Texture Import Settings window reference
Switch to ScriptingThe Texture Import Settings window defines how Unity imports images from your project’s Assets folder into the Unity Editor.
To access this window, select the image file in the Project windowA window that shows the contents of your Assets folder (Project tab) More info
See in Glossary. The Texture Import Settings window appears in the 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.
Note: Some of the less commonly used properties are hidden by default. Expand the Advanced section in the Inspector window to view these properties.
There are several sections on the Texture Import Settings window:
- (A) Texture Type. Select the type of Texture you want to create.
- (B) Texture Shape. Select the shape and set properties specific to that shape in this area.
- (C) Type-specific and advanced properties. Depending on what Texture Type value you select, extra properties might appear in this area.
- (D) Platform-specific overrides panel. Use the Platform-specific overrides panel to set default options and their overrides for a specific platforms.
- (E) Texture preview. You can preview the Texture and adjust its values here.
Texture Type
Use the Texture Type property to select the type of Texture you want to create from the source image file. The other properties in the Texture Import settings window change depending on the value you set.
| Property | Function |
|---|---|
| Default | This is the most common setting used for all Textures. It provides access to most of the properties for Texture importing. For more information, see the Default Texture type. |
| Normal mapA type of Bump Map texture that allows you to add surface detail such as bumps, grooves, and scratches to a model which catch the light as if they are represented by real geometry. See in Glossary |
The Normal map texture type formats the texture asset so it’s suitable for real-time normal mapping. For more information, see the Normal map texture type documentation. For more information on normal mapping in general, see Importing Textures. |
| Editor GUI and Legacy GUI | The Editor GUI and Legacy GUI texture type formats the texture asset so it’s suitable for HUD and GUI controls. For more information, see the Editor GUI and Legacy GUI texture type documentation. |
| Sprite (2D and UI) | The Sprite (2D and UI) texture type formats the texture asset so it’s suitable to use in 2D applications as a 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. For more information, see the Sprite (2D and UI) texture type documentation. |
| Cursor | The Cursor texture type formats the texture asset so it’s suitable to use as a custom mouse cursor. For more information, see the Cursor texture type documentation. |
| Cookie | The Cookie texture type formats the texture asset so it’s suitable to use as a light cookie in the Built-in Render PipelineA series of operations that take the contents of a Scene, and displays them on a screen. Unity lets you choose from pre-built render pipelines, or write your own. More info See in Glossary. For more information, see the Cookie texture type documentation. |
| LightmapA pre-rendered texture that contains the effects of light sources on static objects in the scene. Lightmaps are overlaid on top of scene geometry to create the effect of lighting. More info See in Glossary |
The Lightmap texture type formats the texture asset so it’s suitable to use as a Lightmap. This option enables encoding into a specific format (RGBM or dLDR depending on the platform) and a post-processingA process that improves product visuals by applying filters and effects before the image appears on screen. You can use post-processing effects to simulate physical camera and film properties, for example Bloom and Depth of Field. More info post processing, postprocessing, postprocess See in Glossary step on texture data (a push-pull dilation pass). For more information, see the Lightmap texture type documentation. |
| Directional Lightmap | The Directional Lightmap texture type formats the texture asset so it’s suitable to use as a directional Lightmap. For more information, see the Directional Lightmap texture type documentation. |
| Shadowmask | The Shadowmask texture type formats the texture asset so it’s suitable to use as a shadowmaskA Texture that shares the same UV layout and resolution with its corresponding lightmap. More info See in Glossary. For more information, see the Shadowmask texture type documentation. |
| Single Channel | The Single Channel texture type formats the texture asset so it only has one channel. For information on the properties available only for the this type, see the Single Channel texture type documentation. |
Texture Shape
Use the Texture Shape property to select and define the shape and structure of the Texture. There are four shape types:
- 2D is the most common setting for all Textures; it defines the image file as a 2D Texture. These are used to map Textures to 3D Meshes and GUI elements, among other Project elements.
-
Cube defines the Texture as a cubemapA collection of six square textures that can represent the reflections in an environment or the skybox drawn behind your geometry. The six squares form the faces of an imaginary cube that surrounds an object; each face represents the view along the directions of the world axes (up, down, left, right, forward and back). More info
See in Glossary. You could use this for Skyboxes or Reflection ProbesA rendering component that captures a spherical view of its surroundings in all directions, rather like a camera. The captured image is then stored as a Cubemap that can be used by objects with reflective materials. More info
See in Glossary, for example. This type is only available with the Default, Normal Map, and Single Channel Texture types. - 2D Array defines the Texture as a 2D array texture. This is commonly used as an optimization for some rendering techniques, where many textures of the same size & format are used.
