Do you want to start making your own pixel art? If you want to begin creating your own pixel perfect artwork you’ll need the right pixel art tools to get started. We have a list of the best pixel art tools for creating pixel art for graphics as well as games.
What is Pixel Art?
Pixel art is a type of digital art form where 2D images are created using squares called pixels. This type of art was originally created on older video games consoles where the graphics were constrained to 8-bit and 16-bit devices. Because of the lower resolution, artists designed innovative ways of placing pixels on a canvas to portray all kinds of 2D graphics. Even though new devices have higher resolutions and color support, pixel art is still a very popular art style used frequently in video games because of how easy it is to create and it’s unique nostalgic style.
What Pixel Art Tools are available?
A pixel art tool is specific type of program or software used to help digital artists create 2D pixel art commonly known as sprites. These pixel tools can be used for different tasks such as creating pixel art and exporting it to the right scale for various projects.
Check out our list of pixel art tools below:
Piskel
Piskel is a free online pixel art tool for creating animated sprites & pixel art. Like other pixel programs, Piskel was designed specifically for drawing pixel art. Because of this it’s super easy to pickup and all the tools you run into only have to do with pixel art. One of the most helpful tools you’ll run into is the animation editor, with live preview and animated GIF exports. Most other softwares don’t have this, so that is definitely a plus. And since the editor is online, you can save your files to the web and access them anywhere you have access to a browser. Because of this you can make pixel art on any platform.
Supported Platforms: Browser Based (macOS, Windows, Linux)
Price (Desktop): Free
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Download Piskel
Want to learn how to make pixel art using Piskel? View our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a photo editing software by Adobe that has become a favorite pixel art tool amongst digital artists for creating pixel art. Because of its extensive tool set, it has become a very popular pixel art editor for making sprites and exporting them to game engines. It comes with all the common tools you would expect to make pixel art with including the tools to delete, edit, add and paint pixels. It also ships with virtually every export option including JPG and PNG and offers resizing tools so that you can use your pixel art in video games. Because the software is a subscription, you will automatically get free updates that include new tools and bug fixes.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS
Price: Starts at $9.99/Month
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Download Adobe Photoshop
Interested in learning how to make pixel art with Photoshop? Check out our free Photoshop Pixel Art Tutorials!
Aseprite
Aseprite is a dedicated pixel art tool and pixel editing software developed by Igara Studio for making pixel art images and animated sprites. It supports a variety of tools for creating and editing pixel art images. Aseprite does have some tools to make pixel art with that you won’t find anywhere else like a built in timeline tool for creating animated sprites and onion skinning. Some other helpful tools include functionality to create repeating tiles for platformer games. It also comes with a unique shading tool to help give your pixel art a 3D look and feel. Because of these tools, Aseprite has become a very attractive pixel art software for artists and developers alike.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS
Price: Free Trial (no save), $19.99
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Download Aseprite
Interested in learning how to make pixel art use Aseprite? Try out our free Aseprite Pixel Art Tutorials!
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor actively developed by Adobe for macOS, Windows and Linux that is becoming that has slowly become a common pixel art tool amongst artists. Even though this software was originally designed to make vector art graphics, Illustrator has started to be used more and more to make pixel art with some minor modifications. Specifically, pixel artists love the ability to scale pixel art up and down with out loosing the sharp edges. Once artists make their pixel art they can take advantage of the tons of tools Illustrator comes pre-built with. Illustrator is also video game friendly with multiple export formats to meet the needs for a variety of projects.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS
Price: Starts at $9.99/month
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Download Adobe Illustrator
Want to learn how to make pixel art with Illustrator? View our free Illustrator Pixel Art Tutorials!
Mega Voxels
Mega Voxels is a free pixel art tool to create pixel art. With this special pixel art editor you can design, color and export pixel art pictures. Unlike other tools however, Mega Voxels also allows you to make pixel art using a 3D version of pixels, known as voxels. It only takes a few minutes to learn and the tools such as pencil, paint and eraser are similar to other popular pixel art software such as Aseprite and Piskel. Whether you prefer to work with standard 2D pixel art or you want to experiment with 3D pixel art, you can switch between the pixel editor and voxel editor with ease. Mega Voxels is currently available for a variety of phones, tablets and computers.
Supported Platforms: iOS, Android, macOS (Silicon), ChromeOS
Price: Free w/ In-App Purchases
Get the Pixel Art Tool on Android: Mega Voxels on Google Play
Get the Pixel Art Tool on iOS: Mega Voxels on the App Store
Interested in learning how to make pixel art in 3D with Mega Voxels? Check out our free Mega Voxels Pixel Art Tutorials!
Pro Motion
Pro Motion is a pixel art tool for drawing and animating pixel art created by Cosmigo for creating pixel art images. Like some of the other tools we mentioned, Pro Motion was created only for pixel art so all the tools and features are related to pixel art. This makes it much simpler for artists and developers who don’t want to deal with tools that don’t help make pixel art. Having said that, Pro Motion does comes with some amazing tools including animation layers, tile map engine and tile drawing tools.
Supported Platforms: Windows
Price: Free (Limited Features), $39.00 (Full Features)
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Download Pro Motion
Ready to learn how to make pixel art with Pro Motion? Check out our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
Krita
Krita is an open source painting program by the Krita Foundation and with some minor tweaks a very productive pixel art tool. Similar to other photo editors, Krita also ships with a wide selection of tools. Because of this Krita has become a notable option for making and exporting pixel art sprites. In addition to the common tools you would expect to make pixel art, Krita also comes with the tools to animate pixel art sprites making it a suitable choice for artists who need to export their art to a game engine like Game Maker or Unity. Best of all, Krita is an open source software which means bug fixes and feature requests are added in regularly.
Supported Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Download Krita
Want to learn how to make pixel art using Krita? View our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
Pixilart
Pixilart is a web-based pixel art tool that you can use to make pixel art graphics. Like to other pixel editors, Pixilart also has a wide selection of tools. The main strong point is that this editor can be used on virtually any platform via the browser. Users can make pixel art without having to install any additional software on their computer.
Supported Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Use Pixilart
Want to learn how to make pixel art using Pixilart? View our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
GIMP
GIMP is a cross-platform image editing software for macOS, Windows and Linux with many features you might find in other popular pixel art tools. Since it is free it has become one of the community’s favorite software for making pixel art. GIMP is a good option for creating pixel art because it includes the necessary tools for adding, erasing and coloring pixels. And best of all it free to use for personal and commercial projects. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, GIMP provides you with advanced tools so you can make pixel art for any project.
Supported Platforms: iOS, macOS (coming soon)
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Download GIMP
Want to learn how to make pixel art with GIMP? View our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
Paint.NET
Paint.NET is another open source image and photo editing software for PCs that run on the Windows operating system that has steadily become a powerful pixel art tool for pixel artists of all levels. Paint.NET has a ton of tools that come with the software out of the box, making it a great option for pixel art design. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. Because of its open-source nature it fosters a active and growing online community that provides help, tutorials, and plugins. Best of all its free to download and use so even beginner artists can make pixel art in no time.
Supported Platforms: Windows
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Tool: Download Paint.NET
Ready to learn how to make pixel art with Paint.NET? Check out our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
