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The Pixl Studio workspace
Find the canvas controls, side-panel tabs, dock, search and view settings.
Pixl Studio puts the drawing between a top toolbar and a bottom dock. The tool rail holds the drawing tools. The side panel holds Pixl, Layers, Frames and Palette, alongside Listr.
Canvas size and transformations
The top toolbar’s Canvas size control shows a size such as 32 px. The ordinary sizes are 16, 32, 64 and 128. The Pixl tab also has Width, Height and size presets.
Width and height always stay equal. The Lock aspect ratio control is fixed because each Pixl is square. For a wider picture, join multiple Pixls.
Changing size resamples every layer and frame by taking the nearest existing pixels. Enlarging keeps hard edges. Reducing can remove detail. You can undo a size change.
The top toolbar also offers Flip horizontal, Flip vertical and Rotate 90°. These affect the whole active Pixl: every layer and frame, including hidden and locked layers. A cursor’s pointing position follows the transformation. In a joined picture, a size change reaches the joined tiles; flips and turns act on the active tile.
Shift contents in the Pixl tab opens four direction buttons. Each moves the current layer on the current frame by one pixel. What leaves one edge comes back on the opposite edge. This is useful when aligning a repeating pattern.
Zoom and view
Use Zoom in and Zoom out above the dock. Press the percentage for Fit to canvas. Reset view in the top toolbar fits the picture and resets its scroll position.
You can also pinch, or hold Ctrl or Command while using the wheel, to zoom around the pointer. Scroll to pan a drawing that is larger than the available space.
The Pixl tab’s View section has three switches:
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Pixel grid | Lines between the pixels. The rail has the same grid toggle. |
| Transparent background | The checkerboard behind the drawing. Turning it off shows the document background colour, if set, or a solid backdrop. |
| Tile preview | Dimmed repetitions around a single Pixl, useful for checking a repeating pattern. |
These are viewing choices. To put a background colour into the saved artwork, use Background in Layers. Tile preview is shown when a single drawing fits the space; it is not a joined-picture view.
Templates and guides
Templates in the desktop top toolbar switches guide overlays on or off. The choices include a cursor outline and the circle used by an avatar or node face. Guides are not painted pixels. Saving and undoing the artwork do not bake them into it.
The New Pixl templates choose what a new drawing is for. They are separate from these viewing guides. When music is available, the new-drawing choices also include CD and Vinyl, which start at 64 pixels.
Dock and search
The bottom dock has three cards:
- Pixl shows a preview, name, size and frame count. Edit info changes the name; Drafts opens your working drawings.
- Animation holds playback, loop, frame rate and a strip of frames.
- Palette holds the colour slots, swatches and colour-picker entry points.
The top search box says Find a pixl, asset, palette…. It searches artwork you may edit or remix, named drafts, Freemarket results where available, and colours. Choosing a drawing opens it in the editor. Choosing a Freemarket result opens its listing. Choosing a colour makes it primary.
Use the up and down arrows in the results and press Enter to choose. Escape closes the results before it closes the editor.
Smaller screens
On a phone, the top row offers Save, Close, New, undo and redo. The bottom dock scrolls sideways, so swipe it to reach its other cards. Neighbour + buttons are hidden on the phone layout.
The narrow side panel keeps Pixl and Layers; the separate Frames and Palette tabs are omitted there. Use the dock’s Animation and Palette cards for their available controls. On a narrow desktop canvas, the top search moves to a second row and the dock can wrap.