- 3D defines the Texture as a 3D texture. 3D textures are used by some rendering techniques to represent volumetric data.
2D Array and 3D columns and rows
When you set the Texture Shape property to 2D Array or 3D, Unity displays the Columns and Rows properties. Use these to tell Unity how to divide the flipbook texture into cells.
| Property: | Function: |
|---|---|
| Columns | The number of columns that the source flipbook texture is divided into. |
| Rows | The number of rows that the source flipbook texture is divided into. |
Type-specific and advanced properties
Depending on which Texture Type you select, different properties can appear in the Texture Import Settings window. Some of these properties are specific to the Texture Type itself, such as Sprite Mode available with the Sprite (2D and UI) type.
Use Advanced settings to make finer adjustments to the way Unity handles the Texture. The order and availability of these settings can vary depending on the Texture Type you choose.
For information on the properties for each texture type, refer to the documentation for that texture type:
- Default
- Normal map
- Editor GUI and Legacy GUI
- Sprite (2D and UI)
- Cursor
- Cookie
- Lightmap
- Directional Lightmap
- Shadowmask
- Single Channel
Platform-specific overrides panel
To set the size and format of the imported texture, use the platform-specific overrides panel.
Default tab
The Default tab lets you set the final size and format of the imported texture on all platforms.
| Property: | Function: | |
|---|---|---|
| Max Size | Sets the maximum dimensions of the imported texture in pixelsThe smallest unit in a computer image. Pixel size depends on your screen resolution. Pixel lighting is calculated at every screen pixel. More info See in Glossary. |
|
| Resize Algorithm | Sets the algorithm Unity uses to downscale the texture, if the texture file has larger dimensions than Max Size. | |
| Mitchell | Resizes the texture using the Mitchell algorithm. This is the default. | |
| Bilinear | Resizes the texture using bilinear interpolation. This setting might preserve more small, sharp details than Mitchell. | |
| Format | Sets the number of channels and the data type of the final texture, except for platforms you override in the platform-specific override tabs. The default is Automatic, where Unity selects a value based on the number of channels in the texture, and the Compression setting. For more information, refer to the Default formats section. | |
| CompressionA method of storing data that reduces the amount of storage space it requires. See Texture Compression, Animation Compression, Audio Compression, Build Compression. See in Glossary |
Sets the compression of the final texture. Unity uses this setting to select an appropriate texture formatA file format for handling textures during real-time rendering by 3D graphics hardware, such as a graphics card or mobile device. More info See in Glossary. This setting is only available if you set Format to Automatic. For more information, refer to the Default formats section. |
|
| None | Don’t compress the texture. | |
| Low Quality | Compresses the texture using a low-quality texture format. The compressed texture might use less memory than Normal Quality. | |
| Normal Quality | Compresses the texture using a standard texture format. | |
| High Quality | Compresses the texture using a high-quality texture format. The compressed texture might use more memory than Normal Quality. | |
| Use Crunch Compression | Compresses the texture using the Crunch compression library, which helps Unity use the lowest possible amount of space. This setting is only available if you set Format to Automatic. Unity decompresses the texture to DXT or ETC format on the CPU, then uploads them to the GPU at runtime. If you enable this setting, textures might take a long time to compress, but decompression at runtime is fast. | |
| Compressor Quality | Sets the image quality of the compressed texture, if you enable Use Crunch Compression. A higher value might use more memory and increase compression time. | |
Platform-specific overrides tabs
The platform-specific override tabs let you override the settings in the Default tab for specific platforms. For more information about build platforms, refer to Build Profiles window reference.
