Sprites are little pictures used to create animations for 2D games and applications. They are typically organized in a grid known as a sprite sheet, which comprises several frames of the same figure or item in various poses or states. The animation is made by playing these frames in order.

For making animation sprites, there are numerous tools available, ranging from simple internet editors to professional applications. In this article, we will show some of the most popular and simple-to-use tools for quickly creating your own animation sprites.

What are Pixel Art and Sprites?

Pixel Art

Pixel art is a form of digital art in which color is applied to each pixel to create an image. The term Pixel Art was published for the first time in 1982, although the concept existed for at least ten years prior.

Pixel art is stored in lossless data compression file formats, such as GIF and PNG. JPEG format is not recommended because its lossy compression leaves images with anomalies.

There are two primary types of pixel art: isometric and non-isometric. Even though the image is still a 2D geometry, isometric pixel art appears to be three-dimensional.

Sprites

Sprites are animations that can be used in your mobile game, such as characters or objects. They can be created from any image source imaginable and animated in a variety of methods. They have a lengthy history in the game development industry and are one of the most commonly used visual components in mobile game development.

Sprite animation is created by displaying a different portion of a sprite sheet at various times. There is a wide variety of conceivable animations for sprites, but the preceding example demonstrates their most fundamental application.

Why Should You Make Use of Sprites?

Simple Scene Creation

If you had to generate every scenario in your game as a single graphic, it would be far more difficult to change later on. Sprites allow you to add and delete visual objects without affecting the other visual components of your scene. This simplifies the creation of complicated game settings and the introduction of new characters and things for your players to interact with.

Improved Performance

Sprites also improve performance by relieving your game of the burden of continuously calling many images to appear on the screen. Instead, a sprite sheet is summoned, and a different section of it is displayed as desired. It’s far easier for your game to call an image once and show it in a variety of ways than it is to call for new image sources continually.

How to Create Pixel Art Using These Tools

We’ve already discussed how sprites operate, so it’s time to get started producing them. You can use one of the pixel editing programs listed below to help experiment with sprite creation easier. They’re all free to download or use online, and they can assist you in creating pixel art for your sprite sheet.

PiskelApp

PiskelApp is a free online pixel editor that focuses on creating sprites. It allows you to save your pixel art online and also offers an import tool for editing existing pixel art. PiskelApp features a straightforward user interface and is an excellent alternative if you want to get right to work on your sprite sheet.

Pixie

Pixie is yet another fully featured online pixel editor. Although it isn’t as well adapted to sprite sheet production as PiskelApp, it’s still incredibly simple to use and a decent option for anyone who wants to let their imagination run wild. This tool’s normal starting point is a white canvas, which encourages free hand drawing rather than rigid grid designs.

Pixlr

Pixlr is a somewhat more advanced pixel editor with a wider range of drawing tools than the previous editors. It has the same online storing feature as PiskelApp but isn’t as well adapted to creating sprite sheets. Check out this tool alternative if you want to avoid the 16-bit look that PiskelApp promotes.

GrafX2

GrafX2 is a bitmap paint application with a variety of tools and effects that make it ideal for creating game graphics, pixel art, and sprite sheets. It is available for free download on all major desktop platforms.

Conclusion

These are some simple tools for creating animation sprites for your 2D games and applications. They are simple to use and include a variety of features that can assist you in creating fantastic animations with no effort.

However, they are not the only tools for making animation sprites. Depending on your needs and tastes, you can explore and experiment with a variety of various tools. The most important thing is to have fun with your animation sprites and to be creative with them!