How to Make Pixel Art Using Photoshop and Free Online Tools

Part 1. What Is Pixel Art?

Pixel art is a type of digital art made by carefully placing individual pixels, the smallest parts of an image, to create pictures. It's usually made at low resolutions so the pixels are easy to see and often uses a small number of colors. This style began with early computers and video games from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, where hardware had strict limits.

Today, artists still use pixel art to capture a nostalgic, retro look. Making characters or objects in this style for games is sometimes called "spriting." Every pixel matters in pixel art, since even small changes can affect how the image looks.

Part 2. Top 3 Pixel Art Generators

You can also learn how to make pixel art from an image online yourself through an image-to-pixel converter tool. Here are the top 3 apps to do that:

1. Pixilart

Pixilart is a free online tool and community for creating and sharing pixel art. It's designed for all ages and focuses on providing a safe, friendly space for creativity. Users can make animations and pixel art online for free, and design game sprites using tools like brushes, shapes, layers, and text.

It also supports features such as animation frames with onion skinning, pixel-perfect mode, custom canvas sizes, dithering for textures, and reusable stamps. Pixilart includes a gallery for sharing artwork, getting feedback, and connecting with other artists through comments and forums, all while maintaining a moderated, family-friendly environment.

2. Piskel

If you want to learn how to make pixel art for games, Piskel is a free, open-source tool for that. It can be used online or downloaded for offline use on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The tool offers real-time animation previews and functions for frame-by-frame animation, including onion skinning and frame controls.

Moreover, Piskel offers drawing tools like pens, shapes, and erasers, as well as selection tools and customizable color palettes. It supports layers for easier editing and allows users to import or export files in formats like PNG, GIF, and sprite sheets. Extra features include mirroring, dithering, flipping, and color adjustment tools.

3. Aseprite

Aseprite is an image editor made for creating and animating 2D pixel art. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, it uses layers and frames to make animation easy and organized. The tool includes functions for pixel-perfect drawing, shading, custom brushes, symmetry, and tiled designs. Aseprite also supports animation features like onion skinning, real-time previews, and tagging.

Users can manage color palettes in different modes (RGBA, indexed, grayscale) and work with many file types, including PNG, GIF, and sprite sheets. Advanced options include tilemap support, command-line tools, Lua scripting, and features like layer groups, pressure sensitivity, and crash recovery.

Part 3. How to Make Pixel Art in Photoshop?

You can also learn how to make pixel art with Photoshop because it lets you work on a pixel-based canvas and zoom in to see each pixel clearly. Although it's not made specifically for pixel art, it offers powerful editing tools and accurate scaling. However, if you already have Photoshop or know the basics to draw pixel art in Photoshop, it can be a good option. Here's how to make pixel art in Photoshop for beginners:

• 1. Open Photoshop. Then, choose "Create new" to create a new document. Set the canvas size in pixels (e.g., 32x32) and resolution to 72 PPI. Hit "Create."

• 2. From the top menu, choose "View." Click "Show." Then, tap "Grid" to make the grid visible.

• 3. Tap "View" again. Next, select "Fit on Screen" to get a close-up view to see and edit individual pixels clearly.

• 4. Next, head to "Edit." Choose "Preferences." Tap "General." Adjust preferences.
• 5. Set "Image Interpolation" to "Nearest Neighbor (preserve hard edges)" to keep pixels sharp.

• 6. Head to "Edit." Then, choose "Preferences." Tap "Guides, Grid & Slices." Set up a grid. Adjust "Gridline Every" to 1 pixel and "Subdivisions" to 1.

• 7. Choose your tools. Employ the "Pencil Tool" (size 1 px) for placing pixels, and the "Fill Tool" for coloring areas.
• 8. Use the "Brush or Eraser" in "Pencil Mode" to keep edges crisp. Next, place pixels one by one, use a small color palette, and work on a new layer.

• 9. Resize if needed. For this, head to "Image." Then, choose "Image Size." Check "Resample," and use "Nearest Neighbor" to keep the pixel look.

