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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pixelate.tomblack.ca/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Normal maps let a 2D sprite react to lights while still using a flat sprite sheet. In URP, Pixelate exports the normal map and links it to the diffuse sprite sheet for you.

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Enable normal-map output

1

Open the profile

Select the capture manager and use its local profile settings, or open a saved PixelateProfile asset if you are sharing settings across capture managers.
2

Enable normal map

Check the Normal Map section.
3

Set lighting steps

Use Lighting Steps to control how many lighting bands Pixelate uses. The default is 2.
4

Set material pipeline

Choose URP unless your project must stay on Built-in Render Pipeline. Pixelate’s demo content is built for URP, and URP supports Sprite-Lit 2D lighting with normal maps out of the box.
5

Preview

In Preview, switch draw mode between Lit, Unlit, and Normal to check the output.

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Output files

When Normal Map is enabled, Pixelate writes a second PNG next to the diffuse sprite sheet. After import, Pixelate assigns that normal-map PNG as the diffuse sprite sheet’s _NormalMap secondary texture, so URP 2D lights can find it automatically.
CaptureNormal-map file
Static image{TargetName}_N.png
Animation clip{TargetName}_{ClipName}_N.png
For animation capture, each Source Clip gets its own normal-map atlas and Pixelate links it to that clip’s diffuse atlas.

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Use normal maps with URP

URP is the recommended workflow because Pixelate’s demo content is built for it and URP supports Sprite-Lit 2D lighting with normal maps out of the box.
1

Use a 2D Renderer

Make sure your URP asset uses a 2D Renderer.
2

Set Light Render Textures

Open the 2D Renderer asset, expand Light Render Textures, and set Render Scale to 1.
3

Use a Sprite-Lit material

Use Universal Render Pipeline/2D/Sprite-Lit-Default on the Sprite Renderer that displays the exported sprites.
4

Enable normal maps on the light

On each Light2D that should affect the sprite, turn on Normal Maps in the Light 2D component.
5

Test with the demo setup

Open Assets/Pixelate/DEMO/Scenes/Visualize.unity for a working 2D lighting example, or use the render assets in Assets/Pixelate/DEMO/URP for a pre-configured URP setup.
You do not need to manually assign the generated _N.png to the diffuse sprite sheet in URP. Pixelate links it as a secondary texture during export.

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Built-in fallback

Use Built-in only when the project cannot use URP. The included ToonLitSprite shader is available for fallback projects, but URP is the smoother path for 2D lighting and normal-map sprites.
If lighting appears reversed after flipping a character, rotate the character 180 degrees on the Y axis instead of using negative X scale.