Tune Pixel Detail, palettes and dithering.
Strong pixel art is selective. Pixel Detail controls shape, palettes control visual hierarchy, and dithering controls texture.
Pixel Detail defines the conversion grid
Pixel Detail sets the number of output cells along the source’s longest edge. It changes the artwork’s real grid dimensions, so it determines how many decisions the image can contain. Lower values make chunkier clusters; higher values retain more source detail.
Palette controls visual hierarchy
Automatic palette mode derives representative colors from your image. A smaller color count produces stronger grouping; a larger count preserves subtle gradients but can make the result feel photographic.
- Use 6–10 colors for a graphic, poster-like result.
- Use 12–20 colors for a balanced illustration.
- Use a preset palette when you want a deliberate game-era character.
Palette changes rebuild the generated base. Your pencil, fill, eraser, and restore decisions remain as manual overrides inside Pixel Artwork, so you can keep refining the conversion without flattening it first.
Dithering trades smoothness for texture
Dithering uses patterns of available colors to imply intermediate tones. It is most useful when the palette is intentionally small.
- Clean
- No patterning. Best for icons, UI art, and flat illustrations.
- Ordered
- A regular texture with a deliberately retro appearance.
- Diffuse
- A more organic distribution that preserves photographic shading.
Start with low strength. Heavy dithering can hide edges and make hand editing more difficult.
Adjust color before repainting
On Pixel Artwork, brightness, contrast, and saturation rebuild the generated base while preserving manual overrides. On a normal raster layer, Texture and Color adjustments remain reversible and are rendered from its original pixels instead of repeatedly processing the previous result.
- Increase contrast slightly when subjects blend into the background.
- Reduce saturation when automatic palettes feel chaotic.
- Raise brightness carefully when dark regions collapse into one color.
Start with a look, then choose the detail
Quick Looks apply a coordinated palette, texture, and color treatment without changing Pixel Detail. This keeps the two important decisions separate: first choose how chunky the grid should be, then choose a visual direction and refine it.
Crisp clusters with no added texture.
A smaller palette with subtle ordered texture.
Stronger edges and richer color.
A compact green palette with ordered texture.
Use the pixel art size guide when the subject still feels too detailed or too abstract after tuning its colors.