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[Akhel]

The Independent Gaming Painter: A Pixel Art Focused Raster Graphics Editing Software?

TIGPAPAFRGES?

TIG Papa Frages.

[Corpus]

TIXEL

Notably not its Web 2.0 cousin, Tixl.

[Ishi]

Using the colour grabber thing (to get an existing colour in the image) should be a case of holding down a key on the keyboard and left/right clicking, rather than having to shortcut to it as a seperate tool then go back to your original tool. Also the colour selector (for new colours) should be similar.

mtpaint can do that

True, now you mention it I think any paint program can. The point still stands for other tools though.

Tixel is an awesome name, and happily reminds me of Trixel.

[moi]

The Independent Gaming Painter: A Pixel Art Focused Raster Graphics Editing Software?

TIGPAPAFRGES?

TIG Papa Frages.

[FoxBlitzz]

You know, I had envisioned the name being Tixel as well - either that, or TIGSel. Something like that. Shall that be the name, or should we hold some kind of poll?

Anyone else willing to throw out feature/design suggestions? Before any work can begin, we need a solid planning of all the features/interface/keys/etc.

Also, anyone here familiar with Mac design principles? I'm kinda thinking that the Mac version will need to be somewhat different from the Windows/Linux versions. I'm rather unfamiliar with OS X conventions, so someone will need to fill me in a little.

[Laremere]

I really like how Pixen handles its tools, though if I were to design it, I would have to so that both right and left click are on the same menu thingy, and instead just right or left click the tools in order to assign the respective button.



Come to think of it, many of the features Pixen have are nice, and would be very nice if put into this Tixel.


I also think a conversions feature would be nice.  They would be simple filters that would give you the needed modifications from base colors easier.  A few could be: Lighten, Darken, Shadow (giving more of a blue effect), Burn, and so on.

[Souseiseki]

In the 90s I used to draw really quick in Klik & Play. The flow in that I got used to better than TGF or even MMF (they somehow made the fun of sprite drawing worse)

[FoxBlitzz]

You know, as incomplete and buggy as KDE4 is, it has inspired me somewhat in terms of design, what with its whole deal about mouse "sweet spots". What if the tools were lined up in a single column along the side of the window, so that when maximized, you could just slam the cursor to the edge and click on one, them zoom the cursor back? It's be a good alternative for those who won't be using the keyboard, or want to use a tool that they forgot the shortcut for.

Also, selected tools could show their button mapping by displaying right triangles taking up half the button. That is, you choose the Pencil with the left mouse button, and you have an upper-left triangle, and if you have Eraser mapped to right mouse button, that icon shows a buttom-right triangle, and if a single tool is mapped to both buttons, the two triangles form a complete square. Kinda get what I mean? I'd draw a picture, but right now I'm kinda preoccupied.

[agj]

The main feature for a pixelling program should be, of course, a very prominent palette. Options to automatically sort colors, or to rearrange and sparate into groups, or to read colors used in the picture, would be immensely helpful. Other than that, the bare minimum is all most pixellers will need. Layers is the fanciest feature I can think of. Animating could be added to a second version after the basics are complete.

Regarding the interface, I could help out a bit if I have the time. Someone could compile a list of all the features and ideas that tiggers want in it, and I'd sketch an interface based on that. But only if you want me to, FoxBlitzz.

[sereneworx]

Remember to add support for pressure sensitive tablets. :p I miss that in many pixelling programs.

[Michael Buckley]

Also, anyone here familiar with Mac design principles? I'm kinda thinking that the Mac version will need to be somewhat different from the Windows/Linux versions. I'm rather unfamiliar with OS X conventions, so someone will need to fill me in a little.

Well, I already have too much on my plate to help out significantly, but I am available if you want feedback, or advice on how to do or code something the OS X way.

[Corpus]

Some general OSX design guidelines:

• Make it pretty.
• Make it look like an OSX program.
• Make it feature-efficient - don't overload with unnecessary bulk.
• Make it elegant - there should be as few user preferences as possible, because they shouldn't need to change them.

I'll post some screenshots of the programs that do these things best when I get home. For the sake of brevity, though, just try to make software as if you're Panic.

The toolbars etc. should be a screen overlay kinda thing (like those in Photoshop), rather than a window proper. This is where Pixen cocks up.

[Renton]

I don't know about CS4, but PS CS3's design is ace.

[Annabelle Kennedy]

my 2 requests...

allow to map "zoom" to a key press instead of having to click.  this drives me crazy with every pixel program ever.

i switch from zoomed full all the way out to really close up and have to do this really quickly.. in order to see up close, vs how it looks from a distance this is a key in getting readability for small things... when i can press 1 key several times to zoom in to where my mouse is it makes it very easy then having to

1)keypress for switch to zoom tool
2)click to zoom in cumbersomely
3)keypress to switch to brush tool
4)click to make modifications
3)keypress for switch to zoom tool
4)hold alt for zoom out(what the heck)
5)click to zoom out awkwardly
6)quit pixel art forever becuase this is ridiculous

1)press z to zoom in
2)press x to zoom out

this: right here. this: this is the key to my workflow...



IDRAW 3 cleverly has zoom mapped onto keys so 'flipping' between zoomed in and out is very natural feeling and done with the Z and X keys.

its one of the best reasons i put up with it.

also, it has a REALLY EASY TO SET UP grid which is ESSENTIAL in creating spritesheets/tilesets the like.
its one click away and you can set the grid size.
then with marquee tool you just have to hold the control key
and it will lock your selection to the grid its incredibly elegant and simple how it works trying to get something like this in those bloated other programs is near impossible, if not really incredibly awkward to do so.

IDRAW3 is so elegant and simple i could work and use it on a 640x480 display and be more effective with it then any of those other programs...at the massive resolutions they require to display their convoluted menus and billion windows and stupid things. they are the worst.

Although... i beg day in and day out for someone else to get it right because IDRAW3 has the notorious problem of eating my work sometimes and just crashing for no reason and bugging out becuase its over 10 years old and was designed to run on old old old old computers why oh why oh whyyyy
 


(it also has my favorite pallette editor which is really really simple)

and... thats concludes my longest post.

[Powergloved Andy]

being able to set grid dimensions and snap to grid is probably the best feature you could ever have.

[sereneworx]

I'm fairly certain that most programs have zooming in and out mapped to ctrl+ and ctrl-.

However, that is difficult to do with one hand, so you lose your flow with your mouse/tablet. So I agree, having zoom mapped to single keys would be super-handy.

[Renton]

Ctrl+ and ctrl- can easily be mapped on your tablet buttons. Then again, most people use those buttons for different tools.

[Annabelle Kennedy]

ctrl+ and ctrl-.

not only am i going to have to move my hand from base position to reach that godawful key combo but the time i waste trying to do that is nothing compared to trying to find the menu where how to change a key config is hidden only to realize that it requires a 'modifier key' to get it to work becuase only tools are allowed to have one key.

and im so sorry everyone ive been working and im stressed out i wont say anything more

and tablet buttons are the most unfortunate thing ever becuase theres not very many and all programs make you need *way* more key combinations to use it... and theres just something really awkward about not having one hand on the keyboard at all times when working...

[battlerager]

ctrl+ and ctrl-.

and im so sorry everyone ive been working and im stressed out i wont say anything more

Sorry for what?

You didn't do anything wrong!?

[Annabelle Kennedy]

im being sorta testy im sorry