Sets up, diagnoses, and fixes pixel perfect 2D rendering in Unity projects. Use when working on any retro-style or pixel art 2D game.

Set up, diagnose, and fix pixel perfect 2D rendering in Unity projects. ⚠️ There Are Two Completely Separate Implementations Pixel perfect rendering in Unity is not one system — it is two separate, incompatible implementations, one per render pipeline. Always detect the pipeline before writing or diagnosing any code. URP Built in Component UnityEngine.Rendering.Universal.PixelPerfectCamera UnityEngine.U2D.PixelPerfectCamera Package Built into URP — no extra install com.unity.2d.pixel perfect v6.0.0+ API style Enums ( gridSnapping , cropFrame ) Booleans ( pixelSnapping , upscaleRT , cropFrameX/Y ) Do not install com.unity.2d.pixel perfect in a URP project. → Always call DetectPipeline() first ( references/pipeline detection.cs ), then branch your setup, diagnostics, and fixes based on the result. When NOT to use this skill HD 2D or high resolution 2D games — pixel snapping and point filtering will make smooth art look wrong UI only scenes — use Canvas Scaler instead HDRP projects — Pixel Perfect Camera is not supported Critical Reminders ⚠️ Detect the render pipeline first — URP and Built in use different Pixel Perfect Camera components that are not interchangeable. ⚠️ Filter Mode = Point is the 1 fix — bilinear filtering is Unity's default and is almost always the cause of blurry sprites. ⚠️ Anti Aliasing must be disabled — in Quality Settings and on the camera. AA actively blurs pixel edges. Key Principles 1. Pipeline Detection & Camera Component Selection See the two path comparison table at the top of this file. Assembly name note: the standalone Built in package installs into a Runtime/ folder, but the asmdef "name" field is Unity.2D.PixelPerfect — no Runtime suffix. HDRP is unsupported — see the HDRP fallback section under Common Issues. → Code: references/pipeline detection.cs — DetectPipeline() , GetPixelPerfectCameraType() , and migration mismatch check. 2. Diagnostic First Approach Always diagnose before making changes. Report findings, then fix only what is broken. 3. Work in the correct scope Default to scene scope. Scan project wide only when the user explicitly requests it. Diagnostic Checklist Sprite import settings: [ ] Filter Mode = Point (no filter) on all in scope sprites [ ] Mip Maps = disabled [ ] Compression = None / Uncompressed [ ] PPU consistent across all sprites in scene [ ] Sprite pivots set to Custom / Pixels mode — a center pivot on an odd dimension sprite (e.g. 15×15) lands at 7.5px, causing 0.5px misalignment → Code: references/sprite settings.cs — GetImporter() and FixSpriteImportSettings() . Editor snap settings: [ ] Grid Size = 1 / assetsPPU on all axes (e.g. PPU 16 → 0.0625, PPU 100 → 0.01) [ ] Grid Snapping enabled in the Grid and Snap overlay [ ] To snap existing GameObjects: select them → Align Selected → All Axes Camera setup: [ ] Camera projection = Orthographic [ ] Pixel Perfect Camera component present and correct type for pipeline [ ] allowHDR , allowMSAA , allowDynamicResolution all false [ ] Scene view shows two green bounding boxes on the camera gizmo — solid = visible area, dotted = reference resolution → Code: references/camera setup urp.cs — full URP camera + PP Camera configuration. → Code: references/camera setup builtin.cs — Built in standalone configuration. Project quality settings: [ ] Anti Aliasing = 0 in Quality Settings [ ] Anisotropic Filtering = Disabled API Reference Full property/method tables, GridSnapping and CropFrame enum values, and recommended configurations: → references/api reference.md — read this when writing or reviewing camera setup code. Quick enum summary: GridSnapping : None · PixelSnapping (standard) · UpscaleRenderTexture (authentic low res; incompatible with post processing and UI text) CropFrame : None · Pillarbox · Letterbox · Windowbox (safest default) · StretchFill Reference Resolution Choose before building any assets. Never change after asset production starts. Reference resolution 1080p 1440p 4K 320 × 180 6× 8× 12× 480 × 270 4× ~5.3× 8× 640 × 360 3× 4× 6× 320×180 is the safest general choice. For screens with no integer fit (e.g. 1366×768), use cropFrame = Windowbox to add black bars rather than stretching to a fractional scale. Migration & Compatibility URP project with the Built in standalone component Symptom : DetectPipeline() returns URP but camera has UnityEngine.U2D.PixelPerfectCamera . Symptoms are