Create pixel art on a grid canvas -- draw, fill, zoom, and export as PNG
Read more: Free Online Pixel Art Editor
Pixel art is a form of digital art where images are created and edited at the individual pixel level. Originating in the early days of computing and video games when hardware limitations forced artists to work with small grids and limited color palettes, pixel art has grown into a beloved art form in its own right. Today it is used in indie games, web design, social media avatars, and creative projects of all kinds.
The appeal of pixel art lies in its constraints. Working within a small grid forces deliberate choices about every single pixel, leading to clean, iconic visuals that communicate clearly even at tiny sizes. The retro aesthetic resonates with nostalgia while remaining visually striking in modern contexts.
If you are new to pixel art, these tips will help you create better work from the start:
8x8 pixels -- Minimal icons, small game tiles, and favicon bases. This is the smallest practical size for recognizable shapes.
16x16 pixels -- The classic game sprite size. Favicons, small UI icons, and tile-based game graphics commonly use this dimension. It offers enough room for expressive characters and objects.
32x32 pixels -- A popular choice for game sprites, app icons, and social media profile pictures. Provides good detail while retaining the pixel art aesthetic.
64x64 pixels -- Larger portraits, detailed game assets, and social media graphics. At this size you can include shading, texture, and fine detail while still clearly reading as pixel art.
This editor is designed for creating pixel art from scratch. It starts with an empty canvas at your chosen grid size. To convert a photograph or existing image into pixel art, you would first need to resize it to a small dimension using a dedicated image resizer, then open the result here for manual refinement.
The editor stores up to 50 undo steps. Each drawing stroke (from mouse-down to mouse-up) and each fill operation counts as one step. Use Ctrl+Z to undo and Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z to redo.
The editor exports exclusively as PNG, which supports full transparency. Transparent cells in your pixel art remain transparent in the exported file. You can choose an export scale from 1x to 16x -- for example, exporting a 16x16 canvas at 8x produces a 128x128 pixel PNG, ideal for sharing or use as a game asset.
Yes. The editor automatically saves your canvas to your browser's local storage after each change. When you revisit the page, your most recent drawing is restored. Clearing the canvas or changing the grid size resets this autosave. Note that local storage is specific to your browser and device -- it does not sync across devices.
Yes. The editor supports touch input and arranges its controls vertically on smaller screens. Drawing works with finger or stylus. For detailed work, a stylus and a tablet provide the best experience, but simple pixel art is entirely doable with just a finger on a phone screen.
16x16 is the classic favicon size and a great constraint for beginners. At this size, every pixel matters -- you have 256 total pixels to work with. Start with the outline of your subject, then fill in the interior. Limit yourself to 3-4 colors maximum. Fewer colors force you to be deliberate with each pixel and create a more cohesive look.
Test your icon at actual size frequently -- it will be tiny on screen, and the only way to know if it reads well is to see it at 16x16 pixels. Common subjects that work at this scale include letters or initials, simple shapes like hearts, stars, and arrows, and abstract patterns or geometric designs. If your subject is not instantly recognizable at actual size, simplify further.
The Pixel Art Editor's 16x16 preset is perfect for this kind of work. When you are finished, export at 1x scale for the actual favicon file you will use on your website. Export at 8x or 16x to get a preview image large enough to actually see in detail -- useful for sharing your work or reviewing it before committing to the final version.
Different game engines handle pixel art scaling differently, and getting the settings right is essential for crisp visuals. In Unity, set "Pixels Per Unit" in the sprite import settings to match your sprite size (for example, 16 for 16x16 sprites) and change the texture filter mode to "Point (no filter)" instead of bilinear. This prevents Unity from smoothing your pixel edges. In Godot, use the "2D Pixel" project preset when creating a new project, and set the texture import filter to "Nearest" for each sprite asset.
For web games using the HTML Canvas API, set imageSmoothingEnabled = false on your 2D rendering context before drawing any pixel art. This ensures the browser uses nearest-neighbor interpolation when scaling your sprites.
Common sprite sizes and their uses: 8x8 for tiny elements like particles, projectiles, and small UI indicators. 16x16 for characters and items in retro-style games -- this is the sweet spot for classic NES-era aesthetics. 32x32 for more detailed characters with room for animation nuance and shading. 64x64 for large sprites, character portraits, or detailed tilesets. Export from this editor at 1x scale and let the game engine handle all upscaling to maintain clean pixel boundaries.
The number one mistake with pixel art is exporting or displaying it with the wrong scaling algorithm. Standard image scaling methods -- bilinear, bicubic, Lanczos -- are designed for photographs. They smooth edges and interpolate between colors, which turns crisp pixel boundaries into blurry mush. What you need instead is nearest-neighbor scaling, which simply makes each pixel into a larger square with no blending.
This editor exports with nearest-neighbor scaling by default at whatever scale multiplier you choose. If you are using other software, look for settings labeled "nearest neighbor," "point," or "no interpolation" in the resize or export dialog. In Photoshop, it is under Image > Image Size > Resample > Nearest Neighbor. In GIMP, it is Interpolation > None.
When sharing pixel art online, export at 4x or 8x scale minimum. A raw 16x16 image is only 16 pixels wide -- far too small to see clearly on most screens, and some platforms will automatically apply their own blurry upscaling. PNG is the best format for pixel art because it uses lossless compression, preserving every pixel exactly. Avoid JPG, which introduces compression artifacts that destroy the clean edges that define pixel art. Even at maximum JPG quality, you will see slight color bleeding around sharp pixel boundaries.
The 16x16 pixel grid is the classic NES-era sprite size and remains one of the most widely used dimensions in pixel art. With only 256 pixels to work with, every placement decision matters -- this constraint is what makes 16x16 sprites so rewarding to create. The tight grid forces creative simplicity and produces icons that are instantly readable even at tiny display sizes.
16x16 is the ideal size for favicons, small UI icons, and retro game assets. Many classic games built entire worlds from 16x16 tiles, proving that this size offers more than enough room for expressive characters, objects, and environmental details. If you are designing sprites for a tile-based game, 16x16 gives you a consistent, manageable unit that tiles cleanly.
Once you have created a 16x16 sprite, consider bringing it to life with animation. The GIF Creator tool lets you combine multiple sprite frames into an animated GIF -- draw each animation frame as a separate 16x16 image, export them, and assemble them into a looping sprite animation.
32x32 is the most popular canvas size for modern indie game pixel art. Games like Celeste and Stardew Valley use sprites at or near this dimension, and it has become the default choice for developers who want a balance between visual detail and the chunky pixel aesthetic that defines the genre. At 32x32, you have 1,024 pixels -- enough for expressive faces, detailed clothing, and smooth animation curves, without losing the deliberate, hand-placed feel of pixel art.
This size is particularly popular for game jams, where art time is limited and every hour counts. A 32x32 character sprite can be drawn in 15-30 minutes by an experienced artist, compared to hours for higher-resolution work. The constraint keeps scope manageable while still producing visually appealing results that read well on screen.
For game development, 32x32 sprites work well across a range of display resolutions. Scale them up by 2x, 4x, or 8x depending on your target screen size and they remain crisp as long as nearest-neighbor scaling is used. This editor's multi-size export feature lets you export at several scales simultaneously, so you can quickly generate assets at every resolution you need.