Importing UV map? Reapplying UV map without having to make a new one?

[micheus]

Yeah, I think there are some misunderstanding here.

A possible solution I found is to select the object, right click on UV map to redo it and trace over the old one which shows up in the window, which wouldn't be unreasonably hard, but I'd rather find a more elegant solution in case I have the same issue later on but in a more complicated fashion.

You don't need to rework on the UV coordinates (the unwrap process) if you really didn't change the object geometry or want to produce new UV layout from scratch.

Also, when I made the UV map I clicked on "Export UV" and got a .eps file. Is it not possible to import this file so it redoes the UV map exactly as it was before?

Here you could use the method you used before (as you said, I assume you know about it) that is use the option Create Texture. This will automatically create a material with the object name followed by the termination "_auv" and this material will already get an image/texture assigned to it.

The Export UV option is intended to generate a .EPS file that can be edited and used for things like papercraft.

I messed around with the default material and I guess it overran the UV map I had made? However, opening the UV window with the object selected takes me to the correct map as I made it but I can't get it to show up on the object, it just stays with the edited default material.

Once you have unwrapped the object the UV information will remains on it's structure until you explicitly remove them:
- in body selection mode, select the object and in context menu look for Vertex Attributes option; Choosing it you get a new submenu which you can choose either Remove UV Coordinates or Remove All Attributes (this will include vertex colours).
That been said, you just need to assign a material to an object to get it applied to the object and if this object have an image/texture assigned to it then you are going to see it on the object too.


The usual workflow is:
- Unwrap/Unfold the object/faces (UV Mapping) - AutoUV Segmenting window;
- Adjust the UV layout on AutoUV window and use the Create Texture option;
- Rename the image/texture on Outline window if necessary and use the context menu "Export...";
- Paint the image/texture in a software of preference and then just use the option Refresh on Outline window for the desired image/texture to get it updated and applied to the material which will reflect in the object;

If you are going to just use an image already available, then you just need to replace the one that is assigned to the material. You do that by using the drag and drop method.
After you load the image on Wings3D, in the Outliner select the image and keeping the LMB pressed move it over the desired material and release the LMB. A menu will pop up asking for what kind of map you are going to assigne that image which usually can be the Base Color.


Let me know if you still need more information to fix your issue, but it's all here.