AuthorTopic: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?  (Read 9444 times)

Offline axLnow

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What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

on: December 17, 2014, 07:26:43 pm
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

Offline yaomon17

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #1 on: December 17, 2014, 08:02:15 pm
The free version of GraphicsGale 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 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.

Offline Ellian

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #2 on: December 17, 2014, 08:03:23 pm
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!

Offline Kasumi

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #3 on: December 17, 2014, 10:55:29 pm
I'll throw the old version of Aseprite 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.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2014, 10:58:26 pm by Kasumi »
I make actual NES games. Thus, I'm the unofficial forum dealer of too much information about the NES

Offline Cyangmou

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #4 on: December 18, 2014, 01:11:53 am
"Because the beauty of the human body is that it hasn't a single muscle which doesn't serve its purpose; that there's not a line wasted; that every detail of it fits one idea, the idea of a man and the life of a man."

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Offline axLnow

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #5 on: December 18, 2014, 05:59:34 pm
http://cyangmou.deviantart.com/art/5-Tips-for-the-Aspiring-Pixel-Artist-457660938
I'll throw the old version of Aseprite 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 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 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.

Offline TheEpicBurrito

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #6 on: December 23, 2014, 05:14:09 pm
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.
Tutorials from the makers of gimp.

I found this video extremely helpful when I first started using GIMP for pixel art.

Offline Magnumcannon

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #7 on: December 27, 2014, 02:25:20 am
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.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2014, 02:27:12 am by Magnumcannon »

Offline jazzatt

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #8 on: January 08, 2015, 08:34:33 pm
Here's a good list of pixel art software:

http://www.innocentpixel.co.uk/blog/list-of-pixel-art-software/

Hope it helps!

Offline SceneGG

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Re: What Can I Use To Make Pixel Art?

Reply #9 on: January 30, 2015, 08:33:56 pm
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.