Free, browser-based pixel art editor for sprites and animations, with onion-skinning and GIF export.
Why we recommend it
Pixel art has specific needs — hard pixel grids, palette-locked color, frame-by-frame animation preview — that general raster editors handle awkwardly. Piskel is built around exactly that workflow.
Strengths
- Free and open source under Apache-2.0. Frame-by-frame animation with onion skinning, exports to GIF, PNG spritesheet and ZIP, works offline as a PWA.
Drawbacks
- No layers within a single frame — compositing has to happen frame-by-frame, which gets tedious on complex sprites. Interface feels dated next to newer pixel art tools.
Frequently asked questions
Piskel is free to use.
Yes, Piskel is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence.
No layers within a single frame — compositing has to happen frame-by-frame, which gets tedious on complex sprites. Interface feels dated next to newer pixel art tools.
Piskel is best suited for Graphic Designer, Maker, Student.
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