Materials are applied to either 2D or 3D models to alter the appearance of specific surfaces. They exist as independent entities, but are used, almost exclusively, in the creation of material applications.

Materials have the following attributes:

• Code – Every material must have a unique code to distinguish it from other materials. These codes are rarely (if ever) presented to the user.
• Description – Materials may have a brief description. This is what is displayed to the user when the material is viewed in detail. Note that if the project the product belongs to has multiple languages enabled, a description may be set for every language enabled.
• External References – Materials have one or two external references on them. These are typically references to the material files used when the material is applied, or a preview image to represent the material. CET supports GMaterials (.gm), JPEGs (.jpg), GIFs (.gif), and bitmaps (.bmp) as valid material files. Additionally, these external references may have measurements on them to describe the dimensions of the material.