Create Stunning Pixel Art

Pixel art is a digital art form where every pixel is placed with intention. From the early days of arcade games to modern indie titles, pixel art remains one of the most beloved and accessible art styles. This editor gives you everything you need to create pixel art directly in your browser, with no downloads or signups required.

Why Pixel Art?

Pixel art thrives on constraints. Working within a small grid forces you to think about every single pixel — its color, its position, its relationship to neighboring pixels. This discipline produces remarkably clean, readable artwork. Games like Celeste, Stardew Valley, and Hyper Light Drifter prove that pixel art can be just as visually stunning as high-resolution graphics.

Getting Started

Choose your canvas size. For game sprites and small icons, 16x16 or 32x32 is ideal. For more detailed work like character portraits or scene elements, try 64x64. Start small — you can always scale up later.

Pick a palette. One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is using too many colors. Our built-in palettes like PICO-8 (16 colors) and Game Boy (4 colors) impose healthy constraints. Limiting your palette forces creative color choices and gives your work a cohesive look.

Use layers effectively. Keep your outline on one layer and your colors on another. This lets you experiment with color schemes without redrawing your linework. Use the opacity slider to create semi-transparent effects.

Animation Tips

Start with simple animations — a bouncing ball, a flickering flame, a blinking character. Enable onion skinning to see the previous frame as a ghost overlay, which helps maintain consistent motion. Frame rates of 6-12 FPS are typical for pixel art animation. Don't over-animate; sometimes 3-4 frames is all you need for an effective animation cycle.

Export and Share

When sharing pixel art, always export at a scaled size (4x or 8x) so individual pixels are clearly visible. Social media and messaging apps tend to blur small images, so bigger is better. For animations, export as GIF at 4x or 8x scale. The editor uses nearest-neighbor scaling, which preserves the crisp pixel edges that define the art style.

Frequently Asked Questions

What grid sizes are available?

The editor supports 8x8, 16x16, 32x32, and 64x64 pixel grids. Start with 16x16 or 32x32 for game sprites and icons. Use 8x8 for tiny icons or tile maps, and 64x64 for detailed character portraits or larger artwork.

How do layers work in this pixel art editor?

You can create up to 4 layers per frame. Each layer has independent visibility and opacity controls. Draw on one layer without affecting others — perfect for separating outlines, colors, and effects. You can reorder layers and merge them when you're satisfied with the result.

Can I create animated pixel art?

Yes! Add up to 24 animation frames using the frame strip at the bottom. Use onion skinning to see the previous frame as a ghost overlay while drawing. Adjust the frame rate, preview your animation in real-time, and export the final result as an animated GIF.

What drawing tools are included?

Nine tools: Pencil for freehand drawing, Eraser to clear pixels, Fill Bucket for flood-filling areas, Line tool using Bresenham's algorithm, Rectangle (outline or filled), Circle using the midpoint algorithm, Eyedropper to pick colors from the canvas, Mirror Mode for horizontal/vertical symmetry, and Move to shift all pixels on a layer.

What color palettes come with the editor?

Seven curated palettes: NES (54 classic console colors), Game Boy (4 iconic greens), PICO-8 (16 carefully chosen colors), Pastel (16 soft tones), Neon (12 vibrant colors), Sunset (12 warm-to-cool gradients), and Monochrome (8 grayscale values). You can also enter any hex color manually.

How do I save and export my pixel art?

Export as PNG at 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, or 16x scale with nearest-neighbor upscaling to keep pixels crisp. Multi-frame projects can be exported as animated GIF. You can also copy to clipboard at 4x scale. Projects auto-save to your browser every 30 seconds, with room for up to 5 saved projects.