PXLToolkit

Pixel art enjoyers can try their hand at creating some such artwork themselves. Tools to do so are readily available, and it just takes a little bit of creativity and outside-the-box thinking to come up with something interesting. Of course, skill matters just as much, but no one’s saying that you can’t just fool around until something comes of it.

If the idea of a pixel art tool is of interest, then PXLToolkit should look really promising. Utilize the brush tool and see where that takes you or make use of the several assets included to create something you can be proud of.

The program’s goal is to provide an environment conducive to creating quality pixel art, but that can also be used by anyone, regardless of their experience level. What you get here is a series of tools to realize your imagination — or simply fool around.

There’s a brush tool for freeform designs, but you also get access to line and rectangular ones for more precision. Effects to darken, lighten, invert, and posterize your art are nested in the same menu.

The bottom bar features several assets you can use to enrich your art. It includes bars, poles, boxes, containers, as well as different shapes, patterns, and effects of all kinds, so feel free to experiment.

Even so, I find that there are quite a few missed opportunities. For one, lacking some sort of layers functionality might make it more difficult to create more intricate designs. There’s seemingly no simple way to delete and redo certain adjustments, which can make working with the program frustrating sometimes.

PXLToolkit is for sure a promising piece of software, but it comes with some caveats. I feel that the program is still in its infancy, and as such, it’s normal for it to lack some features. Nevertheless, it does show some potential.