• 10. Save your pixel art as a PNG file to preserve quality.

Part 4. Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making Pixel Art

There are some frequent mistakes that many users make while creating pixel art, and they can hinder the final results. Here are those pitfalls and how to avoid them:

1. Jaggies

Jaggies are blocky, stair-like edges that appear on curved or diagonal lines because of the pixel grid. They make lines look rough instead of smooth. To avoid them, keep curves consistent without random single pixels, and use anti-aliasing to soften edges by blending nearby colors. Just be careful not to overuse anti-aliasing, as it can make the image look blurry.

2. Over-Saturated and Flat Colors

Using colors that are too bright or flat can make pixel art look harsh or unattractive. To prevent this, don't oversaturate colors unless it's for a specific style. Apply basic color theory to create balanced palettes, and adjust brightness and saturation to find colors that look good together.

3. Pillow Shading

Pillow shading happens in pixel art when shading is applied evenly from the outline toward the center, making the object look flat or blurry. To fix this, choose a clear light source and shade based on where the light would naturally hit, using real-world lighting as a guide.

4. Inconsistent Outlines

Pillow shading is when shading goes evenly from the edges to the center, making the image look flat.

To avoid it, pick a light source and shade according to where the light would naturally fall.

5. Too Many Similar Colors

When colors are too similar, details can blend and lose clarity.

To prevent this, use colors with clear differences and add contrast to make each part stand out.

6. Banding

Evenly spacing colors in a gradient looks unnatural. To fix this, group more colors near the area where light shifts to shadow for a smoother, more realistic transition.

7. Scaling Issues

Improperly resizing pixel art can make it look blurry or distorted. To prevent this, scale the image by whole numbers, like 200% or 300%, so the pixels stay sharp.

8. Orphan Pixels

Stray single pixels can make pixel art look messy and unclear. To avoid this, remove unnecessary pixels and group them together to form clear shapes and details.

9. Over-Shading

Using too many colors can make pixel art look blurry and cluttered.

To avoid this, start with a small color palette and only add new shades when necessary.

10. Drawing With Lines Instead of Shapes

Drawing with lines instead of color blocks can make pixel art look less natural.

To improve, focus on shapes and silhouettes, building forms with blocks of color rather than outlines.

Bonus Tip: Pixpretty AI -- Enhance Your Pixel Art

If you want to refine your Pixel Art, you can achieve professional results with a free AI Enhancer like PixPretty AI. The tool can really make your artwork shine by modifying it and boosting its resolution in a few clicks. It can compress, convert (WeBP to PNG or JPG to PNG), and resize artwork in batches, remove, replace, or extend backgrounds.

You can also remove watermarks and change backdrop colors. Furthermore, PixPretty can retouch portraits, improve facial and body contours, and provide countless presets, shadow effects, and filters to enhance your pixel art.

Part 6. FAQs on How to Make Pixel Art

Q1. Is pixel art harder than drawing?

Pixel art isn't harder or easier than regular drawing. It just uses different skills. But it can be complicated for artists used to realistic drawing since those techniques don't always apply. However, people familiar with color, line art, or cartooning may find it easier.

Q2. What does DPI mean?

DPI, or "dots per inch," measures print resolution in pictures, where more dots per inch mean clearer, higher-quality images.

Q3. How many pixels are in 4K?

4K resolution means a display width of about 4,000 pixels. Most TVs and monitors use 3840 x 2160 pixels, or about 8.3 million pixels, also called Ultra HD (UHD). In cinema, 4K is slightly wider at 4096 x 2160 pixels, totaling about 8.8 million pixels.

Conclusion

Pixel art is a fun and nostalgic digital art style that values precision and simplicity. With tools like Pixilart, Piskel, Aseprite, or Photoshop, anyone can learn how to make pixel art with a bit of practice. However, for a cleaner and professional look, avoiding frequent mistakes like jagged edges and over-shading is a must. To take it further, employ PixPretty AI for free. It can enhance your pixel art by improving resolution, applying filters and effects, fixing colors, and removing backgrounds quickly and easily.