Save and export
Save your document to keep its layers editable and use the result directly in Unity. Export when you need a separate image or JSON copy.
Save a document
Press Ctrl+S. The first save asks for a location; later saves update the same file.
Save As makes a separate copy. If you close a document with changes,
you can save, discard them or cancel closing.
An untouched new document closes without a prompt. Deleting the last layer is still a change and can be saved.
A saved TIFF is ready to use as a texture. Double-click it to continue editing; if it is already open, WhimTex focuses that window.
Unity normally shows the last saved image. Enable Live Update to see edits on a model before saving. If a linked texture changes, save the document again to update its output image. File layers keep their links to source textures; keep those sources in the project.
Choose an export format
Use Export in the window header, choose Format and its settings, then Export… to choose a path. Canceling does not export; errors leave the settings available for retry. Save As always saves TIFF.
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| PNG / TGA | Color images with transparency. |
| JPEG | Images that do not need transparency; transparent areas become white. |
| EXR | HDR images. |
| PSD | Exchanging a layered image. |
| Texture2D (.asset) | A standalone Unity texture without the editable layers. |
| WhimTex JSON (.json) | Editable settings and layers, without Drawing pixels. |
JPEG offers Quality (1–100, default 95). EXR offers Precision (16-bit Half or 32-bit Float) and lossless Compression (ZIP by default, RLE, PIZ or None). JSON offers Mode and shows a warning before path selection when Drawing pixels will be omitted; a separate confirmation is still required. JSON and Unity Texture2D destinations are inside the project’s Assets folder.
EXR and Texture2D keep HDR brightness. PNG, JPEG, TGA and PSD use the ordinary color range. Exporting does not change the original document’s color range.
Preview settings such as zoom, EV and Post FX are not included in the saved or exported image.
JSON documents
Use JSON to share editable procedural layers or inspect their settings as text. It is not a Unity texture: it has no Texture Importer or Live Update. Drawing pixels are not stored.
- Open Export, select Format → WhimTex JSON, then Mode.
- If Drawing layers contain pixels, confirm their omission only if empty placeholders are acceptable. Their settings and FX remain.
- Export the copy. The source stays unchanged and is not marked saved.
| Mode | What it keeps |
|---|---|
| Full Optimized (Default) | Active settings, including their defaults. |
| Full | Also keeps settings of inactive features. |
| Compact | Active settings without default values, for a smaller file. |
Disabled layers and FX remain in every mode. Missing assets produce warnings while retaining their references. Broken FX keep their code and settings, but are skipped with warning markers until repaired.
Open or paste
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
Double-click the .json |
Open a document with its canvas, sRGB, filtering, precision and History. Ctrl+S continues saving JSON. |
| Paste its contents | Add layers without replacing the destination’s sRGB or filter, even if you accept the source canvas size. |
| Save As | Create a TIFF when you need a Unity texture or must keep Drawing pixels. |
Selected-layer JSON can also open as a document; the content format is the same. The write mode is retained on reopen/save; a one-off export in another mode does not change it.
Hand-written JSON
If a dimension is omitted, opening uses 512 for that axis; pasting keeps the destination’s value. Without either dimension, paste does not ask to resize. Standard exports write both dimensions.
Use unquoted numbers and booleans and exact enum names. Invalid types/numbers report the field path; missing assets and broken FX are warnings rather than structural errors. See the JSON format reference for field rules and limits.
What remains editable in PSD?
PSD keeps the layer names, order, groups, visibility, opacity and supported blends. Compatible color fills, gradients and outlines remain editable. Other effects become pixels, and some blend modes can look different.
Read the export notes in the Console if the result differs. Keep the original WhimTex document so you can still change all effects and their sources later.
Texture and sprite settings
TIFF is WhimTex’s main document format: one file contains the saved image and editable layers. Select the saved TIFF in Project, or click Output beside W/H, to open its standard Unity Texture Importer. Save a new document first.
- Texture Type: choose Default for a texture or Sprite (2D and UI) for sprites.
- sRGB (Color Texture): use it for color images; data maps need the appropriate linear settings.
- Alpha Is Transparency: reduces colored fringes around transparent edges without removing alpha.
- Generate Mip Maps, Filter Mode, Wrap Mode and Aniso Level: control how Unity samples the imported texture.
- Max Size, format and compression: configure the default settings, then enable platform overrides where needed.
Click Apply in the Inspector to apply import settings. They affect the texture used by Unity, not the document’s editable layers or canvas size. For HDR TIFF, WhimTex uses linear data and disables sRGB.
Output color encoding
sRGB, beside Precision, selects the TIFF output encoding: on for sRGB, off for Linear. New ordinary documents default to sRGB. Existing TIFFs use their Texture Importer’s setting; changing sRGB (Color Texture) and clicking Apply in Inspector also updates the output. Float32 output, including HDR chosen by Auto, always stays Linear.
