Beginner’s Guide to Creating Pixel Art with REXPaint

Beginner’s Guide to Creating Pixel Art with REXPaintREXPaint is a powerful, free pixel-art editor originally created for making ASCII and tile-based graphics for roguelike games. It blends simplicity with useful features aimed at both beginners and experienced pixel artists, particularly those creating low-resolution sprites, ASCII art, tilesets, and game UI elements. This guide walks you through installing REXPaint, understanding its interface and core tools, creating your first piece of pixel art, tips for efficient workflow, exporting art for games, and resources to keep learning.

What makes REXPaint special?

• Free and cross-platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux (via Wine or native builds, depending on version).
• Layered and tiled workflow: Supports multiple layers and tile-based art, useful for tilesets and roguelike graphics.
• ASCII & bitmap hybrid: Originally focused on ASCII art with character, foreground, and background coloring, but fully capable of pixel-based art.
• Palette and font support: Use built-in palettes or import custom fonts and palettes for consistent in-game visuals.
• Export formats: Export images as PNG and tilesets for easy integration into game engines.

Getting started: installation and setup

1. Download REXPaint from the official source (typically the developer’s website or GitHub releases). Choose the build appropriate for your OS.
2. Extract the archive and run the executable. On macOS or Linux you may need to allow permissions or use Wine if a native build isn’t available.
3. Optionally, place the executable in a convenient folder and create a shortcut.

When you first open REXPaint, you’ll see options to create a new file by specifying width, height, and font (character cell size). For pixel art, choose a small cell size (e.g., 8×8 or 16×16) depending on your target resolution and scale.

Understanding the interface and key tools

REXPaint’s interface is compact and focused. Main components you’ll use:

• Canvas area: Shows your layer(s) with a grid that corresponds to character cells or pixels.
• Tool palette: Includes Pencil, Line, Rectangle, Fill, Eraser, Replace, Shape tools, and a Color Picker.
• Layer panel: Add, hide, lock, or reorder layers.
• Color selector: Choose foreground and background colors. REXPaint supports full RGB colors.
• Font/tileset selector: Choose the font or tileset that defines what each cell displays; important if you’re creating character-based tiles.

Key tools explained briefly:

• Pencil: Draw single cells (pixels) on the canvas.
• Line/Rectangle/Ellipse: Create geometric shapes—hold Shift (in many editors) to constrain shapes; check REXPaint keybindings.
• Bucket (Fill): Fill contiguous areas with the current color.
• Eraser: Clears cells back to transparent or background.
• Replace: Replace all instances of one color/character with another—useful for palette swaps.

Creating your first pixel art sprite: step-by-step

1. New file settings:

   • For a simple character sprite, start with a canvas of 32×32 or 16×16 cells using a font/tile size of 8×8 pixels for each cell depending on the desired crispness.
   • Create at least two layers: “Base” and “Details”.

2. Block out silhouette:

   • Use a mid-tone color and the Pencil tool to draw the character’s silhouette. Focus on overall shape and pose; avoid details.
   • Keep shapes readable at small sizes—clarity beats complexity.

3. Define major color areas:

   • On the Base layer, block in large color areas: clothing, skin, hair, armor. Use simple flat colors at this stage.
   • Avoid using too many colors—6–8 is plenty for a small sprite.

4. Add shading and light source:

   • Decide a light direction (e.g., top-left). Add a lighter color for highlights and a darker color for shadows.
   • Use dithering sparingly (alternating pixels) to blend transitions in very small sprites.

5. Details and outlines:

   • On the Details layer, add small features: eyes, buttons, weapon lines, seams.
   • Consider a 1‑pixel outline in a darker color to separate the sprite from backgrounds. Optionally use a non-black outline color (e.g., dark brown) for a softer look.

6. Polish and anti-aliasing:

   • Use single-pixel color adjustments to smooth jagged edges. Anti-aliasing at pixel scale is manual: pick intermediate colors to soften harsh transitions.
   • Zoom out frequently to check readability at actual size.

7. Final touches:

   • Add a small shadow or ground contact pixel(s) to “anchor” the sprite.
   • Combine layers or keep them separate for in-game layer effects (such as animation swapping).

Working with tilesets and animations

• Tilesets: Create grid-aligned tiles (e.g., 16×16 cells) that represent terrain, objects, and UI. Keep each tile consistently centered and aligned to a grid.
• Sprite sheets: Arrange frames in rows/columns, keep consistent spacing, and document frame size for the engine.
• Animation workflow:
  • Use separate layers for frame elements (base pose, equipment, effects).
  • Export each frame as its own image or export a combined sprite sheet.
  • Test frames at actual game scale to ensure motion reads clearly.

Exporting for game engines

REXPaint can export to PNG. Typical workflow:

• Flatten or merge layers as needed.
• Export each tile/sprite at native resolution, then scale in your game engine (nearest-neighbor scaling prevents blurring).
• For tilesets, export a grid-aligned image and note tile width/height for tiled rendering systems.
• If using ASCII/character tiles, export with the font used so characters render consistently in-game.

Palette, color management, and tips for consistency

• Limit your palette: pick 8–16 colors for small assets; it keeps visuals cohesive and reduces visual noise.
• Save custom palettes in REXPaint for consistent art across a project.
• Use color ramps: a row of progressively lighter/darker shades for each base color helps with fast shading.
• Avoid pure black/white for outlines/highlights; slightly tinted shades look better with in-game lighting.

Common beginner mistakes and how to avoid them

• Over-detailing at small sizes — prioritize silhouette and readability.
• Using too many colors — limits unity; pick a compact palette.
• Poor contrast between sprite and background — test sprites on multiple background colors.
• Misaligned tiles — use grid snapping and consistent canvas sizes.

Useful shortcuts and workflow accelerators

• Work in layers for non-destructive edits.
• Keep a “master palette” file for your project.
• Duplicate tiles/layers for variations (equipment swaps, recolors).
• Use the Replace tool for quick palette swaps (e.g., color theming armor).

Further learning resources

• REXPaint’s documentation and community forums for version-specific tips.
• Pixel art tutorials focusing on small-sprite techniques (shading, anti-aliasing, dithering).
• Analyze classic indie roguelikes and sprite-based games for palette and silhouette lessons.

Example simple workflow checklist

1. New canvas: 32×32, create Base + Details layers.
2. Block silhouette in mid-tone.
3. Add base colors.
4. Apply shadow/highlights with a light source.
5. Add details and refine outline.
6. Polish, anti-alias, and export PNG.

REXPaint is an excellent tool to learn fundamentals of pixel art, especially for game assets and tilesets. Practice creating small, focused sprites, keep palettes limited, and iterate quickly—readability at the final display size is the measure of success.