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Installation Guide

This guide will help you install Cats Blender Plugin for Blender 5.0+.

If you been told to follow these intructions and have clearly not, your issue will be closed, no if's and no but's.

Requirements

Required Software

• Blender 5.0 or above
  • Download from blender.org
  • We recommend using the official download from blender.org or steam version, we do not support any other version.

Python Dependencies

• If you have a custom Python installation that Blender uses, ensure NumPy is installed

⚠️ Windows Store Users: While Cats may work on Windows Store versions of Blender, no official support will be provided if issues arise. We recommend downloading Blender directly from blender.org.

Linux Users: WE DO NOT SUPPORT LINUX PACKAGE MANAGER VERSIONS. THESE ARE NOT OFFICIAL AND GENERALLY DO NOT USE BLENDER’S INCLUDED PYTHON VERSION. THIS IS NOT SUPPORTED BY BLENDER THEMSELVES OR BY US. WE ALSO DO NOT SUPPORT THE SNAP AND FLATPACK VERSION OF BLENDER AS WELL.

Installation Steps

Step 1: Download Cats Blender Plugin

Get the latest version of Cats for Blender 5.0+ from:

• Official Website: cats.neoneko.xyz
• GitHub Releases: Latest Release

📝 Important: Download the ZIP file and do NOT extract it. Blender's extension system requires the original ZIP file.

📝 Important: Ensure you DON'T have the original Cats Blender Plugin Installed, both plugins conflict with each other. Ensure to restart Blender if you did have other versions of Cats Installed before hand.

Step 2: Install via Blender's Extension System

1. Open Blender 5.0 or above
2. Go to Edit > Preferences
3. Select the Extensions tab (Blender 4.2+ uses Extensions instead of Add-ons)
4. Click Install from Disk (the down arrow icon in the top right)
5. Navigate to where you downloaded the Cats ZIP file
6. Select the file and click Install from Disk

Step 3: Enable the Extension

After installation, Cats should enable automatically. If it doesn't:

1. Find 'Cats Blender Plugin' in the extensions list
   • Use the search box to quickly find it by typing "cats"
2. Enable the extension by checking the box next to its name

Step 4: Verify Installation

To verify that Cats is installed correctly:

1. Open the 3D Viewport
2. Press N to open the sidebar (if not already open)
3. Look for the 'Cats' tab in the sidebar
4. Click it to access all Cats tools

Optional Dependencies

Some features in Cats require additional plugins:

Material Combiner (for texture atlasing)

Required for material combining and atlas features.

• For Blender 5.0+: Download Material Combiner Addon - Version 3.0.0.0 or higher
• For Blender 4.x or older: Use the original Material Combiner - download master branch (released versions are outdated)
• Installation: Follow the same extension installation process

Immersive Scaler (for scaling tools)

Required for the Scaling panel features.

• For Blender 5.0+: Download Immersive Scaler - Version 1.0.0.0 or higher
• For Blender 4.x or older: Use the original Immersive Scaler - Version 0.5.2 or higher
• Installation: Follow the same extension installation process

Troubleshooting Installation

Extension doesn't appear after installation

• Check if it's enabled in the Extensions preferences
• Verify you downloaded the correct version for Blender 5.0+
• Restart Blender completely - this is often required for extensions to fully load

Error messages during installation

• Make sure you're using Blender 5.0 or above
• Check that the ZIP file is not corrupted (try re-downloading)
• Verify you have write permissions to the Blender extensions folder

Cats tab doesn't show in the sidebar

• Press N to toggle the sidebar visibility
• Check if the extension is actually enabled in preferences
• Look in the Blender console (Window > Toggle System Console) for any error messages

Ensure you don't have MMD Tools installed!

MMD Tools will conflict with Cats as Cats comes with it's own version of MMD Tools. If you have MMD Tools installed please remove it.

Previously installed an older version

⚠️ Important: If you've previously installed any version of Cats, please restart Blender before installing the new version to ensure a clean installation.

Upgrading from Older Versions

If you're upgrading from Cats for older Blender versions:

1. Remove the old version first (if installed as an add-on)
   • Go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons (or Extensions)
   • Find the old Cats installation
   • Click the remove button
2. Restart Blender
3. Follow the installation steps above for the new version

Next Steps

After successful installation:

• Check out the Quick Access guide to learn about basic features
• Read the Interface Guides to understand all available tools
• Visit the FAQ if you have questions

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Need Help? Join our (Discord)[ community or check the Troubleshooting page for common issues.