File: images.jpg (17 KB, 576x324)

17 KB JPG

I have a simple problem that turns into a complicated process every time. There is a texture inside an engine project. It renders correctly and looks normal in the viewport. I want to export it into a standard image file that behaves like a normal jpg outside the engine.

I right click the texture and see multiple options including export, export source, export processed, bulk export, migrate, duplicate, and advanced export settings. None of these clearly explain which one produces a clean image file without additional issues.

After exporting I end up with files like:

texture_d.uasset
texture_d.source
texture_d.dds
texture_d_0
texture_d_0_copy
texture_d_processed
texture_d_final
texture_d_final2
texture_d_final2_real
texture_d_final2_real_use
texture_d_metadata

Some of these open in image viewers but look different from what the engine shows. Colors appear darker or more saturated. Roughness and normal maps behave differently once imported into Blender. Sometimes the image looks correct until it is applied to a material and then the shading becomes incorrect.
Inside the engine one material becomes multiple textures including:

albedo
basecolor
diffuse
normal
orm
mask
packed_map
grayscale_mask

When importing into Blender I reconnect nodes and run into problems. The object appears purple until textures are reassigned. Roughness values look wrong. Normal maps require channel flipping but results are inconsistent. Color space settings change the appearance again depending on whether sRGB is enabled.

At this point I have multiple exported versions of the same texture in different formats and I am unsure which one represents the original data correctly.

What is the actual standard workflow for exporting a texture from an engine into a clean jpg or similar image format that maintains correct color, normal data, and material behavior outside the engine.