| Developer(s) | Open Sword Group |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 3.5 / December 10, 2011 |
| Operating system | Mac OS X |
| Type | Raster graphics editor |
| License | MIT License |
| Website | |
Pixen is an open-source raster graphics editor for Mac OS X created by the Open Sword Group. It is designed to create and edit pixel art. The latest version is Pixen 3.5.
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Pixen utilizes a basic interface similar to that of Adobe Photoshop. While common tools are included in Pixen, such as the pencil, eraser, and fill tool, Pixen also uses a unique left/right tool system. This system enables the user to assign a different tool to the left and right mouse buttons. This can be used effectively when drawing and erasing. It also features several color palettes, as well as integration with Mac OS X's color options. Like many other bitmap-based applications, Pixen has a layer system that will let you organize parts of an image, name them, or hide them.
Pixen is designed for pixel art, and therefore only has tools primarily focused on a few colors. One important part of this is that anti-aliasing is not possible to achieve in Pixen, and all tools have had color fading. Pixen also focuses on indexed colors and palette use. This makes it ideal for editing indexed formats, like .gif, and usage on systems with low memory resources.
Pixen is designed from the start with a native Mac OS X look and feel. It therefore features a Cocoa interface, and makes extensive use of Cocoa elements. From a layout perspective Pixen borrows ideas from other rasters editors. It features a tool case and separate windows for the image, layers and tools.