Zixel

Even though the graphics of nowadays video games are realistic and impressive, many people still prefer the retro games they grew up with. Perhaps this and the numerous remakes of retro games are some of the reasons why pixel arts is popular. Zixel is a lightweight utility designed to help you create pixel art that you can incorporate into your projects.

The setup is a quick and uneventful operation that does not require any special attention on your part. The program comes with a clean and user-friendly interface that is suitable for all sorts of users, including those who have not used similar software before.

You can get started by drawing directly into the dedicated grid. While you cannot modify the size of the grid, you can use the dedicate commands from the left menu to duplicate the X and Y axes. As you probably hinted, you can also easily change the color by playing with the RGB or HSV menu bars for both primary and secondary colors you intend to use. Lastly, you can adjust the opacity of the tool by inputting a value manually. The end result can be saved in PNG, JPG or JPEG formats.

Unlike similar tools, the application does not include brushes or other advanced functions that can help you fine tune you design. Based on its features, this is designed as a simple tool that addresses mostly average users who want to test their drawing skills or maybe test out pixel art to figure out if this works for their style.

In the eventuality that you are looking for something simple that enables you to get straight to putting your ideas into practice with pixel art, then perhaps you can consider giving Zixel a try.