{"id":3382,"date":"2020-08-09T16:47:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-09T15:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/?p=3382"},"modified":"2023-09-07T15:51:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T14:51:56","slug":"make-single-user","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/make-single-user\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Single User"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f18be94eb48\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f18be94eb48\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/make-single-user\/#make-single-user\" >Make Single User<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/make-single-user\/#object-data-properties\" >Object Data Properties<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/make-single-user\/#outliner\" >Outliner<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/make-single-user\/#editor-option\" >Editor Option<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/make-single-user\/#single-user-materials\" >Single User Materials<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/make-single-user\/#single-user-images\" >Single User Images<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>A <b>User<\/b> in Blender 2.8+ is analogous to a person accessing or making use of something, the more person&#8217;s doing this the more <i>users<\/i> the subject of their interest can be said to have. For Blender, such Users are typically accessing underlying blocks of data, <b>data blocks<\/b>, that can be used any number of ways. Occasionally however, there is a need to reduce or manage the number of Users associated with a data block. This is done using <b>Make Single User<\/b>.<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"background-color: #fc0; color: #000;\"><p><i><b>Important<\/b>: the existence of data blocks is not specifically dependent on Users. However, without Users the underlying information is treated as being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/delete-material\/#delete-material-datablocks\">Orphaned<\/a>, transitory, and may not be saved with the *.blend.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"make-single-user\"><\/span>Make Single User<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>As briefly outlined above a <b>User<\/b> is a relationship between itself and an underlying <b>block of data<\/b> (data block). For single use situations, a single material applied to a single object or surface for example, this functionally this makes both data block and User association &#8216;<i>unique<\/i>&#8216; or a &#8216;<i>Single User<\/i>&#8216;. However, because data blocks exist independently of Users this same &#8216;single user&#8217; data might be instanced to other objects such that it then has several User relationships, e.g. several meshes referencing the same material. It&#8217;s in the latter capacity where being able to make User references &#8216;unique&#8217; becomes advantageous as it then allows for object or property modification independently of other assignments or associations.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: the nature of data blocks mean they can be referenced any number of ways in Blender, so whilst one level might result in a new &#8216;unique&#8217; instance of something, the new creation may retain other multi-user elements &#8211; materials are a typical example of this. Similarly only certain types of data may be available, in <i>Edit Mode<\/i> for example Material data can be changed but mesh data cannot because instanced objects are selection-linked (cannot be selected independently of the original, which is why they&#8217;re Instanced and not Single User).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/edit-mode-single-user.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 98.5%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/edit-mode-single-user.jpg\" alt=\"Some data only available to Object Mode\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>In Edit Mode only certain types of data can be accessed and made Single User, mesh elements cannot be selected independently of one another (else they would not be instanced or &#8216;linked&#8217; duplicates requiring &#8216;user&#8217; modification). This can only be done in Object Mode.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Exactly how data is made Single User depends largely on what references the data block in question, a 3D Object for example can be changed more readily than an Image referenced from within a Material. With this in mind to make a mesh <i>Object<\/i> single user, in the 3D View select the item (or items) and from the <b>Object<\/b> menu select <b>Relations<\/b>, <b>Make Single User<\/b> then from the list of options select the appropriate data &#8216;depth&#8217; needing to be made unique &#8211; <b><i>Object \u00bb Relations \u00bb Make Single User \u00bb [option]<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: the options generally shown when making something Single User represent the degree to associated data can be made unique. In each case the selected option duplicates the original properties, a new animation sequence being created for example, that can then be edited without affecting the original;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <b>Data<\/b>: Object (mesh) only.<br \/>\n&#8211; <b>Object &amp; Data<\/b>: Object and, for example, coordinate data.<br \/>\n&#8211; <b>Object &amp; Data &amp; Materials<\/b>: Object, coordinates and Material assignments.<br \/>\n&#8211; <b>Materials<\/b>: material assignments only.<br \/>\n&#8211; <b>Object Animation<\/b>: animation sequence data that might be assigned.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/object-make-single-user.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/object-make-single-user.jpg\" alt=\"Using the Make Single User menu options\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Making an Object-based selection Single User in the 3D View (Layout Workspace). Select an object(s) and from the <b>Object<\/b> menu click <b>Make Single User<\/b> then a &#8216;data&#8217; option &#8211; different types of data (mesh, material etc.) can be made single user or unique depending on requirements.