Compare Pixen vs. Pyxel Edit

Pixen is a professional pixel art editor designed for working with low-resolution raster art, such as those 8-bit sprites found in old-school video games. Take advantage of Pixen's wide array of tools when composing pixel art such as Pencil, Eraser, Brightness, Text, Eyedropper, Zoom, Rectangular Selection, Magic Wand, Lasso, Move, Fill, Line, Rectangle, and Ellipse. Compose your artwork with layers, taking advantage of the flexibility layers provide when working with complex pixel art. Change opacity, blending modes, and more to compose creative effects. Use filters to adjust colors, create effects, and post-process your artwork. With Pixen, you can add and organize commonly-used colors into palettes. Create and arrange image frames in the filmstrip view to piece together animations. Pixen can import animations from animated GIFs, animated PNGs, and even sprite sheets! It can also export animations as animated GIFs, animated PNGs, movies, and sprite sheets. Take advantage of Pixen's grid tools to guide you in placing pixels just where you want them. Define custom patterns to use while drawing with the Pencil, Line, or Eraser tool (instead of a single pixel).

Pyxel Edit is a specialized pixel art software tailored for creating and manipulating tiles. Users can arrange tiles to construct levels, modify them in real-time to observe their interactions, and subsequently export both the tileset and level information for integration into their games. The application allows for flipping and rotating tiles, ensuring that they remain editable and synchronized with the overall design. This innovative feature draws inspiration from notable programs like Pixothello and Cosmigo Pro Motion, enhancing the user experience even further. Additionally, Pyxel Edit offers capabilities for animation creation, enabling users to export their work as sprite sheets or animated GIFs. Originally launched as a free application, it still provides a free version; however, significant updates aimed at enhancing its functionality will require a purchase. To facilitate this transition, a discounted beta version will initially be offered, allowing early supporters to access future standard-priced updates without incurring additional costs. Furthermore, this model not only supports the ongoing development of the application but also ensures that users can enjoy the evolving features as they become available.