anybody use inkscape for making pixel art?

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Clear
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anybody use inkscape for making pixel art?

Postby Clear » Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:03 am

been playing with the iso grid and the first thing i noticed was that the grid was very accurate as far as snapping to points. then i got the idea that maybe inkscape would be a cool pixel art tool?

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brynn
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Re: anybody use inkscape for making pixel art?

Postby brynn » Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:45 pm

Hi Clear,
Gosh, I didn't know Inkscape had an isometric grid :oops: until I did a bit of research, and learned that Inkscape calls it an "axonomic" grid.
I don't have much experience with pixel art. Using GIMP, with a 1 x 1 brush, I've edited pixel-sized blocks, which I think of as "like" pixel art. But Inkscape doesn't have brushes.

I also did some quick research on pixel art, and find that it's not only characterized by pixel-editing, but by isometric projection, or orientation, of 2D images. From that perspective, Inkscape is perfectly suited! For example, you could draw a line and snap it to the grid. After exporting to PNG, the line is converted to pixels. The problem is that the export process apparently imposes anti-aliasing.

So for example, if you expect, let's say this diagonal line:
Image
to look like this, when you zoom in:
Image
Then Inkscape isn't going to work for you.

But in my quick research, I learned that pixel art CAN include anti-aliasing, as long as it's done by hand. Here's how that same line looks after export and zoomed:
Image
If that approximates manually created anti-aliasing, then I think Inkscape would be a good tool. On the other hand, perhaps having the export process perform the anti-aliasing, would make the drawing not true pixel art, since the anti-aliasing was created automatically.

So I guess it kind of depends on your intended purpose, and whether it needs to be pure or true pixel art, or whether "close enough" is ok.
I hope that helps answer your question.

Oh btw, there's a tutorial for an isometric projection here: http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL ... ction.html

All best :D

ivan louette
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Re: anybody use inkscape for making pixel art?

Postby ivan louette » Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:43 pm

Here joined is an attempt to create a pixel art filter for black lines. There are two versions, a fat and a thin line.

Of course after that you can add a color to your line with the Alpha repaint filter.

ivan
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black pixels.svg
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hellocatfood
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Re: anybody use inkscape for making pixel art?

Postby hellocatfood » Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:25 am

This is something I actually managed to accomplish awhile back, but it requires Inkscape and GIMP. See this thread on the mailing list for more info.

Quick answer:

You need to export your SVG as an AI or EPS and then open that up in GIMP. The import options in GIMP allow you to then suppress anti aliasing. You'll need to remove the background manually, but after all of that you have a nice piece of pixel art! This is what I've managed to achieve

I think these bugs relate to this problem:
170356
170392
180612

Hope that helps
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ivan louette
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Re: anybody use inkscape for making pixel art?

Postby ivan louette » Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:11 am

Here joined is another pixellating filter suited for monochrome shapes.

ivan
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pixellate.svg
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RM.
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Re: anybody use inkscape for making pixel art?

Postby RM. » Sun Jan 30, 2011 2:31 pm

Sure you can, but pay attention because is really easy to blur everything.
I was trying to do pixel ''art'' when making this. http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4936&p=21583&hilit=grayscape&sid=cac358a7a10c148b9b44851275a24cac&sid=cac358a7a10c148b9b44851275a24cac#p21583
Instead of the brush, make a square 1x1 and then duplicate it until you need.
I'm just someone who likes to create.

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ivan louette
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Re: anybody use inkscape for making pixel art?

Postby ivan louette » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:32 am

Oooops ! Antialiasing is even much easier to remove than expected with filters !

This one is suitable for any shape, line or text.

Simply apply the filter to small shapes or text ; then make a bitmap copy ; then increase the size of the bitmap and fill it with the paint bucket to obtain a vector pixel like shape.

Also very useful for removing the thin white line between adjacent shapes.

enjoy,

ivan
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pixellize.svg
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