Generate a bump or height map online
This online bump map generator converts an image to a height map with one scalar value per texel. White normally represents a higher area and black a lower area, though a material or shader can invert that meaning. Unlike a tangent-space normal map, the grayscale output does not directly encode surface direction. The renderer samples its changes to perturb light or displace geometry.
The inversion control makes the convention explicit. Contrast changes the available height range, and blur controls how quickly slopes change. Use modest values for porous surfaces and stronger values for masonry, carved ornament, or stylized relief.
- Preview the height output beside the source.
- Generate matching normal, AO, and roughness approximations.
- Detect flat or heavily clipped grayscale output.
- Keep processing local for private or unreleased artwork.
Bump, displacement, and parallax are not identical
Bump mapping changes lighting but not the mesh silhouette. Displacement changes vertex or tessellated surface position and therefore needs adequate geometry. Parallax methods approximate depth in the shader with their own sampling and scale constraints. The same height image can feed all three, but the safe contrast and blur values differ.
Start with a low displacement scale in the destination application. An image with clipped whites or blacks gives a renderer no information beyond those limits, which is why the quality panel reports excessive clipping before export.
Create a predictable map from color
The browser converts color to perceptual luminance before applying local controls. That is deterministic, but it cannot distinguish dark paint from a deep recess. For albedo textures, pre-cleaning baked light and color variation will often improve the result. For scene-aware depth, the AI depth option is separate and always discloses external processing.
Use the generated normal map to validate direction under a movable light. If a groove appears raised, invert height or change the green-channel convention depending on whether the source height or engine orientation is wrong.