Pixen packs all the tools pixel artists need in an intuitive, native interface including support for high zoom levels, animation editing, color palettes, and a lot more.
Layers and Filters
Take advantage of the flexibility layers provide when working with complex pixel art. Change opacities, blend modes, and more to compose creative effects. Use filters to adjust colors, create effects, and post-process your artwork.
Tools
Leverage Pixen’s wide array of tools when composing pixel art: Pencil, Eraser, Brightness, Text, Eyedropper, Zoom, Rectangular Selection, Magic Wand, Lasso, Move, Fill, Line, Rectangle, and Ellipse. You can even assign a different tool to the left and right mouse button. For example: pencil on the left; eraser on the right.
Color Palettes
With Pixen, you can add and organize commonly-used colors into palettes. Pixen can also import and export color palettes in the Adobe Color Table, Microsoft Palette, JASC Palette, and GIMP Palette formats. You can even perform palette operations such as sorting colors, removing duplicate colors, and more, directly in the app.
Animations
Create and arrange image frames in the filmstrip view to piece together animations. Pixen can import animations from animated GIFs, animated PNGs, and even sprite sheets! It can also export animations as animated GIFs, animated PNGs, movies, and sprite sheets.
Grid and Alignment Crosshair
Take advantage of Pixen’s grid tools to guide you in placing pixels just where you want them.
Patterns
Define custom patterns to use while drawing with the Pencil, Line, or Eraser tool (instead of a single pixel).
Preview
While editing at high zoom levels, use the Preview feature to view the canvas scaled out. You can even play back animations and tile small images when working on patterns.
Custom Backgrounds
Pick a flat, striped, or checkered background to be drawn beneath the canvas. You can even set a reference image as a background.
iCloud Sync
Sync documents with Pixen for iOS over iCloud and resume your work right where you left off.
Sidecar Support
Pixen works great with Sidecar and Apple Pencil. You can even customize the double tap gesture.
Dark Mode
Focus on your content with Dark Mode in Pixen.
Full Screen
Work with all your favorite tools in full screen mode.
Hotkeys
Customize tool hotkeys to ease the transition from other image editors.
Wide Format Support
Export your artwork in PNG, JPEG, GIF, ICO, BMP, TIFF, SVG, and PSD file formats.
Sharing
Share your creations quickly and easily via AirDrop, Messages, email, and more!
15+ Year History
Pixen has been around for over 15 years as a native Mac app and we’d like to keep it that way.
Universal
Pixen is compatible with both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs and takes full advantage of what macOS has to offer.
Native Mac App
Pixen is carefully designed for the Mac and built with native technologies such as Core Animation, Core Image, AppKit, Auto Save, and Versions.
What’s New
- Pressing the Option key no longer affects the Tools palette of background document windows
- Fixed issues around pressing the Escape key to close the About window