<\/i><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"object-data-properties\"><\/span>Object Data Properties<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A more readily available way to make objects Single User or unique is to use the <b>Object Data Properties<\/b> option. From here the <b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b> option can be used to make selections single user. To do this make a selection in the 3D View then in <b>Object Data Properties<\/b> [1] click the numbered button [2], the aforementioned <b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b> option, to the right of the <b>Mesh data block defining geometric surfaces<\/b> input field at the top of the panel. This creates a new instance of the underlying property that is now unique (independently editable) &#8211; selecting the original Object the User count will have decreased.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: the <b>Outliner<\/b> can be used to inspect what User information is associated with each Objects [3] &#8211; select a listing and expand to see the Object Data Property referenced (e.g. mesh Name), for example object &#8216;4&#8217; (Cube (4)) might reference object &#8216;1&#8217; (Cube (1)) and so on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/object-data-single-user.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/object-data-single-user.jpg\" alt=\"Object Data Properties and Single User\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>The number of Users an item has can be managed from Object Data Properties [1] and the <b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b> button to the right of the <b>Name<\/b> input field [2] &#8211; this identifies how many objects are using the underlying raw data.<\/i><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"outliner\"><\/span>Outliner<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<blockquote style=\"background-color: #fc0; color: #000;\"><p><i><b>Important<\/b>: this feature, although available, is not fully functional at time of writing.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As well as displaying data associated with a Scene generally, the <b>Outliner<\/b> itself can also be used to manage User counts for objects shown using the <b>Outliner ID data Operation<\/b> option. To do this make a selection in the Outliner and expand the sub-elements where necessary to expose underlying associations. From here right-click an entry to access the <b>Outliner ID data Operation<\/b> menu popup and select <b>Make Single User<\/b> from the list.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: the <b>Outliner ID data Operations<\/b> menu is context sensitive and only appears when the appropriate sub-element is highlighted or right-clicked in the editor, in other words, selecting an Object will display the Object menu where Make Single User can be found under ID Data &#8211; <b>Object (menu) \u00bb ID Data \u00bb Make Single User \u00bb [option]<\/b> &#8211; whereas selecting the &#8216;mesh&#8217; sub-element the option is accessed as described above.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/outliner-object-menu.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 98.5%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/outliner-object-menu.jpg\" alt=\"Outliner, Objects and Single User\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Managing User count in the <b>Outliner<\/b> right-clicking an &#8216;Object-level&#8217; item to access the Object menu where Make Single User can be found under <b>ID Data<\/b>.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/outliner-single-user.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/outliner-single-user.jpg\" alt=\"Outliner and Single User\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Using the <b>Outliner<\/b> to manage User count can be done by select items listed and right-clicking [3] to access the context menu where <b>Make Single User<\/b> can be selected [4].<\/i><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"editor-option\"><\/span>Editor Option<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Similar to <i>Object Data Properties<\/i> control over User count discussed above, different editors, properties and settings can be used to modify the User counts associated with data blocks. For example in the <b>Action Editor<\/b> animation sequences that are used several times (animated multiple objects) can be made unique clicking the numbered <b>Display number of users of this data<\/b> button to the right of the sequence <b>Name<\/b> input field (input field where sequences are given a label or reference). This duplicates the active sequence making the resulting copy unique by appending a numerical reference so it can be edited without affecting the original.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: the <b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b> option is generally available wherever User count data is pertinent to an editor or areas function &#8211; this is why the option appears in some but not others because the data serves no purpose with respect to the task at hand.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/uv-editor-user-count.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 98.5%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/uv-editor-user-count.jpg\" alt=\"UV Editing Workspace and User count\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/texture-paint-user-count.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 98.5%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/texture-paint-user-count.jpg\" alt=\"Texture Paint Workspace and User count\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>The User count button (<b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b>) is generally accessible wherever image <b>Name<\/b> data is used as a reference to the underlying bitmap image. Changes to the label in any one of these places updates globally.