About Pixel Art Maker
Create pixel art on a grid canvas. Color palette, fill, eraser, PNG export. Free, no sign-up required.
How to use
- Click Templates in the header to start from a preset — character (16 or 32 pixels), vehicle, tile, enemy, NES (8 or 16 pixels), Game Boy (8 pixels), SNES 32, or blank custom size. Templates load matching guides and palette presets so the canvas is ready for the sprite type you have in mind.
- Pick a tool from the left rail: Pencil (P) for single pixels, Eraser (E) for transparency, Fill (F) for flood fill, Picker (I) to grab the color under your cursor, Line (L) for straight strokes, Rectangle (R) for boxes, Marquee (M) to select-and-move regions.
- Choose a brush size — 1, 2, 3, or 5 pixels — and a symmetry mode: none, horizontal mirror, vertical mirror, or 4-way mirror. Symmetry doubles or quadruples every stroke automatically, so building a symmetric face or spaceship takes half the strokes.
- Switch palette presets via the dropdown in the Palette panel: Default (workshop palette), PICO-8 (16-color fantasy console), NES (54-color hardware palette), Game Boy (4-shade green). Each preset locks your art into a recognizable retro aesthetic.
- Use the Tile Preview toggle to see your sprite as a 3-by-3 repeat — essential when drawing seamless tiles for a tilemap. Edges that look fine in isolation often clash when tiled; the live preview catches every seam before you commit.
- Hit Save to Library (Ctrl+S) to push the sprite into your 3D Assets dashboard, or Download PNG (header button) to grab a transparent PNG immediately. Saved sprites can be reopened later from any browser signed into the same account.
- Slice multi-frame sprites into individual assets using the Slice flow — split a wide canvas into a row of frames, each saved as its own library entry. Useful for walk cycles, idle animations, or batch-importing a full tile row into Unity, Godot, or Aseprite.
Examples
Draw a custom 16-bit boss sprite for your game jam
Load the SNES 32-by-32 template, pick the Default palette, switch on horizontal symmetry, and draw the right half of the boss. Symmetry mirrors every stroke to the left, halving your work. Export the PNG, drop it into your Phaser or Godot jam build, and you have a hero sprite that no asset pack can match.
Build a complete Game Boy tile set
Load the Game Boy 8-by-8 template, switch the palette to GB four-shade green, and draw a tile. Use Tile Preview to verify the seamless edge, save to Library, then repeat for floor, wall, door, item, and enemy tiles. Export the set as PNGs and you have a complete Game Boy aesthetic kit for your retro jam project.
Frequently asked questions
Are the PICO-8, NES, and Game Boy palettes officially licensed?
The palettes are the publicly documented hardware color sets — recreating those palettes is universal practice in pixel art. Sprites you draw using them are entirely your own creative work and there is no licensing string attached. Sell your sprites in commercial games, mobile apps, or print without paying anyone. ToolFluency claims no rights to anything you draw.
What file format does it export?
PNG with transparency at native resolution (whatever grid size you chose — 8-by-8, 16-by-16, 32-by-32, or custom). The native size is what every game engine wants — Unity, Godot, GameMaker, Phaser, Aseprite, all consume the PNG directly. No conversion required. The Slice flow can also batch-export multi-frame sprite strips as individual PNGs for animation imports.
Does it support animation frames?
Yes via the Slice flow — draw multiple poses in a wide canvas (for example, four 16-pixel frames of a walk cycle laid out horizontally), then Slice splits the canvas into separate library entries you can export individually or as a sprite sheet. For longer animations, draw each frame in a fresh sprite and combine them externally with Sprite Sheet Generator (see Related Tools).
Will the sprites import cleanly into Unity, Godot, or Aseprite?
Yes. The PNG export carries an alpha channel and uses crisp pixel boundaries with no anti-aliasing. In Unity set Filter Mode to Point (no filter) and Compression to None to preserve every pixel; in Godot uncheck the filter flag on the texture; Aseprite imports PNGs directly. The 8, 16, and 32 pixel native sizes line up with the most common engine sprite pitches.
Can I save a work-in-progress and come back tomorrow?
Yes. Save to Library (Ctrl+S) pushes the full pixel buffer into your 3D Assets dashboard along with the canvas size, palette, and tool state. Reopen from My Assets and the sprite loads with full undo history available for the session. The library lives across browsers and devices when you are signed in, so you can start a sprite at home and finish it on a laptop later.
How does Pixel Art Maker differ from Avatar Mixer or Character Builder?
Avatar Mixer and Character Builder are mix-and-match assemblers — you pick from prebuilt parts. Pixel Art Maker is a full-featured drawing app where you control every pixel: pencil, fill, line, rectangle, marquee, undo/redo. Use the mixers when you need fast variety; use Pixel Art Maker when you need a specific sprite that no preset combo will produce, or when the project demands custom art.
Part of ToolFluency’s library of free online tools for Creative. No account needed, no data leaves your device.