Import sprites

Import images into your Unity project to use them as spriteA 2D graphic objects. If you are used to working in 3D, Sprites are essentially just standard textures but there are special techniques for combining and managing sprite textures for efficiency and convenience during development. More info
See in Glossary assets.

Note: If you create your project with the 2D template or set the project to 2D mode, Unity automatically imports images as the Sprite (2D and UI) Texture Type, instead of importing the image as a texture.

There are two main methods for importing images:

• Import images from the Unity main menu.
• Drag images directly into your project.

You can also change the Texture type of an already imported image to Sprite (2D and UI). For more information about the different sprite property settings, refer to the Sprite (2D and UI) import settings reference.

Prerequisites

To adjust the import settings for images imported as the Sprite (2D and UI), you must have the 2D Sprite package installed. Unity automatically installs this package when you create a 2D project.

Import an image from the main menu

To import an image in the Unity Editor, follow these steps:

1. From the main menu, select Assets > Import New Asset.
2. Select the image you want to import. Unity makes a copy of the image and places it in the Assets folder.

For more information about the use of imported assets, refer to Introduction to importing assets.

Add images directly to your project

To directly add images into your project, follow these steps:

1. Drag the image you want to import onto your Unity project’s Asset window.
2. Unity automatically creates a copy of the image in your project’s Assets folder.

Set the Texture Type of an imported image to Sprite (2D and UI)

To change the Texture type of an imported image to Sprite (2D and UI), follow these steps:

1. Select the image and go to its InspectorA Unity window that displays information about the currently selected GameObject, asset or project settings, allowing you to inspect and edit the values. More info
   See in Glossary window.
2. Set its Texture Type to Sprite (2D and UI).

Additional resources

• Texture Import Settings
• Sprite Editor