Pixijs Filters

by pixijs83760c6f5346MIT346 starsListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026Repository updated 7 days ago

Use this skill when applying visual effects to PixiJS v8 containers via the filter pipeline. Covers built-in filters (AlphaFilter, BlurFilter, ColorMatrixFilter, DisplacementFilter, NoiseFilter), custom Filter.from() with GLSL/WGSL, options (resolution, padding, antialias, blendRequired), filterArea optimization, pixi-filters community package. Triggers on: filters, BlurFilter, ColorMatrixFilter, DisplacementFilter, NoiseFilter, Filter.from, GLSL filter, pixi-filters, filterArea.

AI-generated overview

Guides applying PixiJS v8 visual effects through the filter pipeline, including built-in and custom shader filters.

What it does
Explains how to attach built-in PixiJS v8 filters such as AlphaFilter, BlurFilter, ColorMatrixFilter, DisplacementFilter and NoiseFilter to containers, and how to build custom filters with Filter.from() using GLSL or WGSL fragment shaders. It also covers filter options like resolution, padding and antialias, filterArea optimization, and the pixi-filters community package. The deliverable is reference guidance and code examples rather than generated files.
When to use it
Use it when adding visual effects to PixiJS v8 display objects or containers through filters. It also helps when writing custom shader-based filters, tuning filter performance, or migrating from older PixiJS filter APIs.
Requirements
Requires a PixiJS v8 project; custom filters need GLSL or WGSL shader knowledge. The pixi-filters community package is optional for community filters. No scripts are included.

Attach visual effects by assigning one filter (or an array for chaining) to container.filters. Built-in filters cover blur, color matrix, displacement, alpha, and noise; custom filters wrap a GLSL/WGSL fragment shader via Filter.from(...).

Quick Start

ts
const sprite = new Sprite(await Assets.load("hero.png"));app.stage.addChild(sprite);
const blur = new BlurFilter({ strength: 4, quality: 4 });const colorMatrix = new ColorMatrixFilter();colorMatrix.brightness(1.2, false);
sprite.filters = [blur, colorMatrix];
const container = new Container();container.filters = [new BlurFilter({ strength: 2 })];container.filterArea = new Rectangle(0, 0, 800, 600);app.stage.addChild(container);

Related skills: pixijs-custom-rendering (shader internals, uniform types), pixijs-blend-modes (composing with filters), pixijs-performance (filter tuning, filterArea).

Core Patterns

Built-in filters

ts
import {  AlphaFilter,  BlurFilter,  ColorMatrixFilter,  DisplacementFilter,  NoiseFilter,  Assets,  Sprite,} from "pixi.js";
// Alpha (uniform transparency without per-child layering)const alpha = new AlphaFilter({ alpha: 0.5 });
// Blur — strength/quality are uniform; strengthX/strengthY split axes;// kernelSize must be odd (5, 7, 9, ... 15); repeatEdgePixels avoids transparent edgesconst blur = new BlurFilter({  strength: 4,  quality: 4,  kernelSize: 5,  repeatEdgePixels: false,});
// Color matrix — brightness is one of many presets. Others: tint, hue,// contrast, saturate, desaturate, greyscale/grayscale, blackAndWhite,// negative, sepia, technicolor, polaroid, kodachrome, browni, vintage,// colorTone, night, predator, lsd, reset. Direct access via// `colorMatrix.matrix` (20-element array) and `colorMatrix.alpha` (blend// between original and transformed).const colorMatrix = new ColorMatrixFilter();colorMatrix.brightness(1.5, false);colorMatrix.contrast(0.5, true); // multiply stacks on top of existing matrixcolorMatrix.alpha = 0.7; // blend at 70% strength
// Displacement — scale is a number or PointDataconst displacementTexture = await Assets.load("displacement_map.png");const displacementSprite = new Sprite(displacementTexture);const displacement = new DisplacementFilter({  sprite: displacementSprite,  scale: { x: 20, y: 10 },});
// Noise — seed is an arbitrary number that determines the noise pattern; same seed reproduces the same patternconst noise = new NoiseFilter({ noise: 0.5, seed: Math.random() });
sprite.filters = [blur, colorMatrix];

Custom filter with Filter.from()

The simplest way to create a custom filter. Only a fragment shader is needed; PixiJS provides a default vertex shader.

ts
import { Filter } from "pixi.js";
const filter = Filter.from({  gl: {    fragment: `            in vec2 vTextureCoord;            out vec4 finalColor;            uniform sampler2D uTexture;            uniform float uTime;
            void main() {                vec2 uv = vTextureCoord;                uv.x += sin(uv.y * 10.0 + uTime) * 0.02;                finalColor = texture(uTexture, uv);            }        `,  },  resources: {    timeUniforms: {      uTime: { value: 0, type: "f32" },    },  },});
sprite.filters = filter;
app.ticker.add((ticker) => {  filter.resources.timeUniforms.uniforms.uTime += 0.04 * ticker.deltaTime;});

For more control, construct GlProgram/GpuProgram objects directly:

ts
import { Filter, GlProgram } from "pixi.js";
const glProgram = GlProgram.from({ fragment: fragmentSrc, vertex: vertexSrc });
const filter = new Filter({  glProgram,  resources: {    timeUniforms: {      uTime: { value: 0, type: "f32" },    },  },});

Key points:

  • Use out vec4 finalColor in fragment shaders, not gl_FragColor (GLSL ES 3.0).
  • Use texture() to sample, not texture2D.
  • glProgram for WebGL, gpuProgram for WebGPU. Omitting one skips that renderer.
  • Textures go in resources, not uniforms. The filter system auto-provides uTexture (the input).
  • Access uniform values via filter.resources.{groupName}.uniforms.{name}.

