User Guide

A comprehensive guide to creating stunning pixel art and animations with PixelFlux.

🎨 Introduction

Welcome to PixelFlux - a powerful, feature-rich pixel art creation tool designed for both beginners and professional artists! Create stunning pixel art images and animations with an extensive toolkit that rivals professional desktop applications. Whether you're creating game sprites, digital art, or animated sequences, PixelFlux provides all the tools you need in a beautiful, intuitive interface.

🖱️ Understanding View vs Edit Mode

The Fundamental Concept

View Mode (👁️ Eye Icon) and Edit Mode are the two main states of the app that control how you interact with your canvas:

View Mode 👁️

  • Purpose: Navigation and inspection only
  • Canvas Interaction:
    • Zoom: Pinch to zoom in/out or use scroll wheel
    • Pan: Drag to move around the canvas
    • No Editing: Cannot draw, erase, or modify pixels
  • When to Use:
    • Reviewing your work from different angles
    • Showing your artwork to others
    • Taking screenshots without accidental edits
    • Navigating large canvases

Edit Mode ✏️

  • Purpose: Active creation and modification
  • Canvas Interaction:
    • All Tools: Full access to drawing, selection, and editing tools
    • Limited Navigation: Basic pan and zoom available
    • Pixel Precision: Click or drag to place pixels
  • When to Use:
    • All drawing and editing activities
    • Creating new artwork
    • Making modifications to existing work

💡 Pro Tip: Switch to View Mode when you want to examine your work without accidentally making changes, then toggle back to Edit Mode when you're ready to continue creating!

🛠️ Complete Tool Guide

Basic Drawing Tools

1. Selection Tool 🟦

  • Purpose: Select and manipulate groups of pixels
  • Features:
    • Click and drag to create rectangular selections
    • Move selected areas with arrow keys or drag
    • Transform selections (rotate, flip, scale)
    • Copy/paste selections
  • Selection Toolbar Options:
    • Move (up, down, left, right)
    • Duplicate selection
    • Delete selection
    • Color selected pixels
    • Rotate (clockwise/counter-clockwise)
    • Flip (horizontal/vertical)

2. Lasso Tool 🪃

  • Purpose: Free-form selection for irregular shapes
  • Features:
    • Draw custom selection boundaries
    • Perfect for organic shapes and complex selections
    • Automatically converts to regular selection when complete

3. Draw Tool ✏️

  • Purpose: Basic pixel placement
  • Usage: Click to place individual pixels
  • Best For: Precise pixel work and details

Advanced Brush Tools

4. Brush Tool 🖌️

  • Customizable Options:
    • Brush Size: 1.0 to 10.0 pixels
    • Brush Shape: Circular, Square, Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal, Cross, Custom
    • Spacing: Control distance between brush marks (1.0-5.0)
    • Scatter: Random position variation (0.0-1.0)
    • Aspect Ratio: Width/height ratio for custom shapes (0.1-5.0)

5. Airbrush Tool 💨

  • Purpose: Soft, gradient painting with adjustable flow
  • Options:
    • Blur Radius: Edge softness (0.0-1.0)
    • Flow Rate: Paint density control (0.0-1.0)
    • Hardness: Edge sharpness (0.0-1.0)
    • Shapes: Circular, Square, Horizontal, Vertical

6. Calligraphy Brush 🖋️

  • Purpose: Artistic brush with pressure sensitivity simulation
  • Options:
    • Nib Angle: 0-360 degrees for angled strokes
    • Nib Width/Height: 1-10 pixels
    • Pressure Curve: Soft, Medium, Hard
    • Taper Ends: Smooth stroke beginnings/endings

7. Spray Paint Tool 🔫

  • Purpose: Particle-based painting effect
  • Options:
    • Density: 10-100% coverage
    • Radius: 1-20 pixel spray area
    • Particle Size: 1-5 pixels
    • Patterns: Circular, Square, Random

8. Dithering Tool 🔲

  • Purpose: Create texture and shading patterns
  • Options:
    • Intensity: Spacing control (0.0-1.0)
    • Patterns: Dot, Checker, Horizontal/Vertical lines, Diagonal lines, Ordered 2x2/4x4, Cross pattern, Random noise

Shape & Line Tools

9. Line Tool 📏

  • Purpose: Draw straight lines between two points
  • Usage: Click start point, drag to end point

10. Shape Tool ⬛

  • Available Shapes:
    • Rectangle (with corner radius 0-50px)
    • Circle
    • Triangle
    • Polygon (3-12 sides)
    • Star (3-12 points with inner ratio control)
  • Fill Options:
    • Solid fill
    • Outline only
    • Both fill and outline

11. Arrow Tool 🏹

  • Purpose: Create arrows with customizable heads and tails
  • Options:
    • Thickness: 1.0-5.0 pixels
    • Head Designs: Triangle, Line, Circle, Diamond, Square, Barbed, Curved, Hollow
    • Tail Designs: None, Line, Circle, Square, Feather, Diamond
    • Fill Options: Solid or outline heads/tails
    • Sizing: Separate controls for head and tail size

Editing & Adjustment Tools

12. Eraser Tool 🧼

  • Purpose: Remove pixels from current layer
  • Toggle: Switch between draw and erase modes

13. Fill Tool 🎨

  • Purpose: Fill bounded areas with color
  • Usage: Click inside area to fill
  • Smart Detection: Only fills enclosed areas to prevent overflow

