Pixelmash - Create Pixel Art From Photos Or Sketches

Resolution-Independent Pixel Art Software
for PC and Mac

A Whole New Approach to Pixel Art

Pixelmash brings a whole new approach to pixel art by letting you paint or import high-resolution images, then non-destructively pixelize and apply other layer effects to turn it into amazing pixel art. Watch the trailer here.

Pixelmash's Resolution-Independence Lets You Do Really Cool Things...

Like create animations using layer transforms rather than having to paint every frame pixel-by-pixel.

Or make outlines, shading, and dithering easily adjustable by having them applied as layer effects.

Or easily create different resolutions and color variants of the same image.

Or convert photos or other hi-res artwork into pixel art using layer effects and the resolution slider.

Example Project Files

One of the best ways to understand how powerful Pixelmash is and how it works is to take a look at some sample project files and mess around with them. Try taking a look at these!

Download File

Make something great in Pixelmash? Tweet it to @nevercenter with #pixelmash!

Version History

Download the latest beta using any of the download links above
or by clicking here

1.0.00 RC1 (Latest)
•Added palette import/export
•Added ability to create gradients in palette
•Added new Auto Shade effect (rounded and directional)
•Exported animated gifs now include transparency
•Made nested layers collapsible
•Reduced size of exported pngs
•Changed paint brush modifiers - Shift now erases and Control/Command performs masked painting
•Added layer axis mirroring to Mirror effect
•Improved layer selection
•You can now transform layers on X/Y axes independently
•Added ability to resize project
•Added ability to reorder layer effect color lists by dragging
•You can now hold shift to constrain transforms to horizontal/vertical axes only
•Added sample files menu item
•Added ability to paste only the transform from layer copied to clipboard
•You can now select multiple palette colors at once to delete
•Improved export workflow
•Other bug fixes and workflow improvements

Beta 7
•Layers are now nestable
•Click to select layers in workspace
•Layer effects can be copied and pasted
•Added ability to export sprite sheets
•Added color palettes (saved with project files)
•Animation frames can be copied and pasted
•Added support for onion skinning with animation
•Animation frames can now additionally be based only on transforms or only on layer visibility
•New options for outline effect, including for tinted coloring based on existing layer colors
•Added new noise effect
•Added random option to dither effect patterns
•Added startup buttons in the interface to create/load files
•Many UI improvements/refinements
•Improved memory usage
•Added undo for layer reordering
•File extension changed to .pmf
•New app logo/icon

Beta 6
•Notable painting speed improvements
•Updated layer transform tool to rotate and scale around the center of the layer’s contents instead of the full layer bounds
•Increased maximum resolution to 2048 pixels
•Transitioned beta to an extended time trial (100 days), each new beta will renew time trial
•Added Mask Unmatched Colors checkbox to Restrict Color Palette II effect
•Tweaked tolerance sliders on Color Key, Remap Color, and Restrict Color Palette II effects
•Bug fixes

Beta 5
•Added animation panel for animating layer transforms and visibility
•Added export to animated gif
•Added Masked Brush tool to paint only where pixels already exist
•Added Dither effect
•Dramatically improved painting speed
•Made side panel windows resizable
•Bug fixes

Beta 4
•Added transform tool to scale, rotate, and move layers
•Added Import option to bring an image file into your current document
•Added Restrict Color Palette II effect
•Added Remap Color effect
•Added Auto Color effect
•Improved accuracy in pixel sampling

Beta 3
•Fixed transparency bug on export on Windows
•Added Smooth style option for outline effect

Beta 2
•First public release!

Roadmap

Here's our roadmap of some of the things we plan to implement next:

•Export/import layer effects presets
•Custom dithering patterns
•Straight line tools
•Many more layer effects (send us your ideas)
•What else? You tell us!

Feedback

To send us your feedback about Pixelmash, please email us at pixelmash@nevercenter.com. We'd love to hear about bug reports, feature requests, and any other ideas you have!