subtle because the standalone component has ENABLE URP conditional code. Fix : 1. Remove com.unity.2d.pixel perfect from Package Manager 2. Remove UnityEngine.U2D.PixelPerfectCamera from each camera 3. Add UnityEngine.Rendering.Universal.PixelPerfectCamera 4. Reconfigure — booleans ( pixelSnapping , upscaleRT , cropFrameX/Y ) become enums ( gridSnapping , cropFrame ) → Detection code: references/pipeline detection.cs (bottom of file). Old URP namespace (pre Unity 2022 / URP pre 13.x) Symptom : Compiler errors referencing UnityEngine.Experimental.Rendering.Universal . Fix : Replace using UnityEngine.Experimental.Rendering.Universal; with using UnityEngine.Rendering.Universal; . Update any assembly qualified type strings. The [MovedFrom] attribute handles serialization automatically — components on GameObjects survive the upgrade. Common Issues & Solutions Blurry sprites Fix : Set Filter Mode to Point on all in scope sprites, disable Mip Maps, disable AA in Quality Settings. → Code: references/sprite settings.cs Tilemap gaps between tiles Work through in order — workarounds like negative cell gap or PPU = 31.99 break when the camera moves. Check Fix 1 Sprite Atlas with Tight Packing off, Padding ≥ 4, Sprite Packer Mode enabled? Enable Sprite Packer Mode in Editor settings; on the atlas set Padding ≥ 4 and turn Tight Packing off 2 Mipmaps disabled on tileset textures and atlas? Disable Generate Mip Maps 3 AA = 0, MSAA off on camera? Disable AA globally 4 Compression = None? RGBA 32 bit uncompressed 5 All tile sprites have even pixel dimensions? Odd dimensions cause 0.5px grid offset 6 PPU = tile pixel width? (16×16 → PPU 16) PPU mismatch leaves physical gaps 7 Gaps only during camera movement after all above pass? Use PP Camera pixel snapping; do not use cellGap = 0.01f Cinemachine conflict Cause : Both Cinemachine and the Pixel Perfect Camera write to orthographic size every frame. Fix : Add CinemachinePixelPerfect extension via the Add Extension dropdown on each Virtual Camera. Do not add it via AddComponent in code. Known limitations : Camera blends between virtual cameras are not pixel perfect during transitions UpscaleRenderTexture reduces valid pixel perfect ortho sizes, which may cause framing to deviate Target Group + Framing Transposer causes visible choppiness (no fix available) Post processing blur with upscaleRT Cause : Post processing runs after the PP Camera upscales the render texture. Simple fix : Disable upscaleRT . Post processing then runs at native screen resolution. Advanced fix (Unity 6 URP) : Inject a ScriptableRendererFeature2D at RenderPassEvent2D.AfterRenderingPostProcessing . Use 2D specific base classes — ScriptableRendererFeature (3D base class) is silently ignored in a URP 2D renderer. UI text blurry with upscaleRT Status : Known Unity bug, declined to fix (still present Unity 6, 2025). Root causes : (A) Canvas renders into the low res buffer and is upscaled with the scene. (B) TMP's SDF gradient threshold is miscalibrated at low reference resolutions. Fixes in order of reliability : 1. Screen Space Overlay on Canvas — bypasses the camera, renders at native resolution 2. Dedicated UI camera with no PP Camera component, Screen Space Camera mode 3. Unity 6 only: Font Material → Debug Settings → Sharpness = 1 (mitigates B, not A) Physics / render desync (micro stutter) Cause : Physics runs at a fixed timestep; interpolated positions produce fractional values that snap to different pixels each frame. Fix : Enable Rigidbody2D.interpolation = RigidbodyInterpolation2D.Interpolate on physics driven sprites Set Time.fixedDeltaTime = 1f / 60f to match target frame rate Keep camera tracking in LateUpdate , not FixedUpdate Non integer scaling / pixel decimation Cause : Screen resolution is not a clean integer multiple of the reference resolution. Fix : Choose a reference resolution from the table above. Use cropFrame = Windowbox when no integer fit exists. Missing URP 2D Renderer Fix : 1. Assets Create Rendering URP 2D Renderer Data 2. Assign it to your URP Asset under Renderer List 3. Requires com.unity.render pipelines.universal 12.0+ HDRP fallback Pixel Perfect Camera is unsupported in HDRP. Built in / Unity 5.x : Use RenderTexture + Graphics.Blit with FilterMode.Point . Unity 6 URP : Use ScriptableRendererFeature2D + ScriptableRenderPass2D injected at RenderPassEvent2D.AfterRendering with AddRasterRenderPass . Note: OnRenderImage and Graphics.Blit are incompatible with Unity 6's render graph.

2d-pixel-perfect