---
title: "TextMesh Pro: Working with Material Presets"
content_type: tutorial
url: "https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/textmesh-pro-working-with-material-presets?language=en"
language: en
difficulty: beginner
duration_minutes: 20
unity_version:
  - "2019.4"
supported_unity_versions:
  - name: "2019.4"
    url: "https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/textmesh-pro-working-with-material-presets.md?language=en&version=2019.4"
last_updated: "2026-08-04T14:23:32.000Z"
---

# TextMesh Pro: Working with Material Presets

Learn how TextMesh Pro materials and shaders shape the visual style of text beyond basic font settings.

Much like other GameObjects, text created with TextMesh Pro can have multiple Materials applied to it. These Materials are powered behind the scenes by a Shader and determine the look of your text in ways that ordinary font weights can’t.

## 1. TextMesh Pro: Working with Material Presets

_This tutorial has been verified using Unity 2019.4 LTS and TextMeshPro v2.1.1_

Much like other GameObjects, text created with TextMesh Pro can have multiple Materials applied to it. These Materials are powered behind the scenes by a Shader and determine the look of your text in ways that ordinary font weights can’t.

In this tutorial, we will apply a new Material preset to a Font Asset.

![](https://connect-mediagw.unity.com/h1/20201104/learn/images/61205296-7a2a-42df-8f04-da3009b899b1_image5.png)

## 2. Material Presets

Materials allow for different variations of the same Font Asset without requiring modifications to the existing font atlas.

A Material should be assigned to every new Font Asset with the naming convention _\[Font Name\]\_\[Type\]._ We can navigate to the Material in the project Hierarchy, or navigate to our Font Asset’s Material via the following steps:

1\. Click the Font Asset and navigate to **Atlas & Material**, then double-click on **Material** (**Figure 01**).

![Figure 01: A look at our Font Asset Material in the Inspector](https://connect-mediagw.unity.com/h1/20201104/learn/images/27cbeed3-08bb-432b-96ee-8c5f32b87d49_image4.jpg)

Notice how, by default, this Material uses the TextMeshPro/Mobile/Distance Field, which is a lightweight Shader for use in mobile environments or other scenarios where optimization is key.

We will work with the Shader for desktop and console applications to explore the available options.

Change the Shader to **TextMeshPro/Distance Field**. This is the Shader we will work with (**Figure 02**).


![Figure 02: Switching the Shader on our Font Asset Material](https://connect-mediagw.unity.com/h1/20201104/learn/images/5e4eb016-eedb-4863-a3c1-83ef510e515a_image2.jpg)

The Shader has five main components:

**Face:** Defines the color of the font and whether a Texture is applied to its face

**Outline:** Applies a similar treatment to the font’s outlines and edges

**Underlay:** Applies a drop shadow to the font

**Lighting:** Allows the font to interact with light

**Glow:** Provides an outer or inner glow to the font

2\. Duplicate the selected Material and rename it something unique. This is the version we will modify if we need to revert to our default Material. Alternatively, navigate to the Material within the Inspector, right-click on the cog (⚙), and select **Create Material Preset**.

3\. Click on the Font Asset in either the project Hierarchy or Inspector, click the three dot icon in the upper right of the Inspector, and switch to **Debug** (**Figure 03**).


![Figure 03: Switching the Inspector to Debug mode](https://connect-mediagw.unity.com/h1/20201104/learn/images/31ada6a0-21a9-4cda-a7a4-90fbf41e3751_image3.jpg)

4\. Now that the **Material** slot is not grayed out, you can drag and drop our new unique **Material** into the **Material** slot.

## 3. Applying Meteorologist-Style Effects to Weather Conditions 

For a challenge, try creating several Material presets to represent current weather conditions — much like those on a meteorologist forecast.


![](https://connect-mediagw.unity.com/h1/20201104/learn/images/2ad6c5b2-cfac-4718-beae-bec84daee577_image7.png)

![](https://connect-mediagw.unity.com/h1/20201104/learn/images/431d591b-8716-4db8-81e6-ca4ebf3931d2_image1.png)

![](https://connect-mediagw.unity.com/h1/20201104/learn/images/5168a106-a375-49d4-954e-94cd6006c0ad_image6.png)

## 4. Conclusion

We have learned how to change the **Shader** used by the **Material** on our **Font Asset**.  We also have learned how to create a **Material Preset** so we can experiment without changing our default **Material**. By altering the shader components on our new **Material Preset** we can easily create new and unique styles and effects for use in our projects.