Unity Pixel Art Blurry — Sprite Import Settings That Fix It
Pixel art usually looks soft in Unity because the texture was imported with filtering and compression, or because Max Size is smaller than the sheet and Unity scaled it down. If the sprite is sharp while standing still and only smears or shimmers while it or the camera moves, that is sub-pixel movement: a scene setting, not an import setting.
Pixel art in Unity turns soft for import reasons — Filter Mode Bilinear, compression, a Max Size smaller than the sheet (Unity resizes it on import), mipmaps — or for camera reasons: a screen-to-art pixel ratio that is not a whole number, sub-pixel movement, or a Pixel Perfect Camera stretching with its default Retro AA filter. Blurry while standing still: check the texture. Only while moving or at some window sizes: check the camera. Nerulio’s Unity 6 bundle sets the texture side for you; the camera is a scene setting you add.
- Unity 6Verified· Unity 6000.5.3f1
- Godot 4Verified· Godot 4.7.2
- Phaser 3 / 4Verified· Phaser 3.90 + 4.2
- PixiJS 8Verified· PixiJS 8.21
- Aseprite JSONVerified· Phaser load.aseprite · PixiJS 8.21
- .asepriteVerified· Aseprite 1.3.18
- Spine / libGDXVerified· spine-canvas 4.2
- Starling / Sparrow XMLVerified· Phaser 4.2
- LÖVEVerified· LÖVE 11.5
- DefoldBuilt· Defold bob.jar 1.13.1
- GameMakerUNVERIFIED
- CSS spritesVerified· Chromium
- GIF / APNGDecoded· Pillow
Texture settings, Pixels Per Unit and the camera
Texture import. Filter Mode Point (no filter) looks blocky up close, Bilinear looks blurry up close and Trilinear also blurs between mipmap levels. Compression Low, Normal or High Quality stores a lossy GPU format that shifts colours in small blocks; None keeps every pixel. Max Size is the largest dimension Unity imports: a 4096 px sheet with Max Size 2048 is resized on import (Resize Algorithm Mitchell by default), which smears every pixel.
Pixels Per Unit (PPU) says how many art pixels make one world unit. With PPU 16 a 16 × 16 tile is exactly one unit and one art pixel is 1/16 = 0.0625 units. Sprites with different PPU values are drawn at different sizes, and no camera can make all of them pixel-perfect at once.
Camera. An orthographic camera shows 2 × Size units vertically; the screen height divided by the art pixels that fit in it must be a whole number, or art pixels become 4 and 5 screen pixels in turn. In URP the Pixel Perfect Camera component does this calculation from Assets Pixels Per Unit and Reference Resolution (the separate 2D Pixel Perfect package is for the Built-In Render Pipeline only).
Movement. A position of 3.0625 at PPU 16 is exactly on an art pixel; 3.03 is half-way between two. Grid Snapping (Pixel Snapping or Upscale Render Texture) aligns rendering to the pixel grid. When Crop Frame is Stretch Fill, the default Filter Mode Retro AA stretches with bilinear filtering: less shimmer, softer pixels.
- Filter Mode
- Point (no filter), Bilinear or Trilinear, set per texture.
- Pixels Per Unit
- Art pixels per world unit. One value for every sprite, usually the tile size.
- Assets Pixels Per Unit, Reference Resolution
- Pixel Perfect Camera fields: your sprites’ PPU and the resolution the art is designed for (for example 320 × 180).
- Grid Snapping
- None, Pixel Snapping (rendering aligned to the pixel grid; Transform positions unchanged) or Upscale Render Texture (render at the reference resolution, then upscale).
Example: 16 PPU art in a 320 × 180 view
Assets Pixels Per Unit = 16, Reference Resolution = 320 × 180:
visible world 320/16 × 180/16 = 20 × 11.25 units (orthographic Size = 11.25/2 = 5.625)
one art pixel 1/16 = 0.0625 units
screen pixel ratio what one art pixel becomes
1920 × 1080 1080/180 = 6 6 × 6 screen pixels
2560 × 1440 1440/180 = 8 8 × 8
1366 × 768 768/180 = 4.27 4 or 5 px if the view is simply stretchedAt 1366 × 768 no whole ratio fills the screen exactly: either the image keeps 4:1 (1280 × 720) and the rest is cropped or bordered (Crop Frame), or it is stretched and the pixels become uneven or soft. The Pixel Perfect Camera shows the ratio it uses as Current Pixel Ratio.
