UV unwrapping is the process of flattening a 3D mesh’s surface into a 2D coordinate space, called UV space, so that 2D textures can be accurately mapped onto the 3D geometry. It is a prerequisite step for texture mapping and is essential when preparing a character model for texturing, since seams and distortion introduced during unwrapping directly affect final texture quality. Automatic and manual unwrapping tools both aim to minimise stretching while placing seams in inconspicuous locations.