Pixelation
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: axLnow on December 17, 2014, 07:26:43 pm
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Hello my name is Lenny and this is my first time on the forums! At the minute I am just designing pixel art for the fun of it but me and my friend eventually want to work on making a pixel art game. For my program at the minute I am using gimp. It is a fairly good program I just feel unsorted using it and it feels to cluttered etc.. So if there is any other FREE programs that are awesome for making pixel art it would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Lenny
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The free version of GraphicsGale (http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/index.html) is one of the most efficient you can get for free. The shareware is 17$ but I would say it is definitely worth the investment if you plan on making the game fully in the long run. Other than that, you can use Grafx2 (http://pulkomandy.tk/projects/GrafX2) which is also nice and simple or PS CS2 which is probably just as cluttered but very powerful with tons of tools like batch conversions.
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http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/
I personally use GraphicsGale, and the free version is more than enough to make whatever you need in pixel art.
It should be much more easy to use than Gimp, too.
Good luck!
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I'll throw the old version of Aseprite (http://www.aseprite.org/older-versions/) into the mix. The latest versions are paid software, but 0.9.5 is extremely usable and unlike the free version of Graphics Gale, it has GIF support.
Edit: Forgot my standard warning. Aseprite scales pixels to 200% instead of 100% by default. To fix this, you have to change a single value in the .ini file found in the program's folder.
Close the program (if it's open) and change
ScreenScale = 2
to
ScreenScale = 1
Then relaunch the program.
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http://cyangmou.deviantart.com/art/5-Tips-for-the-Aspiring-Pixel-Artist-457660938 (http://cyangmou.deviantart.com/art/5-Tips-for-the-Aspiring-Pixel-Artist-457660938)
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http://cyangmou.deviantart.com/art/5-Tips-for-the-Aspiring-Pixel-Artist-457660938 (http://cyangmou.deviantart.com/art/5-Tips-for-the-Aspiring-Pixel-Artist-457660938)
I'll throw the old version of Aseprite (http://www.aseprite.org/older-versions/) into the mix. The latest versions are paid software, but 0.9.5 is extremely usable and unlike the free version of Graphics Gale, it has GIF support.
Edit: Forgot my standard warning. Aseprite scales pixels to 200% instead of 100% by default. To fix this, you have to change a single value in the .ini file found in the program's folder.
Close the program (if it's open) and change
ScreenScale = 2
to
ScreenScale = 1
Then relaunch the program.
http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/
I personally use GraphicsGale, and the free version is more than enough to make whatever you need in pixel art.
It should be much more easy to use than Gimp, too.
Good luck!
The free version of GraphicsGale (http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/index.html) is one of the most efficient you can get for free. The shareware is 17$ but I would say it is definitely worth the investment if you plan on making the game fully in the long run. Other than that, you can use Grafx2 (http://pulkomandy.tk/projects/GrafX2) which is also nice and simple or PS CS2 which is probably just as cluttered but very powerful with tons of tools like batch conversions.
Thank You All For Sharing With Me These Programs Look Great! If I May Ask Is There Any Good Pixel Art Tutorials For Your Chosen Program, If So Could You Link Please. Thanks, Lenny.
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I like using the GIMP for pixel art. I know other programs may be more efficient and easier to understand but the GIMP has so many tutorials that you can usually figure out everything you need for pixel art within an hour or two. It is also free and very versatile.
Here is the official GIMP website. (http://www.gimp.org/)
Tutorials from the makers of gimp. (http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/)
I found this video extremely helpful when I first started using GIMP for pixel art.
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Paint.net is a pretty solid program for pixel arting. It has custom palette management, transparency, layers and you can open multiple files. It's very simple to use.
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Here's a good list of pixel art software:
http://www.innocentpixel.co.uk/blog/list-of-pixel-art-software/
Hope it helps!
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Pyxel Editor. Forever. And ever.
Paid version even gives you a recommended choice of shading/lighting/hue colors on each color you choose. And animation is far easier.
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I too am new to pixel art...appreciate all the information above...I have used Photoshop for years for graphics and photography. I will definitely check out these others as well.
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^^ you can also use photoshop if you like. most people will say that photoshop is a bit too scary and overfeatured for pixelart, but if you are already confortable with it, then there's no reason why you can't use it. you just have to set the tools right.
some others may be better for some things, like managing a palette or tile work, but, as long as you can place a pixel of the color your want, where you want it, you are good to go.
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You know, no one said it, but is not like Paint is a bad program, y do use it and i find it myself pretty usefull (Actually i tried to use graphicsgale sometimes, but it feels wierd to not have two colors at the same time...)
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Unless it's changed significantly since XP then it most certainly is. No indexed editing, no non-modal colour picking, no wheel zoom. I don't understand how anyone could willingly work under such conditions.