How to Read a Tesla UV Map: Which Panel Is Which on Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck

Reading the template

Open any template from teslamotors/custom-wraps and you will see an exploded view of the car flattened onto a square: a large hood shape near the top, the roof and glass area in the middle, doors and quarter panels along the sides, and the bumpers, mirrors and small trim pieces scattered around the edges. Every white pixel maps to exactly one spot on the 3D body; transparent pixels are not rendered.

Because the layout is a UV unwrap rather than a photo, panels that touch on the real car may sit far apart on the template. That is why a diagonal stripe drawn straight across the PNG rarely lines up around the wheel arches.

Panel-by-panel (Model 3 / Model Y)

• Hood and frunk lid — the big trapezoid at the top center. Best spot for a logo or a large graphic.
• Roof — the long rectangle below the hood. On glass-roof cars this area barely shows; keep it simple.
• Front doors and rear doors — the four tall shapes left and right. Horizontal stripes need to match across the door gap.
• Fenders and quarter panels — curved pieces beside the doors. Camo and abstract patterns hide seams here best.
• Front and rear bumpers — wide low strips at the bottom. High-contrast colors read well from the front.
• Mirrors, spoiler, handles — small islands. Solid colors avoid visible tiling.

Designing for alignment

Three approaches work reliably. First, all-over patterns (camo, carbon, marble, abstract) that look intentional whether or not they match at seams. Second, per-panel color blocking, where each white shape gets one solid color — think two-tone roofs and blacked-out hoods. Third, "assembled" designs where the AI is instructed to keep stripes continuous across neighboring panels; this is what the SkinMyCar template mode does, and why it outperforms painting the PNG by hand.

If you paint manually, keep strokes 4–6 px away from panel edges and let the color bleed slightly beyond each white shape. Tesla masks with the template alpha, so bleed is invisible on the car but prevents hairline gaps.

Cybertruck differences

The Cybertruck template has fewer, larger flat facets and almost no curved panels, which makes it the easiest body to design for. Stainless steel also reflects strongly in the visualization, so mid-tone matte colors and camo patterns tend to look better than glossy gradients.

Free downloads

All official templates are mirrored on the SkinMyCar templates page with the Paint Shop file rules, and every vehicle page has a one-click "Design with AI" button that uses the correct template automatically.