Pixen

Pixen is a raster graphics editor for Mac OS X originally created by the Open Sword Group. It is designed to create and edit pixel art and animations.

Pixen is available for purchase from the Mac App Store. Previous versions were free and open-source (MIT license), and the publicly available source code is not up-to-date.^[1]

Features

Pixen features an interface similar to that of Adobe Photoshop. While common tools such as the pencil, eraser and fill tool are included, 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. Pixen also features an extensive color palette system and, like many other bitmap-based editors, supports editing images by layers; users can organize parts of an image, name them and hide them. Anti-aliasing is not possible to achieve in Pixen due to its focus on pixel art creation.

Interface

Pixen was designed from the ground up with a native Mac OS X look and feel. It therefore features a Cocoa interface and makes extensive use of Cocoa controls and paradigms. From a layout perspective, Pixen's interface resembles other raster graphics editors: it features a tool case and separate windows for the canvas, layers and tools.

See also

• Comparison of raster graphics editors

References

External links

• http://pixenapp.com

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pixen.