Which cause the Nerulio bundle removes, and which stay with you
| Cause | Where to change it | Set by the Unity 6 bundle? |
|---|---|---|
| Filter Mode Bilinear or Trilinear | Texture Import Settings › Advanced › Filter Mode | Yes: Point |
| Compression Low / Normal / High Quality | Texture Import Settings, Default tab › Compression | Yes: None (Uncompressed) in the default settings; platform override tabs you add keep their own value |
| Max Size smaller than the sheet | Default tab › Max Size | Yes: raised to the next power of two that holds the page |
| Mipmaps | Generate Mipmap | Yes: off |
| Different PPU per sprite | Pixels Per Unit | From pixelsPerUnit in the exported JSON — 100 unless you edit it |
| Pixel ratio not a whole number | Camera / Pixel Perfect Camera | No — scene setting |
| Sub-pixel movement, Retro AA softening | Pixel Perfect Camera › Grid Snapping, Filter Mode; your scripts | No |
What it does
- The bundle's NerulioSpriteImporter.cs sets every atlas page to Sprite, Multiple, Filter Mode Point and Compression Uncompressed, with mipmaps off.
- Max Size is raised to the next power of two that holds the page, so Unity never shrinks a large sheet behind your back.
- One sprite rect per frame in whole pixels, y flipped for Unity's bottom-left origin, with the pivot normalised inside the trimmed rect so frames stay aligned.
- Pixels Per Unit is a plain number in the exported JSON (pixelsPerUnit, 100 by default) that the importer applies to every page; set it to your grid before importing.
- Checked in Unity 6000.5.3f1 batch mode: sprite rects, pivots, pixels, clip keys and durations came back as exported.
How to do it
- Drop the sheet (then Apply), numbered frames, a GIF or an .aseprite file.
- Open Pack & Export and export for Unity 6.
- Open the exported .json and change pixelsPerUnit from 100 to your art's grid, for example 16.
- Copy the PNG, the JSON and the Editor folder into Assets/, then run Tools › Nerulio › Import Studio JSON.
- If the art only blurs while moving, set up the camera for pixel art (for example Unity's Pixel Perfect Camera with the same PPU).
Fix it in Unity 6 (URP 2D)
- Select all pixel-art textures in the Project window and give them one Pixels Per Unit value, for example 16.
- In the Advanced section set Filter Mode = Point (no filter); in the Default tab set Compression = None and Max Size at least the sheet’s longest side; turn Generate Mipmap off; Apply.
- Select the main camera › Add Component › Pixel Perfect Camera. Set Assets Pixels Per Unit to the same PPU and Reference Resolution to your art resolution (for example 320 × 180).
- Set Grid Snapping to Pixel Snapping (or Upscale Render Texture if rotated sprites should keep square pixels) and choose a Crop Frame; with Stretch Fill, switch Filter Mode to Point if Retro AA looks too soft.
- In the Scene view’s Grid and Snap overlay, set Grid Size to 1 ÷ PPU (0.0625 for 16) and enable grid snapping, so placed sprites land on whole art pixels.
- For art coming from Nerulio: edit
pixelsPerUnitin the.unity.json, copy it with the PNG and theEditor/folder intoAssets/and run Tools › Nerulio › Import Studio JSON — steps 1 and 2 are then done for those textures.
Check the result
- Select a texture: Filter Mode Point (no filter), Compression None, Max Size ≥ the longest side, Generate Mipmap off.
- Game view at 1920 × 1080 with a 320 × 180 reference: zoom a screenshot — every art pixel is 6 × 6.
- Pixel Perfect Camera › Current Pixel Ratio shows a whole ratio such as 6:1.
