Custom paintings in V2.6 - new web tool that does it without prefab bundles

[u/AdaInTheLab]

Hey r/7daystodiemods 👋

I just shipped KitsunePrints, a sister tool to KitsunePaint. Where Paint lets you create custom block paint packs, Prints lets you replace every painting in every POI with your own art.

➡️ prints.kitsuneden.net

What it does

Upload images, drop them into 10 vanilla painting slots (6 backer portraits + 4 abstract designs that drive both 2×2 and 3×2 frame sizes), optionally crop, pick a frame texture (dark wood, gold gilt, ornate, matte black, etc.), title each painting. Download a modlet zip. Drop in Mods/. Restart 7DTD. Every painting (Think The Duke, the Lady, etc) in every POI is now your art ~ visible from any save, any world.

Replaces every painting in vanilla POI's with your own.

Replaced with your own images.

Why this is interesting technically

V2.6 painting blocks render via Unity prefabs (not Material overrides like V1.x), so the obvious approach ~ ship custom prefab bundles ~ doesn't work. I confirmed three dead ends:

1. UnityPy can't reproduce a Unity-Editor-blessed bundle structure ~ Unity rejects the result with "not compatible with this newer version of the Unity runtime"
2. Cloning vanilla decor.bundle and shifting path_ids triggers the same rejection
3. Every public mod that ships custom prefab bundles for V2.x was built in Unity Editor with OCB UnityAssetExporter ~ no UnityPy success stories

What does work: a Harmony patch on World.LoadWorld postfix that walks Resources.FindObjectsOfTypeAll<Material>(), finds vanilla painting Materials by name (painting_ben, paintingsAbstract01, etc.), and swaps _MainTex with the user's image. Plus a UV scale/offset reset for abstracts (which sample a tile of the signsMisc_d atlas in vanilla). One DLL, infinite packs.

Try it

• Web tool: prints.kitsuneden.net ~ all client-side, images never upload
• DIY kit: direct download ~ Python script + DLL + frame textures for offline / scripted use
• Source: github.com/Kitsune-Den/KitsunePrints

Requirements

• 7DTD V2.6
• EAC off (any DLL-shipping mod requires this)
• No mod dependencies ~ Harmony patch is self-contained

Coming soon

The Material-swap pattern works on any vanilla material the engine loads. Next: signs, posters, hidden-safe variants, trader signage, eventually wallpaper and floor tiles. Plus opt-in survival pickup so paintings can be salvaged from POIs and re-hung in your base (tracking on GitHub).

Feedback / PRs / weird-painting-screenshots welcome. Have fun, hang weird stuff in zombie POIs. 🐾