Making a Texture2D readable in Unity via code

Question

I have some AssetBundles that I want to convert to .png image files.

They are Texture2D assets, but the problem is as they are not Read Enable, when I try to convert them to PNG with a

var _bytes = _texture2d.EncodeToPNG();

command, I get the following error message:

Texture 'name of a texture' is not readable, the texture memory can not be accessed from scripts. You can make the texture readable in the Texture Import Settings.

I really can't access the Texture Import Settings, as they come from asset bundles and everything is made with code.

Somebody has a workaround for this?

Thanks

Could you make it readable with [this](http://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/TextureImporter-isReadable.html)? — S.C., Aug 07 '14 at 07:12
Thanks Aldour, but I don't think so. Textureimporter works when you import a texture in the editor, but the images have been already converted to Texture2D objects and stored as AssetBundles, so they don't go through the Textureimporter anymore. — DavidGuaita, Aug 07 '14 at 07:21

score 22 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 10 '15 at 06:11

22

Here's a working solution:

public static void SetTextureImporterFormat( Texture2D texture, bool isReadable)
{
    if ( null == texture ) return;

    string assetPath = AssetDatabase.GetAssetPath( texture );
    var tImporter = AssetImporter.GetAtPath( assetPath ) as TextureImporter;
    if ( tImporter != null )
    {
        tImporter.textureType = TextureImporterType.Advanced;

        tImporter.isReadable = isReadable;

        AssetDatabase.ImportAsset( assetPath );
        AssetDatabase.Refresh();
    }
}

answered Mar 10 '15 at 06:11

Ilya Suzdalnitski

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As this solution relies on AssetDatabase (which is in the UnityEditor namespace) this can only be used in the editor. It fails when building, though (The type or namespace name `UnityEditor' could not be found.) – Schnodderbalken Aug 24 '15 at 21:15
2

sorry but this will only work in the Editor – Programmer Nov 04 '17 at 01:47
@Schnodderbalken this script has to be placed in "Editor" directory. – Ilya Suzdalnitski Nov 04 '17 at 20:27
One potential problem, after running this code the gameobject reference to this texture will throw a nullreferenceexception. – Summer Sun Jun 24 '20 at 12:08

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 07 '14 at 07:28

7

Select texture in project, open inspector window, set texture type to "Advanced", toggle "Read and write enabled".

answered Aug 07 '14 at 07:28

game development germ

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I'm afraid that's not possible, the textures are not in the project at all, I only have Assetbundles that have been created from Texture2D objects, so I can't make any edition in the Editor. The utility I'm making loads those Assetbundles in order to export again the images, so we can edit them in Photoshop. – DavidGuaita Aug 07 '14 at 07:47
1

You still can render unreadable texture to RenderTexture and then read it. – game development germ Aug 07 '14 at 08:10
Good point, game development germ. I will try that workaround, thanks. – DavidGuaita Aug 10 '14 at 07:32
This is not a valid case for textures made with `new Texture2D(...)`. How can I read such textures, or I should work with Color[] before setting the pixels? – Петър Петров Jun 09 '15 at 15:24
Textures created in runtime must be readable/writeable. – game development germ Jun 09 '15 at 16:04
I am struggling with this as well. How would you render an unreadable texture to RenderTexture? – Waltari Jan 16 '16 at 14:37
@DavidGuaita What if the texture is loaded from the server using `DownloadHandlerTexture.GetContent` – serge Sep 27 '16 at 11:41
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I think the question is "Making a Texture2D readable in Unity via code" not "via Unity Inspector" – luizcarlosfx Jun 13 '17 at 17:56

Making a Texture2D readable in Unity via code

2 Answers2