Switching preserves the image’s lightness and colors, apart from 8-bit rounding differences. It does not change layer colors, brush colors, gradients or the working preview. Alpha is unchanged. This is an encoding conversion, not a way to reinterpret the same channel numbers as a different color space.
Changing the checkbox in WhimTex enables Save and supports Undo/Redo. The TIFF and its import settings remain unchanged until you save; discarding the document also discards the pending encoding. Repeated switching does not progressively degrade the source layers. Changing the setting through Inspector’s Apply instead updates the last saved image, without saving pending layer edits, and synchronizes the checkbox. This external reimport stops Live Update; enable it again if needed. Other source textures are not changed.
Sprite slicing
Install 2D Sprite (com.unity.2d.sprite) through Package Manager if Sprite Editor is unavailable.
- Select the saved TIFF and set Texture Type → Sprite (2D and UI).
- Choose Sprite Mode → Single for one sprite or Multiple for a sprite sheet, then Apply.
- Open Sprite Editor. Use Slice or draw rectangles, then set names, pivots and borders.
- Click Apply, expand the TIFF in Project and use its sprites.
For 9-slice, set the sprite borders and use Mesh Type → Full Rect; in a uGUI Image, choose Image Type → Sliced. After changing the canvas size, check that the sprite rectangles still fit.
Saved image precision
Precision, beside the canvas size, controls the image stored in the TIFF:
- Auto: 8 bits per channel for values within 0–1; Float32 when the result needs HDR.
- 8-bit: always 8 bits per channel; values outside 0–1 are clipped in the saved composite.
- Float32: preserves fine differences in gradients and height maps, including within 0–1; files may be larger.
This is separate from GPU compression in the Inspector. Working rendering uses half-float, so Float32 cannot restore precision already lost. Drawing layers retain their own pixel format.
Live Update and saving
Live Update shows unsaved edits on objects using the TIFF.
One document can publish live updates at a time. During the session the texture is uncompressed,
and Read/Write is enabled if needed; its original settings are restored when the session ends.
The temporary Read/Write change appears in .meta.
Saving briefly pauses Live Update and resumes it after import. Closing or switching the document, script reload and external reimport end the session. Building a Player also stops it and uses the last saved TIFF; save your edits before building and enable Live Update again afterward. If the texture cannot be restored, the build stops with an error.
Live Update supports 2D Default and Sprite imports. Crunch and other texture types update when saved. Final compression and import processing can look different from the live preview.
Protect the editable document
Keep the TIFF and its .meta together; move or rename the asset inside Unity to preserve references.
Do not resave the TIFF in another image editor: it may remove the editable layers.
See TIFF document for what the file contains.
Apply pending Shader FX code before saving. If the file changed externally, reopen it or use Save As. If some document data could not be read, a warning appears below the document toolbar as soon as it opens. Save offers Save a Copy…, Cancel, or Save Anyway. A copy keeps the original file for recovery; either save choice keeps your edits but may discard unread fields, layer types or asset references. To recover that data without loss, restore the required package or assets and reopen the original. If Unity reports an import error after a successful write, fix it and save again to retry the import.
Long operations and limits
Long saves and opens show cancellable progress. Cancelling a save keeps the previous TIFF and your current edits; allow the processing step already in progress to finish. The final file replacement and Unity import cannot be cancelled. This is not background editing: the document cannot be edited during the operation, and rendering/import may briefly block the interface.
TIFF document limits: each canvas dimension up to 16384, working half-float buffer and decoded output image each below 2 GiB, embedded pixels up to 256 MiB per texture and 1 GiB total, before file compression. For example, one 8192×8192 RGBAHalf Drawing takes 512 MiB and cannot be saved; reduce its source resolution or split the document. These are implementation limits, not a promise of smooth editing at the maximum sizes.
Recovering an interrupted save
If a crash leaves a .whimtex-tmp file, choose Tools → WhimTex → Recovery → Recover Staged TIFF…. WhimTex verifies it and offers to save a new TIFF. The original document and temporary file are kept. Incomplete or damaged writes cannot be recovered this way. The recovered copy gets a new GUID and default import settings; existing references are not reassigned to it. This is not autosave: edits made without starting Save cannot be recovered here.
If Live Update’s temporary Read/Write setting was not restored after a failure, restore the missing asset or fix its import error, then choose Tools → WhimTex → Recovery → Retry Live Update Recovery. Do not delete the recovery journal manually.
Migrate an old document
Legacy .asset documents are no longer supported. Before upgrading, open them in WhimTex 0.12.5 and use Save As to create TIFF files. Check layers, Drawing pixels and import settings, then assign the new TIFF to materials and File layers where needed. The current version reads TIFF/JSON, not old .asset documents.