How do I start making pixel art?

Pick a free tool like Piskel or Pixelorama, use a small canvas (16x16 or 32x32), turn the grid on, and start placing pixels with simple shapes. Learn outlines and shading as you go.

Can I make pixel art in Procreate?

Yes. Use a small canvas, turn off stream line, pick a 1px hard pencil with no anti-aliasing, and zoom in to place pixels on the grid.

Can I make pixel art in Photoshop?

Yes. Use a small canvas, a hard round 1px brush with anti-aliasing off, and set image resampling to 'Nearest Neighbor' for crisp scaling.

The basics are easy - most people draw a first sprite in minutes. Mastering outlines, shading and animation takes practice, but it is one of the most approachable digital art styles.

How to Make Pixel Art | Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide

Q: How do I pixelate an image?

To turn a photo into pixel-style art, shrink it to a tiny size (16 to 64 px), then scale it back up with nearest-neighbor resampling so the squares stay sharp.

Step 0

Before you start

Is pixel art hard? The honest answer: the basics are easy, mastery takes time. The good news is the grid does most of the work. If you can place squares carefully, you can make pixel art. A mouse is fine - because you place individual pixels rather than drawing freehand strokes, a tablet is a nice-to-have, not a requirement.

You need three things: a pixel editor (free is fine), a small canvas, and patience. That's it.

Step 1

Pick a tool

Don't overthink this. The fastest way to start is a browser editor - Piskel or Pixilart open in a tab and let you draw in seconds. If you'd rather have a desktop app, Pixelorama and LibreSprite are free, and Aseprite (~$20 once) is the industry standard worth growing into. Full comparison here.

Prefer an app you already own? You can make pixel art in Procreate, Photoshop, Krita, GIMP, Clip Studio Paint, ibisPaint and even MS Paint - the setup is almost identical everywhere (see below).

Step 2

Set a small canvas and turn the grid on

Start with 16x16 or 32x32. Small canvases force you to focus on the silhouette, which is the most important skill in pixel art. A 64x64 canvas is great once you want detail. See the size guide.

Turn on the grid overlay so you can see each cell, and zoom in (most editors go 800-1600%). Then draw with a 1-pixel hard pencil - never the soft brush. Turn off any anti-aliasing or smoothing.

Step 3

Learn the four core techniques

1. Silhouette first

Sketch the outline with one dark color before adding any detail. A sprite that reads well as a flat black shape will read well in-game.

2. Limited palette

Pick 4-16 colors and stick to them. Start with one base color, a darker shade for shadows, a lighter one for highlights. Avoid gradients - flat colors are the pixel art look.

3. Dithering

To blend two colors or fake a gradient, alternate them in a checkerboard or dotted pattern. Used in small doses, dithering adds texture; overused, it looks noisy.

4. Outlines (optional)

Many artists outline characters in a dark color to make them pop against backgrounds. Outlines are a style choice - if you like the clean look, skip them.

What To Draw

Good first projects

•A coin or gem on a 16x16 canvas - fast, satisfying, teaches shading.
•A grass tile on 16x16 - teaches tiling and repetition.
•A character portrait on 32x32 - teaches silhouettes and palettes.
•A tree or house on 32x32 or 48x48 - good practice for bigger shapes.

Want to learn by doing? Try recreating a favorite game character's pose (not copying the asset) - redrawing the silhouette is a classic exercise.

In Your App

How to set up specific apps

Procreate: new canvas, small size; turn off "StreamLine" on a 1px "Technical Pen" or hard brush; zoom to 800%; draw on the grid.

Photoshop: small document; hard round 1px brush with anti-alias unchecked; under Image > Image Size set Resample to "Nearest Neighbor" so scaling stays crisp.

Krita / GIMP: both have pixel art tool presets and a grid view; use the 1px pencil, not the brush.

Clip Studio Paint: use the pixel / dot tools and enable the grid; works great for retro styles.

ibisPaint: free version works but shows ads; enable the grid and use a 1px pen.

MS Paint: classic choice - zoom in, turn on grid, pick the pencil tool at 1px.

Godot: has a built-in pixel art editor and crisp import settings if you'd rather not leave your engine.

Blender / Canva: possible but not recommended - use a real pixel editor instead.

Pixelating

How to pixelate an existing image

To turn a photo or illustration into pixel-style art:

Shrink the image to a tiny size - 16 to 64 pixels wide (this is the "pixelation" step).
Scale it back up with nearest-neighbor resampling so the squares stay crisp.
Manually clean up the result in a pixel editor if you want it to look intentional.

If your goal is the reverse - taking a small sprite and making it bigger without blur - that's upscaling, and our free tool does exactly that up to 32x.

Keep Going

How to keep improving

•Practice daily - even 15 minutes of sprite drawing beats a weekly marathon.
•Study palettes - sites like Lospec share curated palettes and active challenges.
•Copy to learn - redraw reference sprites for practice, but never publish or sell them.
•Learn animation - a walk cycle is the rite of passage; onion skinning makes it manageable.

Once your sprites look right, keep them looking right: scale them by whole numbers and never let smoothing touch them.

FAQ

Common questions

Is pixel art hard?

The basics are easy - most people draw a first sprite in minutes. Mastery of outlines, shading and animation takes practice, but it is one of the most approachable digital art styles.

Can I draw pixel art with a mouse?

Yes. Because you place individual pixels rather than freehand strokes, a mouse works perfectly. Many professional artists started with a mouse.

Should pixel art have outlines?

It is a style choice. Outlines make characters readable against busy backgrounds; clean styles work fine without them.

How do I pixelate an image?

Shrink it to a tiny size (16-64px), then scale back up with nearest-neighbor resampling so the squares stay sharp. Then clean it up by hand if needed.