Extract text from Graphics shaders (SHADER)
To convert SHADER Shaders to another format, you need Unity or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Shader Program Source File" file type, you need software like Unity or a similar tool.
A .shader file is primarily used to store graphics shader source code or compiled shader properties, most commonly for the Unity game engine. It defines how 3D models and 2D sprites are rendered, instructing the GPU on lighting, texturing, and shadow calculations. Other systems like the Paradox Clausewitz engine, Godot, VirtualDJ, and id Tech 3 also rely on .shader files. They generally contain HLSL, GLSL, or Cg code wrapped in engine-specific syntax, such as Unity's ShaderLab.
You can typically open and edit source-based .shader files using code editors like Visual Studio Code or Notepad++. However, if the file is a compiled shader bytecode (such as DirectX or SPIR-V), it will look like scrambled characters in a text editor and requires specialized engine tools or decompilers to read.
The main disadvantage of .shader files is their severe engine dependency. A Unity .shader file will not work directly in Unreal Engine, Godot, or standard 3D modeling tools. They are tightly coupled to the specific rendering pipeline of the software that created them. Non-developers also struggle to preview these files, as they are pure code and cannot be viewed in standard image viewers or web browsers.
To overcome these compatibility limits, you must extract or convert the code. For easy sharing, code reviews, and web viewing, convert your .shader file to TXT or MD. If you are porting rendering logic to a different engine or a raw OpenGL/DirectX application, convert the core logic to standard GLSL or HLSL formats. For code archiving and documentation, PDF is the safest choice to preserve formatting.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SHADER file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted GLSL, PNG, ZIP, META, ASSETS, RESS, TEXTURE and RGB files.
If you want to convert SHADER file to TEXTURE, GLSL, RGB, OBJ, FBX, DAE, 3DS, MAX, BLEND, MA, MB or C4D, you can use Unity or similar software from the "Graphics Shader Source Code" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DWG, DAE, X3D, IGES, WRL, JT, SKP, 3DS, 3DM, OBJ, STEP or FBX files to SHADER, try Unity or another comparable tool in the "Graphics Shader Source Code" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our SHADER converter.