Blender Bridge, folders & your files

Working with Blender uses two pieces that talk to each other:

• The desktop app downloads assets, sorts them into folders, and sends them to Blender.
• The iMeshh Bridge is a small Blender add-on that sits inside Blender and receives those assets, so a single click in the app drops an asset into your scene.

The iMeshh Bridge add-on

The Bridge is what turns Send to Blender, Append, Apply, and Replace from buttons into actions. Install it once per computer:

1. In the Asset Library toolbar, click the Bridge not connected status (or the Download link in the top bar) to open the Get the iMeshh Bridge window.
2. Click Download bridge.
3. In Blender, drag the downloaded file into the viewport — or go to Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install and pick the file.
4. In Preferences, find iMeshh Bridge and tick its checkbox so it's turned on.

The Bridge works with Blender 3.6 or newer.

Is the Bridge connected?

The Asset Library toolbar shows a Bridge status at all times, so you always know whether Blender is reachable:

• Green Bridge connected — Blender is open and reachable. The Send actions are ready.
• Grey Bridge not connected — iMeshh can't reach Blender. Click it to install the Bridge or see how to turn it on.
• Amber Bridge update available — a newer Bridge is out. Click it to get the latest one.

Keeping the Bridge up to date

When the status turns amber Bridge update available, click it, download the new file, and install it over the old one the same way (drag into the viewport, or Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install).

Setting up download folders

The first time you open the desktop app, pick where iMeshh should put assets when you download them. Your downloads land in a folder per category:

iMeshh/
├── Models/
├── Materials/
├── HDRIs/
├── Geo Nodes/
├── Effects/
└── Scenes/

Change these later under Settings → Folders — open Settings from the top-right corner of the Asset Library header.

Sending an asset into Blender

Once an asset is downloaded, Blender is open, and the Bridge is connected, the Asset Details panel shows a set of quick actions. Which ones appear depends on the asset type:

• Append — copies the asset into your current Blender scene
• Link — references the asset without copying it in, so updates to the source file flow through
• Apply Material — adds the material as a new slot on every mesh object you have selected
• Apply All Materials — adds every material in the file (some assets ship more than one)
• Replace — swaps something already in your scene (see below)
• Set as World — for HDRIs, sets the asset as the scene's world lighting
• Open Folder — opens the asset's folder on your computer

Keep one Blender window open. If you have several open, iMeshh sends to the most recently used one.

Replace: swap what's already in your scene

Next to Append and Apply Material you'll find a Replace button. Use it to change something already in your scene, instead of adding another copy alongside it.

Replace objects instead of appending

Use this to swap one or several objects for a different asset in a single step — for example, replacing every dining chair around a table at once.

1. In Blender, select the object — or objects — you want to swap.
2. In the Asset Details panel, click Replace (the right-hand side of the Append button).

Each selected object is swapped for a copy of this asset, placed at that object's own position and rotation, and the original is removed. Select five chairs, click Replace, and all five become the new chair — each one where the old chair stood.

Replace a material instead of applying

1. In Blender, select the object, then click the material slot you want to change so it's the active slot.
2. In the Asset Details panel, click Replace (the right-hand side of Apply Material).

The material in that slot is swapped for this one, in place. Replace changes your active object only. By contrast, Apply Material adds the material as a new slot and leaves the current look untouched until you assign it.

How variants work

A variant is the same asset in a different form. There are two kinds:

• Quality tiers — the same model or material at different texture sizes: 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K. Larger sizes look sharper up close and use more memory.
• Named finishes — the same object in a different colour or material, such as a tap handle in brass or chrome.

How iMeshh groups them

When you download an asset, its files land together in one folder. iMeshh reads that folder and treats files that share a name but end in a different suffix as one asset with several variants — so you get a single card instead of one card per size or finish. Two suffix styles count:

• A size on the end of the file name — Chair_4k, Chair_2k, Chair_1k.
• A named finish written with _var- — Handle_var-Brass, Handle_var-Chrome.

So a folder holding Handle_var-Brass.blend and Handle_var-Chrome.blend shows as one Handle card with a brass / chrome switcher, not two separate handles.

Picking one

A switcher lets you choose which variant to use before you send it:

• In the Asset Details panel, the variants show as pill buttons.
• On a downloaded card in the grid, the same choice shows as a dropdown next to the quick-action button.

Each named finish carries its own preview image, so changing the variant swaps the preview you see. Whatever variant is selected is the one that Append, Link, or Apply sends to Blender. The switcher starts on your Preferred resolution (set in Settings → Folders) when that size is on disk; otherwise it starts on the largest size you have.

