Autodesk Mudbox 2013 SDK Documentation > Sculpting and Brushes >

# Stamps and Stencils

A stamp is a bitmap image (Image) containing float values that are used as a mask for a BrushOperation. When sculpting the stamp is transformed to the picked point and aligned to the surface normal at that point. The effect factor is calculated as the surface point transformed into this stamp space selecting the pixel on the stamp image.

Stencils are similar to stamps but are always aligned to the camera not the surface. This is done with the BrushOperation::SetDirection() method.

A stencil also modifies the effect of the brush by transforming the mouse position to stencil space and selecting the pixel from the stencil image.

The following methods of BrushOperation are used for applying stamps and stencils:

- BrushOperation::MaskBuildUp()
- BrushOperation::MaskEnabled()
- BrushOperation::MaskFactor()
- BrushOperation::MaskID()
- BrushOperation::MaskImage()
- BrushOperation::MaskInvert()
- BrushOperation::MaskMatrix()
- BrushOperation::MaskTile()