- Walk a character slowly: it moves in whole-pixel steps instead of smearing.
Unity pixel-art settings and who sets them
| Setting | Value for pixel art | Set by the bundle? |
|---|---|---|
| Texture Type, Sprite Mode | Sprite, Multiple | Yes, by the importer script |
| Filter Mode | Point (no filter) | Yes |
| Compression | None (Uncompressed) | Yes |
| Generate Mip Maps | Off | Yes |
| Max Size | At least the page's longest side | Yes, raised to the next power of two that fits |
| Pixels Per Unit | Your art grid, e.g. 16 | From pixelsPerUnit in the JSON: 100 unless you edit it |
| Sprite rects and pivots | Whole pixels, pivots from your frames | Yes, one SpriteRect per frame |
| Camera for moving pixel art | A pixel-perfect camera with the same PPU | No: a scene setting the bundle leaves alone |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | How to check | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blurry even when nothing moves | Filter Mode Bilinear or Trilinear | Texture Inspector › Advanced › Filter Mode | Point (no filter), Apply |
| Blocky colour smudges on outlines and gradients | Lossy Compression (Normal Quality) | Default tab › Compression, and every platform override tab | None — in each override you use as well |
| A big sheet looks soft and slightly shrunk | Max Size is smaller than the sheet, so Unity resized it on import | Compare the image size with Max Size | Raise Max Size to at least the longest side |
| Uneven pixels: some lines 4 px thick, some 5 | Screen height ÷ art pixels is not whole, or a Transform Scale is fractional | Current Pixel Ratio; the sprite’s Transform Scale | Pixel Perfect Camera with the right Reference Resolution; keep Scale at 1 |
| Sharp at rest, shimmers while walking | Sprite or camera between art pixels | Transform Position changes by less than 1/PPU per step | Grid Snapping = Pixel Snapping; move the camera target in steps of 1/PPU |
| Pixel Perfect Camera added, but everything is a little soft | Crop Frame Stretch Fill with the default Filter Mode Retro AA (bilinear) | Pixel Perfect Camera › Filter Mode | Filter Mode = Point (more shimmer), or a Crop Frame that keeps a whole ratio |
| Tiles and characters have unexpected sizes | Different Pixels Per Unit per texture, or the bundle’s default 100 | Pixels Per Unit on each texture | One value everywhere, and the same in Assets Pixels Per Unit |
Other ways to do it
| Option | When it is the better choice |
|---|---|
| Change the import settings by hand (multi-select in the Project window) | A few PNGs drawn elsewhere: four fields per texture, no extra script in the project. |
| Aseprite to Unity bundle | You start from an .aseprite file and also want one animation clip per tag with each frame’s own duration. |
| The separate 2D Pixel Perfect package | Your project uses the Built-In Render Pipeline; Unity documents that package for Built-In only. |
Engine exports and how each was checked
"Verified" means the exported files were loaded by the real engine or tool on real CC0 assets and the result was compared with the source. Anything that was not loaded is labelled as such.