14. Smudge Tool 👆

  • Purpose: Blend and smear colors
  • Options:
    • Strength: 10-100% effect intensity
    • Size: 1-20 pixel area
    • Wet/Dry Mix: 0-100% blending behavior
    • Shapes: Round, Square, Line
    • Sample All Layers: Blend from all visible layers

15. Blur Tool 🔍

  • Purpose: Soften and blur areas
  • Options:
    • Intensity: 1-10 pixel blur radius
    • Sample Radius: 1-20 pixel sampling area
    • Types: Gaussian, Box, Motion blur
    • Shapes: Circular, Linear
    • Preserve Details: Maintain edge clarity

16. Alpha Tool 🌫️

  • Purpose: Modify transparency and color properties
  • Modes:
    • Set/Increase/Decrease/Multiply Alpha: Transparency controls
    • Brighten/Darken: Lightness adjustment
    • Saturate/Desaturate: Color intensity
  • Options:
    • Effect Value: 0-100% intensity
    • Radius: 1-10 pixel effect area
    • Target: Affect transparent/opaque pixels

Special Tools

17. Gradient Tool 🌈

  • Purpose: Create smooth color transitions
  • Types: Linear, Radial, Angular
  • Directions: Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal
  • Gradient Library:
    • Save and manage custom gradients
    • Add/remove color stops (2-8 colors)
    • Adjust transition smoothness (1-10)
    • Duplicate and rename gradients

18. Color Picker Tool 👆

  • Purpose: Sample colors from your artwork
  • Usage: Click anywhere on canvas to select color
  • Auto-adds: Sampled colors to your palette

19. Reference Image Tool 🖼️

  • Purpose: Use reference images as drawing guides
  • Features:
    • Import images from device
    • Adjust opacity (0-100%)
    • Scale and rotate
    • Position anywhere on canvas
    • Blend modes (Multiply, Screen, Overlay, etc.)
    • Brightness/contrast adjustment

20. Text Tool 🔤

  • Purpose: Add text to your artwork
  • Options:
    • Size: 1.0-5.0x scaling
    • Style: Italic toggle
    • Real-time Preview: See text before placement

Utility Tools

21. Symmetry Tool 🔄

  • Modes:
    • None: Standard drawing
    • Vertical: Mirror across vertical axis
    • Horizontal: Mirror across horizontal axis
    • Both: Four-way symmetry
  • Visual Guides: On-screen symmetry lines

22. Layer Management 🎭

  • Access: Layers dialog for complete layer control
  • Features:
    • Add/delete/duplicate layers
    • Reorder by dragging
    • Show/hide layers
    • Adjust opacity (0-100%)
    • Lock/unlock layers
    • Blend modes (Normal, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, etc.)
    • Merge layers up/down

🎨 Color & Palette System

Color Palette

Advanced Color Picker

📐 Canvas & Display Options

Canvas Border

Pixel Borders

Zoom & Navigation

🎞️ Animation Features (Video Projects)

Timeline Interface

Onion Skinning

Animation Settings

💾 Export Options

1. Export as Project 💾

  • Format: .pxlflux (native project format)
  • Includes: All layers, frames, settings, palette
  • Use Case: Save work for future editing

2. Export Image 🖼️

  • Format: PNG
  • Options:
    • Spacing: Horizontal/vertical padding (0-50px)
    • Size Method: Canvas border or auto-bounds
    • Background: Transparent or colored
    • Resolution Multiplier: 1x to 10x scaling

3. Export GIF 🎬

  • Format: Animated GIF
  • Options: Same as image export plus frame rate control
  • Use Case: Web animations, social media

4. Export Current Frame 📷

  • Purpose: Export single frame from video project
  • Options: Same as image export

5. Export All Frames 🎞️

  • Purpose: Export every frame as individual PNG files
  • Use Case: Frame-by-frame editing in other software

6. Export Sprite Sheet 🎮

  • Format: PNG with multiple frames arranged in grid
  • Options:
    • Columns/Rows: Grid layout configuration
    • Spacing: Between frames
  • Use Case: Game development, texture atlases

7. Export Video 🎥

  • Format: MP4
  • Options: Resolution, spacing, border options
  • Use Case: Social media, presentations, portfolios

🔧 Advanced Features

Undo/Redo System

Selection Transformations

Import Functionality

💡 Pro Tips & Best Practices

Workflow Optimization

  1. 1. Start with View Mode to plan your composition
  2. 2. Use Layers for complex artwork - separate elements for easy editing
  3. 3. Save Frequently using the project export feature
  4. 4. Utilize Symmetry for balanced designs
  5. 5. Master Keyboard Shortcuts for faster workflow

Animation Tips

  1. 1. Use Onion Skinning for smooth motion between frames
  2. 2. Start with Keyframes then add in-between frames
  3. 3. Maintain Consistent Framerate for smooth playback
  4. 4. Use the Timeline to organize complex animations

Color Management

  1. 1. Build a Palette before starting major work
  2. 2. Use Gradients for professional shading effects
  3. 3. Experiment with Blend Modes for interesting layer effects
  4. 4. Save Custom Gradients for consistent styling

Export Recommendations

PixelFlux combines professional-grade features with an intuitive interface, making it the perfect tool for pixel artists of all skill levels. With practice and exploration of these tools, you'll be creating stunning pixel art and animations in no time!