alt + 1…7 | Front, Back, Left, Right, Top, Bottom, Isometric |
| Z | Step through the four views |
| D | Rendered, and back |
| P | Pause the viewport |
| H | Render statistics |
| Click / Shift + click | Select / add to the selection |
| Ctrl + Shift + click | Take out of the selection |
| Ctrl + click | Every part with that material |
| Double-click | The part's group; again for the next one up |
| Ctrl + A / Esc | Select all / none |
| W E R | Move, rotate, scale |
| Insert + click | Put the pivot on the model |
| Ctrl + G | Group |
| Ctrl + H | Hide the selection |
| / | Isolate it |
| Alt + H | Show everything again |
| Delete | Delete |
| Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y | Undo / redo |
| Space | Inspector |
| M | Material library |
| U | Studios tab |
| ` | Console |
| Tab | Full viewport |
| F5 | Present (Esc leaves) |
| E / C / B, nothing selected | Background: environment, colour, backplate |
| Ctrl + N | New project |
| Ctrl + O | Open project |
| Ctrl + I | Import model |
| Ctrl + S / Ctrl + Shift + S | Save / save as |
| Ctrl + R | Render window |
| F2, in the Scene tab | Rename |
The material graph and the UV editor have keys of their own. Each one lists them in its window: in the graph, select nothing to see them; in the UV editor, press ?.
Ask on the Discord: someone has probably rendered it before. The Docs have the longer guides, for scripting, plugins and making materials.
Tequila