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Tags: aseprite, pixel-art, sprites, animation, palette, export, game-dev
Last updated: 2026-06-27
Sprite / Pixel Art Creation Cheatsheet
Quick Reference
| Action | Aseprite Shortcut |
|---|
| Pencil tool | B |
| Eraser | E |
| Eyedropper (pick colour) | Alt + click (or I) |
| Move tool | V (then Q to confirm) |
| Rectangle / Ellipse marquee | M / Shift+M |
| Paint bucket (fill) | G |
| Undo / Redo | Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z |
| Swap FG/BG colour | X |
| New frame | Alt+N |
| Play animation | Enter |
Aseprite Essential Shortcuts
Drawing & Editing
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Pencil (pixel-perfect 1px) | B, then right-click for menu |
| Line tool | Shift+L (hold Ctrl for angles) |
| Curve tool | Shift+C |
| Blur tool | Shift+B |
| Jumble tool | Shift+J |
| Contiguous fill | G, check Contiguous in toolbar |
| Dithering gradient | Shift+G (configure in tool options) |
| Rotate sprite | Ctrl+R |
| Flip horizontal / vertical | Shift+H / Shift+V |
| Scroll canvas | Space + drag or middle-mouse |
| Zoom in / out | Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- |
Selection & Transform
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Deselect | Ctrl+D |
| Invert selection | Ctrl+Shift+I |
| Move selection (pixels) | Ctrl + arrow keys |
| Scale / Rotate selection | Ctrl+T |
| Free transform | Ctrl+Alt+T |
Layers
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| New layer | Shift+N |
| Duplicate layer | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Merge down | Ctrl+E |
| Flatten image | Layer menu → Flatten (use sparingly) |
| Toggle layer visibility | Click eye icon |
| Lock layer | Click lock icon |
| Change opacity | Slider in timeline or F4 (Properties) |
Palette Management
Creating a Palette
# Start from a base palette (e.g. 4-8 colours),
# then shade by adjusting Hue-Saturation-Lightness (HSL).
| Colour Count | Use Case |
|---|
| 4–8 | Minimal retro (Game Boy, NES-style) |
| 16 | 16-bit console (SNES, Genesis) |
| 32 | Modern pixel art with smooth gradients |
| 64+ | High-fidelity pixel art (painterly) |
Shading Technique — Hue Shifting
- Highlights — Shift hue toward yellow, increase lightness.
- Shadows — Shift hue toward blue/purple, decrease lightness.
- Avoid straight black/grey ramp — desaturates the art.
Aseprite Palette Shortcuts
| Action | How |
|---|
| Create palette from sprite | Sprite → Color Mode → Indexed (choose colours) |
| Save palette | F4 → Palettes → Save Palette (.gpl / .pal) |
| Load palette | F4 → Palettes → Load Palette |
| Sort palette by luminosity | Palette editor → Sort Luma |
| Lock colour at index | Right-click swatch → Lock |
Indexed Mode
- Sprite → Color Mode → Indexed.
- Fixed colour count = smaller file size.
- Required for many retro game engines (PICO-8, GB Studio).
Animation
Frame Management
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| New frame | Alt+N |
| New frame (copy current) | Alt+Shift+N |
| Duplicate frame | Ctrl+D |
| Delete frame | Alt+Delete |
| Frame properties (duration) | F5 (double-click frame in timeline) |
| Jump to frame | F + frame number |
| Go to first / last frame | Home / End |
| Tag loop section | Select frames → right-click → New Tag |
Onion Skin
| Action | How |
|---|
| Toggle onion skin | F3 or toolbar button |
| Adjust opacity | Onion skin settings in timeline bar |
| Show previous / next frames | Configure count in settings |
| Red/blue tint | Tint past frames red, future frames blue |
Animation Export Checklist
- Set frame durations (default 100ms = 10fps; adjust per frame).
- Define playback direction in tag: Forward / Reverse / Ping-Pong.
- Test with
Enter before exporting.
- Export as sprite sheet: File → Export Sprite Sheet.
- Or export as GIF: File → Export →
.gif.
Export Settings
Sprite Sheet (Game Engines)
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|
| Layout | Horizontal strip or grid (match engine requirement) |
| Extrude | 1px to prevent edge bleeding |
| Border padding | 1–2px minimum |
| Trim sprites | Usually OFF (keep consistent frame sizes) |
| PNG compression | Default or max |
| Sheet type | Rows/Columns (specify count) |
GIF (Preview / Sharing)
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|
| Colour mode | Indexed (≤256 colours) |
| Dithering | OFF for crisp edges, ON for gradients |
| Looping | Infinite (default) |
| Frame delay | Match timeline duration |
Common Export Pitfalls
- Transparent edge bleeding — enable Extrude (1px).
- Blurry scaling — always use Nearest Neighbour interpolation.
- Colour shift — export in indexed mode with locked palette.
- Missing frames — check tag visibility and frame count.
Sprite Size Reference
| Game View | Recommended Size |
|---|
| Top-down RPG character | 16×16 to 48×48 px |
| Platformer character | 24×24 to 64×64 px |
| UI icon (inventory) | 16×16 to 32×32 px |
| Tileset tile | 16×16 or 32×32 px |
| Isometric tile | 32×16 to 64×32 px |
Workflow Tips
- Silhouette first — block out the shape in a single colour, then add detail.
- Outline or lineless — decide before shading; single-colour outlines read clearly at small sizes.
- Jaggies — avoid stair-step patterns; use anti-aliasing (intermediate colours) sparingly.
- Cluster shapes — group same-colour pixels into clusters for clean readability.
- Save incrementally —
filename_v01.aseprite; Aseprite .aseprite files preserve layers and frames.