Pixel art is not only one of the best training grounds for getting into graphic design but is also a unique art form that made a comeback in gaming in the last few years.
Hence, if u want to learn the ropes or “earn your stripes” as a relevant 2D gaming designer, or you’re simply a 70s, 80s, and 90s kid at heart, then you might want to try out Pixelorama.
What is Pixelorama?
Created by the developers at Orama Interactive (who also have a couple of neat little 2D pixel art games under their belts), Pixelorama is a free and open-source, cross-platform sprite editor.
It makes use of the Godot Engine, and provides not only a funky pixel art-inspired GUI, but also all the necessary tools and features for creating animated pixel art, game graphics, tiles, and pretty much any sort of pixel art-related content.
Seriously competent 2D sprite editor
What’s really amazing about Pixelorama is that it provides tools and features for creating simple 2D pixel art images or wallpapers, as well as more complex pixel art animations.
It provides the ability to map different tools for each one of your mouse buttons (very good for productivity), as well as the option to add unique layers, and frames and thoroughly develop projects using its own animation timeline. Some of the tools include a pencil, an eraser, a fill bucket, and nifty color pickers.
It has custom brushes, including random brushes, and support for onion skinning, cel linking, and motion drawing (both horizontal and vertical mirrored drawing). Other nice features include a split-screen mode and mini canvas preview, unlimited undo and redo actions, as well as easy tools for scaling, cropping, flipping, rotating, and color inverting your images.
You can also import images and edit them inside Pixelorama. Another, very cool feature is the Tile Mode that provides an easy way to create patterns.
Projects can be exported as PNGs, as a single file, or as sprite sheets, as well as GIFs.
Verdict
To conclude, Pixelorama provides a lot considering it’s a free and open-source app. Besides its amazing set of features, you get a gorgeous sprite editor with a funky GUI that works on all major OSes out there.
