How to Make a Path Relative in Blender

Making paths relative in Blender helps ensure that your project files (like textures, external libraries, etc.) remain linked correctly even if you move your project folder to a different location or share it with others.

To make a path relative in Blender, you can use a specific prefix when manually entering the path or rely on a checkbox provided in the File Browser.

Methods for Creating Relative Paths

Blender offers a couple of ways to specify relative paths, ensuring portability for your projects.

1. Using the // Prefix in Text Fields

One common method, especially when manually typing or pasting a path into a text field within Blender's interface, is to prepend a double slash //.

• How to do it: When entering the path into a text field, use a double slash prefix ( // ) to make it so. Blender interprets // as the root directory of the current blend file.

  • Example: If your blend file is in /home/user/projects/myproject/ and a texture is in /home/user/projects/myproject/textures/image.png, you would enter //textures/image.png as the path in Blender.

2. Utilizing the File Browser Option

When using Blender's File Browser to link or open external files, you will typically find an option to set the path as relative.

• How to do it: When relative paths are supported, the File Browser provides a Relative Path check box. Ensure this box is checked when selecting a file to make the path relative to your current blend file.

  • Note: This checkbox is often available in operations like linking or appending, or when specifying file outputs.

Method	Location	How to Use
Double Slash Prefix	Text Fields	Prepend // to the path.
Relative Path Checkbox	File Browser (when supported)	Tick the "Relative Path" checkbox.

Relative Paths as Default

It's important to note that relative paths are often the default behavior in Blender. This setting can be found and changed if necessary.

• Default Setting: Relative paths are the default but this can be changed in the File tab of the User Preferences Editor.
• Accessing Preferences: Go to Edit > Preferences..., then navigate to the File tab. Look for the "Default to Relative Paths" option.

Why Use Relative Paths?

Using relative paths is crucial for project portability.

• Portability: If you move your project folder to a different directory on your computer, or send the entire folder to another person, files linked with relative paths will still be found as long as their location relative to the blend file remains the same.
• Collaboration: Makes sharing projects much simpler, as users don't need to recreate complex absolute path structures.

By understanding these methods, you can effectively manage external file links in your Blender projects.