# 9-slice a sprite

> Divide a sprite into nine sections for 9-slicing, and add a collision shape.

Divide a sprite into nine sections so Unity can stretch or repeat the different sections, and add a collision shape.

## Create a sprite with 9 sections

Follow these steps:

1. Select the sprite texture in the **Project** window.

2. In the Editor window, set **Mesh Type** to **Full Rect**, then select **Apply**.

   If you set **Mesh Type** to **Tight** instead, 9-slicing might not work correctly, because of the way Unity generates and renders the sprite.

3. Select **Open Sprite Editor**.

4. Select the sprite you want to 9-slice.

5. Click and drag the green handles inward to define the borders of the sprite, for example the walls of a floor tile. Or enter the values in the Editor overlay, using the **L**, **R**, **T**, and **B** fields for left, right, top, and bottom.


   **A floor texture with 4 surrounding walls.:**
   ![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.0/media/images/9-slice-0.png)

   The borders define the nine areas of the sprite: the central area (**E**), the four walls (**B**, **D**, **F**, and **H**), and the four corners (**A**, **C**, **G**, and **I**).

6. Select **Apply**.

7. Drag the sprite asset from the **Project** window to the Editor view as normal.

8. In the **Inspector** window for the sprite, in the Editor component, set **Draw Mode** to **Sliced** or **Tiled** depending on the behavior you want. For more information, refer to [9-slicing modes](/engine/6000.0/manual/unity2d/sprite/9-slice/9-slicing.md#9-slicing-modes).

> **Note:**
>
> Setting **Draw Mode** to **Sliced** or **Tiled** means the Sprite Renderer component controls the Collider 2D component. As a result, you can't edit the Collider 2D component manually.

When you resize this sprite, the sections behave as follows:

* The four corners (**A**, **C**, **G** and **I**) do not change in size.
* The top and bottom walls (**B** and **H**) horizontally stretch or repeat, depending on **Draw Mode**.
* The left and right walls (**D** and **F**) vertically stretch or repeat, depending on **Draw Mode**.
* The central floor (**E**) stretches or repeats, depending on **Draw Mode**.

If you set **Draw Mode** to **Sliced**, Unity uses simple scaling if you resize the sprite using the **Transform** component of the GameObject or the transform tool in the Scene view.

## Configure tiling

If you set **Draw Mode** to **Tiled**, use the **Tile Mode** property to control how Unity repeats, or tiles, the texture. The options are:

* **Continuous**: The texture doesn't stretch. The tiles at the edges might use cropped parts of the texture.
* **Adaptive**: The center of the texture stretches until the width or height reaches the **Stretch Value**, at which point it repeats. Each tile always uses the full texture.

A value of 1 for **Stretch Value** means the sprite repeats when the sprite is twice its original size. A lower value means the sprite repeats less often.


**The floor texture with Tile Mode set to Continuous.:**
![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.0/media/images/9-slice-9.png)


**The floor texture with Tile Mode set to Adaptive, and Stretch Value set to 1.:**
![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.0/media/images/9-slice-11.png)


**The floor texture with Tile Mode set to Adaptive, and Stretch Value set to 0.5.:**
![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.0/media/images/9-slice-12.png)

## Add a collision shape

To add a collision shape to a 9-sliced sprite, follow these steps:

1. Select the sprite in the **Hierarchy** window.

2. In the **Inspector** window, select **Add Component**.

3. Select either a [Box Collider 2D](/engine/6000.0/manual/unity2d/2d-physics/collider-2d/box-collider-2d-reference.md) or [Polygon Collider 2D](/engine/6000.0/manual/unity2d/2d-physics/collider-2d/polygon-collider-2d-reference.md) component.

   Other types of Collider 2D component don't support 9-slicing.

4. Enable **Auto Tiling**. Unity now automatically updates the collider shape when the dimensions of the sprite change.

Unity can add additional edges to the collider shape when you enable **Auto Tiling**. This can have an effect on collisions.

## Additional resources

* [9-slicing](/engine/6000.0/manual/unity2d/sprite/9-slice/9-slicing.md)
* [Import a sprite or spritesheet texture](/engine/6000.0/manual/unity2d/sprite/import-images-sprites.md)
* [Using 9-Slicing for Scalable Sprites](https://learn.unity.com/course/developing-interactive-user-interfaces-toolkit-2019-2/tutorial/using-9-slicing-for-scalable-sprites) on the Unity Learn site.