Your first pixel artwork: ten steps from canvas to export

1. Choose the display size first

For an icon or small prop, a 16×16 or 32×32 canvas can be a useful exercise. The important question is what the viewer must recognize. If a character needs eyes, hands and equipment, estimate how much pixel space each feature requires before drawing.

2. Draw a single-color silhouette

Use the pencil in Editor to block in the large shape. Check whether head, body and equipment remain distinguishable when they overlap. Color and tiny patterns may not solve a silhouette that is unclear from the start.

3. Give every color a role

Start with base, shadow and highlight colors. Use a palette preset as a starting point and add a color when it improves a particular area. Clear brightness differences often help more than several almost identical colors.

4. Separate editable parts into layers

Keep the face, body and equipment on separate layers when you need to revise them independently. Visibility and locking reduce accidental edits; opacity helps when tracing a sketch. Exporting a PNG is different from keeping an editable layered document.

5. Inspect the rhythm of edges

Look for smooth changes in step lengths along diagonals and curves. There is no single numeric staircase pattern for every curve. Distinguish unwanted one-pixel spikes from pixels that are necessary to describe the shape.

6. Group light and shadow into larger areas

Establish a light source and the relationship between broad surfaces before adding texture. Dithering across a tiny image can draw attention away from its form. Use it selectively when it has a clear purpose.

7. Prepare converted sources in Pixelizer

If you start from a photo or 3D model, set long side and color count in Pixelizer. Compare the detail-preserving Pixel Perfect mode, then refine significant eyes or hair tips in Editor. Enlarging an export is different from changing its underlying pixel structure.

8. Make a short animation

Duplicate a frame and try a blink or a small movement. Onion skin shows the previous frame for comparison. Decide which part should move instead of redrawing the whole body at a slightly different size each time.

9. Alternate zoom and actual size

Zoom helps you inspect connections between pixels. Actual size shows whether the expression and silhouette read well. Compare light and dark backgrounds because an outline can disappear into one or become too strong against the other.

10. Keep exports and editable work

Editor PNG saves the current frame; sheet and GIF exports use the selected animation range. Keep the source work too. For your next piece, choose one aspect that was difficult to read and improve it deliberately so you can compare progress.