Normal Map

Filter

Generates a tangent-space normal map from an image, converting height information to surface normals for 3D lighting.

Normal Map converts a height map (grayscale image or alpha channel) into a tangent-space normal map suitable for 3D rendering. The RGB channels encode surface orientation: red = X-axis tilt, green = Y-axis tilt, blue = Z-axis (facing up).

Source selects whether to derive height from the image’s Luminance (brightness) or Alpha channel. Strength controls the intensity of the surface relief. An optional pre-blur smooths the height map before computing normals, which reduces noise artifacts in the output.

Parameters

Normal Map

SourceChoice

Default: Luminance

Height source; Luminance = image brightness, Alpha = transparency channel

• LuminanceDerive surface height from the image brightness — bright areas are high, dark areas are low.
• AlphaDerive surface height from the alpha channel — useful for height stored in transparency.

StrengthNumber

Default: 2.0 Range: 0.1–50

Intensity of surface relief; higher = more exaggerated normals

BlurNumber

Default: 0 Range: 0–10

Pre-blur the height map before computing normals; smooths noise/detail

Invert YToggle

Default: false

Flip green (Y) channel; Off = OpenGL, On = DirectX convention

Usage Tips

• Use Luminance source for grayscale height maps; Alpha source for height stored in the transparency channel.
• Higher strength values exaggerate the surface relief. Start around 2.0 and adjust visually.
• Enable Invert Y to switch between OpenGL (default) and DirectX normal map conventions.
• Add a small blur (0.5–1.0) to smooth noisy source images before normal computation.

Related Nodes

• Emboss
• Noise
• Edge Detect