# Why is my sprite color darkening in game?

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-is-my-sprite-color-darkening-in-game/460140>\
**Category:** Asset Creation\
**Tags:** dark, sprites, unreal-engine, color, Post-Process, question\
**Created:** [January 3, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-is-my-sprite-color-darkening-in-game/460140 "2020-01-03T03:27:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_cbb34cc3](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_cbb34cc3](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_cbb34cc3)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-is-my-sprite-color-darkening-in-game/460140/1 "2020-01-03T03:27:06Z")

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I am using the Paper2D preset.

The sprites in my game are visibly darkened when in-game versus in the editor. They are using the DefaultSpriteMaterial already in Unreal Engine. I have every Post Process setting switched off in my Pawn’s camera, but haven’t messed around with the Project Settings much.

**In-editor (correct color):**

![294703-e2c903b767aa358e5e730930912bef28.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/1/f/81fae7b6105c4c54fa67a5f3c070a5c0dddad46a.png)

**In-game (darkened):**

![294704-3c842c79777ff6434826aa5a765ea257.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/1/0/b/10b61ad9bf3745c058a9f3273d93c65e78e0fc73.png)

How can I remove this darkening so that the color is exactly the color of its source texture when in-game?

Thanks.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_cbb34cc3](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_cbb34cc3](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_cbb34cc3)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-is-my-sprite-color-darkening-in-game/460140/2 "2020-01-03T18:05:21Z")

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I figured out some sort of solution;

![294754-05288e24ebd5d2a77986f8e2a958e3be.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/5/8/f/58f3de670c231336fb87e5676d40132404226378.png)

I added this to the BeginPlay event and the colors are correct now. I do not know if this has any drawbacks, however.

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**Author:** ![gsteigert](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@gsteigert](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/gsteigert)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-is-my-sprite-color-darkening-in-game/460140/3 "2024-04-14T21:22:18Z")

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Posting this for other people trying to fix this issue using a better approach, as setting the viewmode to unlit is not really an option for shipping builds.

In your camera’s post process section:

1. Set `Lens > Exposure > Min EV100` to `1.0`.
2. Set `Lens > Exposure > Max EV100` to `1.0`.
3. Set `Color Grading > Misc > Expand Gamut` to `0.0`.
4. Set `Color Grading > Misc > Tone Curve Amount` to `0.0`.
5. Set `Color Grading > Misc > Scene Color Tint` to `H = 0, S = 0, V = 0.75`.

1 and 2 disable auto-exposure, also setting a fixed brightness.  
3 and 4 disable tone-mapping.  
5 decreases the saturation.

After inspecting color values, it was the closest I could get to the source texture.

Also, do not forget to apply Paper2D settings to your textures (right click \> Sprite Actions \> Apply Paper2D Texture Settings), and set the material to one of the “unlit” options (eg: `MaskedUnlitSpriteMaterial`).