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/action-editor-user-count.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/action-editor-user-count.jpg\" alt=\"User count in the Action Editor\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>User count information is generally available to editor that access that information specifically, the Action Editor for example attribute &#8216;Users&#8217; to animation sequences where more than one scene element uses the same action.<\/i><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"single-user-materials\"><\/span>Single User Materials<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>For materials, User count differs slightly due to the way they are set up, <i>materials<\/i> and <i>images<\/i> being assignable to individual or multiple object depending on requirements. With that said, to make materials single user this can be done in <b>Material Properties<\/b> clicking the <b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b> button to the right of the materials <b>Name<\/b> input field [7]. Here, as with similar User operations, this duplicates the original material, decreases the User count displayed on the button, and creates an instance assigned a unique numerical identifier that&#8217;s appended to the label shown in the Name input field which then allows the new materials properties to be modified without affecting the originals.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: the way materials work makes it possible to assigned any given instance to both linked (duplicate) and unlinked (unique) objects, each type then counting towards the User number as a group (linked) or individually (unique), in other words the same material assigned to seven objects forming part of a larger linked group count as a single user (1) whereas seven separate objects referencing the same material count as seven individual Users (7), eight (8) Users overall for the material.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/materials-single-user.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/materials-single-user.jpg\" alt=\"Materials and Single User\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Managing a Materials User count in <b>Material Properties<\/b> [7] (which can also be done in the Outliner [8] &#8211; see above) &#8211; select the Material in the Material list and check the number of Users it has, the <b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b> button, click to duplicate and create a new instance.<\/i><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"single-user-images\"><\/span>Single User Images<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Changing the User count for Materials does not change the count for any associated <i>images<\/i>. Instead these are generally managed using the <b>Node Editor<\/b> (<i>Shading Workspace<\/i>), <b>UV Editor<\/b> (<i>UV Editing Workspace<\/i>) or <b>Image Editor<\/b> (<i>Texture Paint Workspace<\/i>) where each areas respective <b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b> button is accessible.<\/p>\n<p>To change the User count for images, access the <b>Node Editor<\/b> (directly or via Shading Workspace) and check the appropriate <b>Image Texture<\/b> node&#8217;s <b>Display number of users of this data block<\/b> button [10]. Here, clicking the &#8216;User&#8217; button will reduce the User count appropriately and create a new unique image instance that then takes the place of the old. Any changes to this, a new image loaded in, propagate to all other materials linked to the new image reference.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: in practice the above is replacing or swapping the label displayed in the <b>Name<\/b> input field, not the actual image that might be shown in the 3D View\/Preview, in other words the old reference, e.g. &#8216;image (1)&#8217;, is being swapped out for the new, e.g. &#8216;image (2)&#8217;, so that changes to the latter, loading in a new bitmap e.g. &#8216;image (2).jpg&#8217;, propagate across to all the old materials now using the new image Name. To make the association unique the underlying material has to be first made single user (<a href=\"#single-user-materials\">see above<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>To make the update to the Image Texture node unique so only the selected object is effected, the <a href=\"#single-user-materials\">underlying material first needs to be made unique<\/a> to break any previous links to other materials [9] or objects, clicking the User count button [11] subsequently then creates a new Name instance [10] that&#8217;s swapped into place, that can then be populated with a new bitmap image exclusive to that material.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/images-single-user.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/images-single-user.jpg\" alt=\"Images and Single User\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/shader-workspace-unique-users.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/single-user\/shader-workspace-unique-users.jpg\" alt=\"Unique Image and Material Users\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>To make image assignments unique [10 &amp; 13] any underlying Material instances [9 &amp; 12] will first need to be made single user [11] otherwise anything loaded into the material will simply replace or swap out whatever was associated with it previously.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,230],"tags":[719,346,721,716,103,423,576,711,722],"class_list":["post-3382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blender","category-tutorials","tag-datablocks","tag-edit-mode","tag-images","tag-make-single-user","tag-materials","tag-object-mode","tag-object-properties","tag-single-user","tag-user-count"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3382"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5072,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3382\/revisions\/5072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}