Getting started with LibreSprite

Want to follow along with a finished file? Download sprout.ase, our 32 × 32 demo sprite: two layers, four frames, a “walk” tag.

1. Create a new sprite

   On the Home tab click New File…, or press Ctrl+N (Cmd+N on a Mac). The defaults are a good start for game sprites: 32 × 32 px, colour mode RGBA, background Transparent. Click OK.

   

   Size advice: 16 × 16 or 32 × 32 for characters and items, larger for portraits and scenes. Choosing a canvas size.

2. Find your way around

   The colour bar is on the left (palette at the top, colour picker below, foreground and background colour at the bottom). Tools are on the right. The bar at the top shows the options of the current tool. The canvas fills the middle; the small floating window is the Preview.

   

   Two things trip up beginners: the timeline is hidden until you press Tab, and a new sprite opens at 100 %, which is tiny. Press 4 for 800 % (keys 1–6 go from 100 % to 3200 %). Close the Preview with F7 if it is in the way. The interface in detail.

3. Choose a palette

   A limited palette is half of good pixel art. Click the options button above the colour bar (the fourth small button) and choose Load Default Palette for a balanced 32-colour palette, or Load Palette to pick one of the 38 palettes LibreSprite ships with (PICO-8, Game Boy, NES, DawnBringer 16…).

   

   Click a swatch to make it the foreground colour; right-click one for the background colour. Palettes and colour · preview every built-in palette.

4. Draw with the Pencil

   Press B for the Pencil and tick Pixel-perfect in the tool options: it removes the extra corner pixels that make freehand lines look jagged. Left-click draws with the foreground colour; right-click with the background colour. Change brush size with + and -, keep it at 1 px for crisp pixel art.

   

   Other tools you will want right away: Eraser E, Paint Bucket G, Line L, Rectangle U, and the Eyedropper, which you get by holding Alt. Undo is Ctrl+Z. Show a grid with Shift+G. All tools.

5. Put parts on separate layers

   Layer → New Layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) adds a layer above the current one. Draw details such as a hat or a weapon on their own layer so you can move, recolour or hide them without touching the body. Click a layer name in the timeline to draw on it; double-click to rename it. Layers.

6. Add frames and turn on onion skin

   Show the timeline (Tab) and press Alt+N: Frame → New Frame copies the current frame, so you only change what moves. Press F3 for onion skin: the previous frame shows faintly under the current one, so you can see how far things move.

   

   Move between frames with ← and →. Four frames are enough for a simple walk or idle loop.

   

7. Play it and set the speed

   Press Enter to play and Enter again to stop. Each frame has its own duration: press P (Frame → Frame Properties) and type a value in milliseconds. 100 ms is 10 frames per second; Sprout uses 120 ms. Select several frames in the timeline first to set them all at once.

   

8. Save your work as .ase

   File → Save (Ctrl+S). Save as .ase (or .aseprite): it is the only format that keeps layers, frames, durations, tags and the palette. PNG and GIF are for exporting copies. LibreSprite also saves crash-recovery data every 2 minutes by default.

9. Export a GIF or a sprite sheet

   For sharing: File → Export (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S), type a name ending in .gif, and set Resize to 400 % or more so the pixels are visible. For games: File → Export Sprite Sheet (Ctrl+Alt+E) writes all frames into one PNG, plus a JSON file with frame positions and durations if you ask for it.

   

   This is what LibreSprite exported from Sprout at 8×:

   

   Every export option.

#Where to go next

#FAQ

Found something wrong or out of date? Tell us: hello@libresprite.dev. We fix mistakes within a day.