| Target | Files | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Godot 4 | .tres SpriteFrames · .tscn AnimatedSprite2D · .png.import | Verified Godot 4.7.2Loaded by Godot; every animation frame drawn and compared with the source file. The scene uses Nearest filtering; rotation is never used. |
| Unity 6 | .unity.json · Editor/NerulioSpriteImporter.cs · AnimationClip | Verified Unity 6000.5.3f1Batch mode: sprite rects, pivots, pixels, clip keys and durations checked. |
| Phaser 3 / 4 | atlas JSON (multiatlas) · .anims.json | Verified Phaser 3.90 + 4.2Frames and animations drawn by both versions. |
| PixiJS 8 | spritesheet JSON · animations · anchor · meta.scale | Verified PixiJS 8.21Rotated and multi-page atlases included. |
| Aseprite JSON | hash / array · frameTags · slices | Verified Phaser load.aseprite · PixiJS 8.21Tags keep their direction and repeat count. |
| .aseprite | layers · tags · durations · slices | Verified Aseprite 1.3.18Opened and rendered by the Aseprite command line. |
| Spine / libGDX | .atlas | Verified spine-canvas 4.2Every region drawn by the Spine runtime, rotated and trimmed; libGDX itself was not run. |
| Starling / Sparrow XML | XML per page | Verified Phaser 4.2Phaser 3.90 draws trimmed XML frames wrongly (its own bug); the "Sparrow XML (Phaser 3)" preset turns trim off and passes in 3.90 and 4.2. |
| LÖVE | Lua quads · nerulio_atlas.lua · main.lua | Verified LÖVE 11.5Every frame drawn and every animation stepped through the shipped helper. |
| Defold | .atlas · .tilesource | Built Defold bob.jar 1.13.1Built by Defold's command-line builder; the built texture's UVs were read back. |
| GameMaker | spr_<name>_stripN.png · gamemaker.json | UNVERIFIEDNot loaded in GameMaker (no headless GameMaker). The strips are cut the way its strip importer cuts them. |
| CSS sprites | .css · preview .html | Verified ChromiumEvery class drawn from the shipped stylesheet. |
| GIF / APNG | one file per animation | Decoded PillowEvery frame and delay decoded again after export; APNG is exact. |
Evidence
Exports: 49 runs in the real engines on real CC0 assets, 47 pass — the 2 failures are Phaser 3.90's trimmed-XML bug, which the Phaser 3 preset avoids. Packer head-to-head on 5 real frame sets (CodeAndWeb free web packer, GAPTools, free-tex-packer): smallest sheet on all 5 with rotation allowed, 4 of 5 without; every frame restored pixel-exact.
Limits
- The bundle does not add or configure a camera: Pixel Perfect Camera, Crop Frame and Grid Snapping are yours.
- Pixels Per Unit is not set in the Studio: edit
pixelsPerUnitin the exported JSON before importing (100 otherwise). - The camera steps come from the Unity 6.0 URP manual; our Unity runs checked the import, not the camera.
- Polygon (mesh) packing is not offered: none of the verified engines draws a mesh atlas from exported data.
- GameMaker strips are UNVERIFIED in GameMaker itself.
- Scale variants (@0.5x–@4x) use nearest-neighbour only.
- Trimmed Starling XML is drawn wrongly by Phaser 3.90; use the "Sparrow XML (Phaser 3)" preset there.
Versions and sources
Unity 6000.5.3f1 imported the Nerulio bundle in batch mode in our verification runs: sprite rects, pivots, pixels, clip keys and durations came back as exported, with the importer’s Point / uncompressed / no-mipmap settings. The Pixel Perfect Camera, snapping and import-setting descriptions follow the Unity 6.0 and 6.6 manuals.
Official documentation used
Questions
My sprite is sharp at rest but smears while walking. Why?
The sprite or the camera sits between screen pixels, so the art is sampled at fractional positions. A pixel-perfect camera setup (such as Unity's Pixel Perfect Camera, set to the same Pixels Per Unit) snaps it. The bundle does not touch your cameras or scenes.
What Pixels Per Unit should I use?
The number of art pixels that should make one Unity unit, usually your tile size (16 or 32). Use the same value for every sprite so they line up on the grid. The export writes 100 unless you change pixelsPerUnit in the JSON.
Why do some pixels look doubled and others not?
Uneven pixel widths come from drawing at a non-integer scale (window size, camera size or object scale), not from the texture. Keep those at whole multiples of your art.
Do I still have to fix the texture settings by hand?
No. The importer sets Point, Uncompressed, no mipmaps and Max Size on each page it imports. Its comments say where to change them if a sheet is not pixel art.
Is it free, and do I need an account?
Everything on these pages is free and works without an account. There is no watermark and no export that is held back.
Are my sprites uploaded?
No. The Studio decodes, packs and exports in this browser tab. Projects are autosaved in the browser (IndexedDB) and can be saved as a .nerulio file.
Does it need Aseprite or an engine plugin installed?
No. .aseprite files are read and written in the browser, and each engine bundle carries what that engine needs (for Godot, the import settings and scene; for Unity and the Godot TileSet, a small editor script).