Installing SculptForge

This chapter covers what SculptForge needs, which package to download for your system, what to expect the first time you open it, and how to build it from source.

System requirements#

• Operating system: Windows 10 or 11 (x64), macOS 11 or later (Apple Silicon or Intel), or a 64-bit Linux distribution (x86_64 or ARM64) with X11 or Wayland.
• Graphics: a GPU and driver that support OpenGL 3.3 (core profile). Any graphics card from the last ten years qualifies, including integrated Intel, AMD and Apple GPUs. SculptForge asks for 4x multisampling and falls back to none if the driver refuses it.
• Input: a three-button mouse works for everything. A pen tablet adds pressure (see Sculpting and brushes).
• Network: not needed for sculpting. The free AI features (Brush Lab and image or text to 3D) and the community brush gallery need an internet connection unless you run models on your own machine.

Download#

Each link below downloads the newest version. Pick the one for your system:

Most PCs are x86_64; ARM64 is for ARM laptops, Raspberry Pi and Apple Silicon Macs running Linux. Older versions are on the releases page.

Install with one command#

Instead of downloading by hand you can install (or update) with one command. On macOS and Linux it installs for your user only, with no administrator password:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/islandmed/SculptForge/main/install/install.sh | sh

On Windows, in PowerShell (it downloads and starts the installer):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/islandmed/SculptForge/main/install/install.ps1 | iex

Both check the download against the release's checksums before installing. To uninstall on macOS or Linux, run the first command with sh -s -- --uninstall at the end instead of sh.

Every release also has a SHA256SUMS.txt file with the checksum of each download, so you can confirm a file arrived intact.

Each package contains two programs: SculptForge, the desktop application, and sculptforge-cli, the headless command-line tool for scripts, build farms and AI agents (see Scripting and automation). On macOS the command-line tool sits inside the app bundle, at SculptForge.app/Contents/MacOS/sculptforge-cli.

Opening SculptForge for the first time#

The builds are not code-signed yet, so your operating system may warn you the first time.

macOS: Gatekeeper#

macOS may say that SculptForge "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified".

1. In Finder, open the Applications folder.
2. Right-click (or Ctrl+click) SculptForge and choose Open.
3. Click Open in the dialog that appears.

You only need to do this once. On recent macOS versions you may instead have to go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway next to the message about SculptForge.

Windows: SmartScreen#

Windows may show "Windows protected your PC".

1. Click More info.
2. Click Run anyway.

Linux#

The .deb and .rpm packages add SculptForge to your desktop's application menu. An AppImage needs to be made executable first (chmod +x SculptForge-*.AppImage, or tick "Allow executing file as program" in your file manager's properties).

What you see at start-up#

SculptForge opens a 1600 x 960 window with a sphere ready to sculpt and the LightBox open along the top of the canvas on its Project tab, so you can reopen recent work with a double-click. Press , (comma) to close it, or turn off Preferences > LightBox > Show at startup. The first start also creates your library folder (Documents/SculptForge, with Projects, Tools, Brushes, Alphas, Images, Splats and QuickSave sub-folders), which the LightBox shows as User.

You can open a file directly from the command line, too: sculptforge model.obj (or a .glb, .sfproj, splat capture or image). sculptforge --fullscreen starts filling the screen; sculptforge --help lists every option.

The next chapter, The interface, explains what everything on screen does.

Updating and uninstalling#

SculptForge doesn't install updates by itself, but it tells you when there is one. Once a day at start-up it downloads a small file from its website that names the newest version; if yours is older, a banner at the top of the 3D view says what's new, with What's new, Download, Later and Skip this version. Nothing about you or your computer is sent. Help > Check for updates asks right away, and Preferences > Updates turns the daily check off. Builds from a package manager (such as the AUR package) leave updates to the package manager and don't check.

To update, download the new release and install it over the old one. Your settings, brushes and library are kept: they live in your user folders, not next to the program (see Troubleshooting and FAQ for where).

To uninstall, use your system's usual method (Settings > Apps on Windows, dragging the app to the Bin on macOS, sudo apt remove sculptforge or sudo dnf remove sculptforge on Linux, or delete the AppImage). Delete the settings and library folders as well if you want to remove everything.

Building from source#

You need CMake 3.24 or later and a C++20 compiler: GCC 11+, Clang 14+, Xcode 15+ or Visual Studio 2022. Dear ImGui, GLM and (if it isn't installed already) SDL3 are downloaded automatically. AI features use libcurl on Linux and macOS and the built-in WinHTTP on Windows.

git clone https://github.com/islandmed/SculptForge.git
cd SculptForge

# Linux only: compilers and X11/Wayland/GL/curl headers (Debian/Ubuntu or Fedora/RHEL)
sudo ./packaging/linux/install-build-deps.sh

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --parallel
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure
./build/sculptforge

On Windows the program is build\Release\sculptforge.exe; on macOS run open build/SculptForge.app.

Useful CMake options:

Running cpack in the build folder makes the platform's packages (.deb, .rpm and .tar.gz on Linux, a .dmg on macOS, an installer and a .zip on Windows).

See also#

• The interface
• Troubleshooting and FAQ
• SculptForge for studios