This is exactly how it works with Solidworks : you place a bitmap texture on a face, and at the end of the feature tree you use the “3D texture” feature and what it does is convert the whole geometry to a mesh, and use the texture to create recesses / bumps just like bump mapping. In all cases it’s not smart to use this feature before the end of the feature tree because it would make it hard to make modifications as you’d have to work on a mesh which SW isn’t well suited for.
@Sculptingman : as for masking layer lines, works pretty well to me ! That’s two Grey Pro images and the black one is Tough with a light mate black veil of paint. The feature size of the texture is about .25mm with the middle plane on the original face of the part.
I’m sure there’s a way to make it a bit smoother still, by using a smaller feature size and another bitmap reference but I haven’t had time to experiment more.