Diffuse maps represent the absorption of light. Diffuse maps are what people call "textures". They are the color textures or photographic textures usually applied to 3d models. ShaderMap creates displacement maps using the light data stored inside of diffuse maps. Evenly lit diffuse maps generally create better quality maps with ShaderMap.

Displacement maps are often called "Height Maps". A displacement map is represented by grayscale colors where white is the highest point in the map and black is the lowest. Displacement maps are used to generate terrain in 3d graphics. They are also used to displace texture coordinates in shader programs (parallax mapping) to simulate bumped surfaces. ShaderMap creates displacement maps from diffuse maps and normal maps.

Normal Maps store normal vectors in the RGB channels of an image. In 3d graphics a normal vector is the unit vector perpendicular to a surface. Normals are used to compute the lighting of a surface in shader programs. By passing normal maps to the shader it can calculate lighting on the surface for every (fragment) pixel. This allows us to use normals in the map that do not represent the literal normal of the surface which gives the illusion that the surface has more detail than it actually does. ShaderMap creates normal maps from displacement maps and from existing normal maps.

Ambient Occlusion maps store occlusion shadow levels. They are grayscale images where white is no shadow and black is fully shadowed. Ambient occlusion adds realism to 3d scenes by taking into account occluders which cast shadow on other parts of the scene. Ambient occlusion map pixels are multiplied with diffuse map pixels to darken pixels shadowed by occluders. ShaderMap creates ambient occlusion maps from displacement maps.

Specular Maps store values which control the level of specular lighting applied to a model. Values range from white (1.0) to black (0.0). In a shader program the specular levels are used to determine the amount of specular lighting applied per fragment (pixel). ShaderMap creates specular maps from displacement maps.

A DUDV map is the derivative of a normal map. The DUDV (DU/DV) map provides a way to calculate refractions on 3d models (ex. Water). Refraction is simulated by warping reflection texture coordinates with DUDV values for each fragment (pixel). ShaderMap creates DUDV maps from displacement maps.