| Property: | Function: | |
|---|---|---|
| Max Size | Sets the maximum dimensions of the imported texture in pixels. | |
| Resize Algorithm | Sets the algorithm Unity uses to downscale the texture, if the texture file has larger dimensions than Max Size. | |
| Mitchell | Resizes the texture using the Mitchell algorithm. This is the default. | |
| Bilinear | Resizes the texture using bilinear interpolation. This setting might preserve more small, sharp details than Mitchell. | |
| Format | Sets the final texture format. The available texture formats depend on the platform, and the file type of the texture. The default is selected by Unity based on the platform and the settings in the Default tab. For more information, refer to the Default formats section. | |
| Compressor quality | Sets the quality of the final texture that compression produces. This setting isn’t available for all texture formats. | |
| Fast | Compresses the texture to create a low-quality image that might use less memory than NormalThe direction perpendicular to the surface of a mesh, represented by a Vector. Unity uses normals to determine object orientation and apply shading. More info See in Glossary. |
|
| Normal | Compresses the texture using the standard compression. | |
| Best | Compresses the texture and retains a high-quality image that might use more memory than Normal. | |
| Slider | Sets the quality of the compressed texture. This slider is only available if you select a texture that uses Crunch compression. A higher value might use more memory and increase compression time. | |
| Split Alpha Channel | Allows alpha splitting for this Texture on these platforms: tvOS, iOS, and Android. For more information, refer to Notes on Android for Texture compression formats. | |
| Override ETC2 fallback | ETC2 texture decompression fallback override on Android devices that don’t support ETC2. Allows to choose which texture format to decompress the texture to on Android devices that have no ETC2 texture format support. For more information, refer to Notes on Android for Texture compression formats. |
|
Default formats
The following table lists the default Format Unity selects in the platform-specific override tab, based on the Format and Compression settings in the Default tab.
| Platform | Texture channels | Format for no compression | Format for Normal Quality compression | Format for High Quality compression | Format for Low Quality compression |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows, Linux, macOS | RGB | RGB 24 bit | RGB Compressed DXT1 | RGB(A) Compressed BC7 | RGB Compressed DXT1 |
| RGBA | RGBA 32 bit | RGBA Compressed DXT5 | RGB(A) Compressed BC7 | RGBA Compressed DXT5 | |
| HDRhigh dynamic range See in Glossary |
RGBA Half | RGB Compressed BC6H | RGB Compressed BC6H | RGB Compressed BC6H | |
|
WebGLA JavaScript API that renders 2D and 3D graphics in a web browser. The Unity Web build option allows Unity to publish content as JavaScript programs which use HTML5 technologies and the WebGL rendering API to run Unity content in a web browser. More info See in Glossary (configurable) |
RGB | RGB 24 bit | RGB Compressed DXT1 | RGB Compressed DXT1 | RGB Compressed DXT1 |
| RGBA | RGBA 32 bit | RGBA Compressed DXT5 | RGBA Compressed DXT5 | RGBA Compressed DXT5 | |
| Android (configurable) | RGB | RGB 24 bit | RGBA Compressed ASTC 6x6 block RGB Compressed ETC2 RGB Compressed ETC |
RGBA Compressed ASTC 4x4 block RGB Compressed ETC2 RGB Compressed ETC |
RGBA Compressed ASTC 8x8 block RGB Compressed ETC2 RGB Compressed ETC |
| RGBA | RGBA 32 bit | RGBA Compressed ASTC 6x6 block RGBA Compressed ETC2 |
RGBA Compressed ASTC 4x4 block RGBA Compressed ETC2 |
RGBA Compressed ASTC 8x8 block RGBA Compressed ETC2 |
|
| iOS (configurable) | RGB | RGB 24 bit | RGBA Compressed ASTC 6x6 block RGB Compressed PVRTC 4 bits |
RGBA Compressed ASTC 4x4 block RGB Compressed PVRTC 4 bits |
RGBA Compressed ASTC 8x8 block RGB Compressed PVRTC 2 bits |
| RGBA | RGBA 32 bit | RGBA Compressed ASTC 6x6 block RGBA Compressed PVRTC 4 bits |
RGBA Compressed ASTC 4x4 block RGBA Compressed PVRTC 4 bits |
RGBA Compressed ASTC 8x8 block RGBA Compressed PVRTC 2 bits |
|
| tvOS | RGB | RGB 24 bit | RGBA Compressed ASTC 6x6 block | RGBA Compressed ASTC 4x4 block | RGBA Compressed ASTC 8x8 block |
| RGBA | RGBA 32 bit | RGBA Compressed ASTC 6x6 block | RGBA Compressed ASTC 4x4 block | RGBA Compressed ASTC 8x8 block | |
| Default | RGBA | RGBA 32 bit | RGBA 16 bit | RGBA 16 bit | RGBA 16 bit |