Filter options

ts
import { Filter, GlProgram, Rectangle } from "pixi.js";
const filter = new Filter({  glProgram: GlProgram.from({ fragment }),  resources: {},  resolution: 0.5, // default 1. Lower = faster, blurrier. 'inherit' matches the render target resolution  padding: 10, // default 0. Extra pixels for effects that extend bounds  antialias: "off", // default 'off'. 'on' | 'off' | 'inherit'  blendMode: "normal", // default 'normal'  blendRequired: false, // default false. true if shader samples uBackTexture  clipToViewport: true, // default true});
// Optimization: set known bounds to avoid per-frame measurementcontainer.filterArea = new Rectangle(0, 0, 800, 600);
// Toggle without rebuilding the filter arrayfilter.enabled = false;
// Share one filter instance across many display objectssprite1.filters = [filter];sprite2.filters = [filter];

Community filters (pixi-filters)

ts
import { AdjustmentFilter } from "pixi-filters/adjustment";import { GlowFilter } from "pixi-filters/glow";
sprite.filters = [  new AdjustmentFilter({ brightness: 1.2, contrast: 1.1 }),  new GlowFilter({ distance: 15, outerStrength: 2 }),];

For v8, community filters use pixi-filters/{name} imports, not the old @pixi/filter-* packages.

Advanced blend modes

Advanced blend modes (color-burn, overlay, hard-light, etc.) are powered by the filter system and must be imported before use. They also require useBackBuffer: true on WebGL; see the pixijs-blend-modes skill for the full list.

ts
import "pixi.js/advanced-blend-modes";
await app.init({ useBackBuffer: true });sprite.blendMode = "color-burn";

Advanced blend modes are filter-based, so they inherit Filter.defaultOptions, whose resolution defaults to 1. On high-DPI render targets this can make a blend mode look clipped, scaled, or only partially applied. Set Filter.defaultOptions.resolution = 'inherit' before creating the affected objects to render at the render target resolution, at higher memory and runtime cost:

ts
import { Filter } from "pixi.js";import "pixi.js/advanced-blend-modes";
Filter.defaultOptions.resolution = "inherit";sprite.blendMode = "overlay";

Common Mistakes

[CRITICAL] Using old Filter constructor (vertex, fragment, uniforms)

Wrong:

ts
import { Filter } from "pixi.js";
const filter = new Filter(vertex, fragment, { uTime: 0 });

Correct:

ts
import { Filter, GlProgram } from "pixi.js";
const filter = new Filter({  glProgram: GlProgram.from({ fragment, vertex }),  resources: {    timeUniforms: { uTime: { value: 0, type: "f32" } },  },});

v8 uses an options object. Shaders must be wrapped in GlProgram.from() or GpuProgram.from(). Uniforms are grouped in resources with explicit types. Textures are resources, not uniforms.

[HIGH] Using @pixi/filter-* packages for v8

Wrong:

ts
import { AdjustmentFilter } from "@pixi/filter-adjustment";

Correct:

ts
import { AdjustmentFilter } from "pixi-filters/adjustment";

@pixi/filter-* packages are v7 only. For v8, the community filters package restructured to pixi-filters/{name}.

[HIGH] Using too many filters without containerizing

Each filter application requires a framebuffer switch, bounds measurement, and render-to-texture pass. One filter on a parent container is much cheaper than the same filter on each child.

Wrong:

ts
for (const child of container.children) {  child.filters = [new BlurFilter({ strength: 4 })];}

Correct:

ts
container.filters = [new BlurFilter({ strength: 4 })];

[HIGH] Using a blendRequired filter without useBackBuffer on WebGL

Custom filters and most advanced community filters that set blendRequired: true sample the back buffer. On WebGL that only works if the renderer was initialized with useBackBuffer: true; otherwise PixiJS logs a warning and the filter silently falls back:

ts
await app.init({ useBackBuffer: true });

WebGPU enables the back buffer unconditionally, so this only affects WebGL.

[MEDIUM] Not setting filterArea for known-size containers

Without filterArea, PixiJS measures the container bounds every frame via getGlobalBounds(), which recursively walks all children. For containers with known dimensions, set filterArea to avoid this cost:

ts
import { Rectangle } from "pixi.js";
container.filterArea = new Rectangle(0, 0, 800, 600);container.filters = [someFilter];

API Reference

Source and attribution

Source:pixijs/pixijs-skillsinskills/pixijs-filtersat commit83760c6

License: MIT

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

Report or request removal

Pixijs Filters Agent Skill | SourceWeft