Pixen

pixel art editor for Mac OS X

Pixen is an open source pixel art editor designed for working with low-resolution raster art, such as those 8-bit sprites found in old-school video games. With innovative features like a unique color palette system, patterns, layers, and high-zoom support, Pixen packs all the tools pixel artists need in an intuitive, Mac-native interface. Pixen also makes creating frame-by-frame animations fun and easy.

NOTE: Pixen is now a paid app in the Mac App Store. Please consider purchasing it if you would like to support future development.

Free Download (beta) Purchase in the Mac App Store Follow on Twitter Support

Animations

Create and arrange image frames in the filmstrip view to piece together animations; export animations as animated GIFs or even spritesheets!

Tools

Leverage Pixen's wide array of tools when composing pixel art: Pencil, Eraser, Eyedropper, Zoom, Rectangular Selection, Magic Wand, Lasso, Move, Fill, Line, Rectangle, and Ellipse.

Layers

Take advantage of the flexibility layers provide when working with complex pixel art.

Color Palettes

Add and organize commonly-used colors into palettes.

Patterns

Define custom patterns to use while drawing with the pencil, line, or eraser tool (instead of a single pixel).

Custom Backgrounds

Pick a flat, striped or checkered background (or even a custom image) to be drawn beneath the canvas.

Grid + Alignment Crosshair

Let the grid and the alignment crosshair guide you in placing pixels just where you want them.

Preview

While editing at high zoom levels, use the Preview window to view the canvas scaled out; play back animations in the Preview window.

Left and Right Tools

Assign a different tool to the left and right mouse button. For example: pencil on the left; eraser on the right.

Tablet Support

Pixen supports pressure-sensitive drawing tablets and maps pressure to color opacity.

Hotkeys

Customize tool hotkeys to ease the transition from other image editors.

Full Screen

Work with all your favorite tools in full screen mode on OS X Lion.