> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pixelatestudio.tomblack.ca/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Effects overview
> What effects do, the order they run in, how they depend on each other, and how to change them per asset.
Effects turn a plain capture of your model into pixel art: they limit the colors, add shading, clean up stray pixels, dither, and draw lines. This page explains how effects fit together so you can build a look on purpose instead of by trial and error.
## What an effect is
Effects live in a [Style Profile](/guides/style-profiles). Every Pixelate Asset that links the profile uses its effects, so one change restyles every character, prop and particle effect that shares the profile.
Each effect works on the finished frame at the sprite's final size, after the source is captured. Effects never change your models, materials or scenes, and the Preview, Export and **Save GIF** all run the same effects, so what you see in the Preview is what you export.
## Built-in effects
| Effect | What it does |
| - | - |
| [Lighting](/effects/lighting) | Shades the sprite with a global and a directional light, unlocks the **Lit** and **Normal** preview modes, and exports normal maps for 2D lights. |
| [Color Adjustments](/effects/color-adjustments) | Changes exposure, contrast, saturation and hue before the palette is applied. |
| [Color Palette](/effects/color-palette) | Limits the sprite to a palette built from the source (**Auto**) or one you choose (**Custom**). |
| [Pixel Cleanup](/effects/pixel-cleanup) | Removes stray single pixels and fills one-pixel holes. |
| [Dithering](/effects/dithering) | Blends between neighboring palette colors with ordered patterns. |
| [Lines](/effects/lines) | Draws an outline, an inline, and interior lines from colors, normals and depth. |
| [Palette Swap](/effects/palette-swap) | Recolors each palette slot with the same slot of another palette, for skins and color cycling. |
Add an effect with **Add Effect** at the bottom of the effect list. The menu is searchable and grouped by category: **Lighting**, **Color** (Color Adjustments, Color Palette, Palette Swap) and **Stylization** (Pixel Cleanup, Dithering, Lines). A profile can hold each built-in effect once.
Every profile also has **Profile Settings** (Pixelated and Pixels Per Unit). It is always first, and you can't remove or turn it off. See [Style Profiles](/guides/style-profiles).
## Processing order
Effects always run in a fixed order. You never arrange them, and the Inspector lists them in that order so you can read the stack from top to bottom:
**Profile Settings, Lighting, Color Adjustments, Color Palette, Pixel Cleanup, Dithering, Lines, Palette Swap.**
What actually runs depends on whether the frame is lit:
Used by the **Unlit** Preview mode, and by Export when Lighting's **Export Lit Sprites** is off (the default).
1. Color Adjustments
2. Color Palette
3. Pixel Cleanup
4. Dithering
5. Lines
6. Palette Swap
Lighting doesn't run on unlit frames.
Used by the **Lit** Preview mode, and by Export when Lighting's **Export Lit Sprites** is on. Lighting's **Palette Affects Lighting** setting decides where Color Palette runs.
**Palette Affects Lighting on:**
1. Color Adjustments
2. Lighting
3. Color Palette (snaps the lit colors, so the sprite uses only palette colors)
4. Pixel Cleanup, Dithering, Lines, Palette Swap
**Palette Affects Lighting off:**
1. Color Adjustments
2. Color Palette (snaps the base colors)
3. Lighting (can add in-between shades)
4. Pixel Cleanup, Dithering, Lines, Palette Swap
With Palette Affects Lighting off, Pixel Cleanup, Dithering and Palette Swap still need palette colors to work with. When one of them is in the profile, the lit colors are snapped to the palette again just before it, and the Lighting effect shows a note saying so.
The **Normal** Preview mode and exported normal maps show the captured surface directions only. No color effect runs on them. Lighting's **Normal Map Steps** decides how many shading levels the normal map has.
Color Adjustments always runs before Lighting, even though Lighting is listed first. That way your color grade changes the base colors, not the light.
## How effects depend on each other
Some effects need another effect in the same profile, or change how another one behaves.
| Effect | Depends on | What happens without it |
| - | - | - |
| Dithering | An enabled Color Palette | Error. Export is blocked until you add one. |
| Palette Swap | An enabled Color Palette | Warning. Palette Swap is skipped, and Export still runs. |
| Lines, **Darkest Palette Color** fill | An enabled Color Palette | Warning. Those lines are drawn black. |
| Lines, **Indexed** option | An enabled Color Palette | The option is hidden, and lines use your colors exactly. |
| Lighting, **Palette Affects Lighting** | A Color Palette in the profile | The option is hidden. |
| Lines, **Normal Line** and **Depth Line** | A model or prefab source | Warning on particle system assets. These lines are skipped. |
Effects also feed each other:
* **Color Adjustments → Color Palette.** An Auto palette is built from the adjusted colors. When you change Color Adjustments, an Auto palette you haven't edited regenerates itself once you stop dragging. An edited Auto palette shows **Auto palette is stale** instead, so your edits are never lost without asking.
* **Lighting → Color Palette.** **Palette Affects Lighting** decides whether the palette snaps the lit result or the base colors. See [Lighting](/effects/lighting).
* **Color Palette → Pixel Cleanup, Dithering, Lines.** Pixel Cleanup copies neighboring pixels, so it never adds colors. Dithering mixes neighboring palette colors. Lines with **Indexed** on snap line colors to the palette.
* **Lines → Palette Swap.** Palette Swap runs last, so lines drawn in palette colors are recolored too.
## Change an effect for one asset
The profile owns the effect list. **Add Effect**, **Remove** and **Reset** change the profile, even when you use them from a Pixelate Asset's Inspector, so every asset that uses the profile follows. A note under **Add Effect** names the profile and how many Pixelate Assets use it.
Everything else in a Pixelate Asset's Inspector can be changed for that asset only, with overrides:
* **Turn an effect on or off** with the checkbox in its header. In a Pixelate Asset's Inspector this is an override: it applies to this asset only, and a blue bar at the left of the header marks it. To follow the profile again, choose **Revert On/Off Override** in the effect's **⋮** menu.
* **Change a value:** tick the checkbox to the left of a field to give this asset its own value. Untick it to follow the profile again. **ALL** and **NONE** above an effect's fields tick or untick every value override of that effect.
* **Apply Overrides** copies the asset's on/off choices and values into the profile. **Revert Overrides** drops them all.
Overrides are stored on the Pixelate Asset, so the profile stays the shared source of truth. An Auto Color Palette is always per asset, whether or not you override anything. For the details, see [Style Profiles and overrides](/guides/style-profiles#override-a-value-for-one-asset).
## Start from a sample look
The nine sample Style Profiles in `_Samples/Style Profiles` are good starting points. Select a sample Pixelate Asset, link a profile, and read its effect stack in the Inspector. [Samples](/samples#style-profiles) lists the effects and key settings of each one.
## Write your own
Programmers can add custom effects that appear in **Add Effect** next to the built-in ones. See [Extension authoring](/reference/extensions).
## Next steps
The biggest single step toward pixel art.
Shading, baked light and normal maps.
Share a look and change single values per asset.
What the warnings mean and how to fix them.
This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.