The switcher only lists variants you actually have on disk, so download the sizes or finishes you want first. Variants behave the same for downloaded assets and for your own files in My Folders.

Material resolution sets: 1-2-4K and 8K

Materials are offered as two separate downloads:

• 1-2-4K — one download containing the 1K, 2K, and 4K textures together
• 8K — a separate, larger download

In the Asset Details panel, under Resolution, click the set you want. After you've downloaded one set, a button offers the resolution you don't have yet — so you can add 8K later without losing your 1-2-4K files.

Set your default under Settings → Folders with Preferred resolution. It applies on both the website and the desktop app.

Settings for the Asset Library

Open Settings from the top-right of the Asset Library header. It has two tabs: Folders and Display.

Folders

• Preferred resolution — the default quality for materials. The 1-2-4K set covers 1K, 2K, and 4K. This applies on both web and desktop.
• Download folders — set where each Blender asset type saves: Models, Materials, Geo Nodes, Effects, HDRIs, and Scenes. Click Browse to choose a folder for each. Use Models folder for all copies your Models folder to every type at once. (Desktop only — on the web, files go to your browser's download folder.)

Saving a Blender folder also adds it to Blender's own Asset Browser, so your downloads show up there grouped by category.

Display

• Preview Size — a slider for how large the asset thumbnails appear in the grid.
• Show asset names below thumbnails — turn the name labels under each thumbnail on or off.

The "already downloaded" ✓ badge

After an asset is saved to your iMeshh/ folder, its card in the grid shows a ✓ badge so you can tell at a glance which assets you already have. It works across machines, as long as the iMeshh/ folder is the same on each one.

Updates from iMeshh

When iMeshh publishes a new version of an asset you've downloaded — better textures, fixed geometry, new variants — the desktop app spots the difference and marks the card.

Click into the asset and the Download button becomes Update. Click it to download the new file over your local copy. The update doesn't count against your download limit.

Pointing Blender at your iMeshh assets

You can browse your downloaded iMeshh assets inside Blender's own Asset Browser, grouped by category. On the desktop app, saving a download folder adds it for you. To add one by hand (or on the web):

1. Open Blender.
2. Go to Edit → Preferences → File Paths → Asset Libraries.
3. Click the + button to add a library.
4. Name it iMeshh.
5. Point it at your iMeshh/ folder.
6. Save preferences.

Open the Asset Browser in any Blender editor and choose your new library from the dropdown. Every asset you've downloaded appears, grouped by category.

My Folders: your own .blend files

The My Folders tab lets you index your own .blend files — work that isn't part of the iMeshh catalogue — so you can browse and send them into Blender the same way.

To add a folder:

1. Open the My Folders tab.
2. Click the Add a folder button in the sidebar.
3. Choose a folder on your computer.
4. iMeshh indexes the .blend files inside it and shows them in the grid.

Once a folder is added:

• Open a subfolder to drill into it. A breadcrumb across the top shows where you are and collapses when the path gets long.
• Click a file to open a detail panel showing its file info, with the same Append, Link, and Open Folder actions as a downloaded asset.
• Remove a source folder from the sidebar list when you no longer need it indexed.

How iMeshh finds and previews your files

When you add a folder, iMeshh looks through it and its subfolders and indexes the file types that match the tab you added it under:

• Models, Materials, Geo Nodes, Effects, Scenes — .blend files
• HDRIs — .hdr, .exr, and .tif files, plus matching images

Folders whose name starts with a dot are skipped, and each folder indexes up to 5,000 files. Re-scanning a folder picks up new files and drops ones you've deleted.

Thumbnails come from an image next to the file. For each file, iMeshh looks for a .jpg, .jpeg, or .png in the same folder and uses the first match, in this order:

1. An image with the same name as the file — kitchen.blend next to kitchen.jpg. This is the most reliable.
2. An image whose name includes the file's name — kitchen_thumb.png, or sofa.png for sofa_4k.blend.
3. Any image with thumb or preview in its name.
4. Otherwise, the first image in the folder.

Group your own variants by naming. Files in the same folder that share a base name collapse into one card with a switcher (see How variants work above):

• Sizes — end the name with a size: Sofa_4k, Sofa_2k, Sofa_1k.
• Finishes — end the name with _var- and a label: Handle_var-Brass, Handle_var-Chrome.

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What's next

• Fixing downloads & Blender issues — when a download fails, the Bridge won't connect, or Replace is greyed out
• Downloading assets — the download limit, formats, and updates
• Subscriptions & access — which plans include the desktop app