Drawing tools

Pixl’s tools draw on the selected layer in the selected frame. If you have a tree on one layer and a sky on another, choosing the tree layer lets you change the tree without repainting the sky.

Choose a tool in the rail, or use its letter key while the drawing has focus.

Pencil, eraser and colour slots#

Press and drag to draw. The Pencil joins points along your stroke, so a quick movement still draws a continuous line. A faint footprint shows the pixels the Pencil or Eraser will touch before you press.

Right-click Pencil or Eraser to open Tool options. Widths are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 pixels. Choose Square or Round for the footprint. Each tool keeps its own choice. Both begin with a one-pixel square.

Use Back to tools to return to the rail. Pressing outside the options or Escape closes them too.

The left mouse button paints with the primary colour; the right paints with the secondary colour. The secondary starts transparent. Eraser always clears pixels, whichever colour slot you use. A transparent paint colour also clears rather than adding an invisible colour over the drawing.

Fill and eyedropper#

Fill changes neighbouring pixels of exactly the same colour on the current layer. It follows neighbours above, below, left and right. A diagonal contact alone does not join two regions. Other layers do not form a boundary for this fill.

For example, an outline on a different layer will not stop a fill on an empty layer. Draw the boundary on the layer you are filling, or fill the shape on its own layer and arrange the layers afterwards.

Eyedropper samples the combined visible layers at the pixel you press, including their opacity and blending. It can pick transparent areas too. Left-click fills the primary slot; right-click fills the secondary. Picking a colour does not add an undo step to the drawing.

Lines and shapes#

For Line, Rectangle or Ellipse, press at one corner or endpoint, drag to the other and release. The preview follows your pointer until release.

Right-click Rectangle or Ellipse for Hollow and Filled. Hold Shift while dragging a rectangle or ellipse to make its width and height equal. Line uses its two endpoints directly.

Mirror drawing in the rail reflects pencil, eraser, line and shape strokes across the vertical centre of the Pixl. It is useful for a face or symmetrical badge. Fill and movement still act on the area you choose.

Select and move#

1. Choose Select and drag a rectangle around the pixels to move.
2. Choose Move and drag to the new position.
3. Release to commit the movement.

A click with Select, without a drag, clears the selection. With no selection, Move carries the current layer’s whole drawing on that frame. Selecting another layer or frame clears the marquee.

Moving leaves transparent pixels behind. Transparent pixels inside the moved area do not erase pixels they land over. Pixels pushed outside the square are dropped, so use Undo if you move too far.

For movement that wraps at the edge, use Shift contents in the Pixl tab instead. Its direction buttons move one pixel at a time; pixels leaving the right edge return on the left, and so on.

Clear, undo and blocked layers#

Clear this layer in Frames, or Clear this layer’s drawing in a frame’s menu, empties the current layer on that frame. It does not delete the frame or clear every layer.

Undo and redo work on completed drawing actions. A new drawing change clears the redo path. See history and saving for its limits.

If drawing does nothing, check Layers. A locked layer needs unlocking. A hidden layer, including one inside a hidden group, needs showing. The editor tells you which condition is blocking the tool.