Pixel Art Studio is an iPhone app for creating pixel art on three canvas sizes — 8×8, 16×16, and 32×32. Pick a color from the color picker, tap any cell to paint it, and manage your favorite shades in a palette of up to 16 colors. Convert any photo from your library into pixel art automatically, or load a photo as a semi-transparent background to trace over. When you're done, export a clean PNG with no grid lines straight to your photo library.
Start by picking your canvas from the menu: 8×8 for simple icons, 16×16 for game-style sprites, or 32×32 for more detailed artwork. The grid is ready as soon as you tap a size. Toggle grid lines on or off at any time with a single tap.
Save up to 16 colors in your palette using the system color picker. Tap any palette slot to switch to that color instantly, making it fast to work with a consistent set of shades across your artwork. Your palette is saved automatically with your draft.
Select a photo from your library and the app center-crops it to a square, resamples it to your grid size, and converts it to pixel art in one step. You can keep editing from there. Alternatively, load a photo as a semi-transparent background layer to trace over it manually.
Tap the share button and the app renders your canvas as a crisp PNG image with no grid lines, then opens the iOS share sheet. Save to your photo library, share via AirDrop, or post to social media directly from the share sheet. A confirmation alert appears when the save is complete.
The menu screen offers three grid sizes: 8×8, 16×16, and 32×32. Tap any cell to fill it with the selected color. Toggle the grid lines on or off with the grid button in the toolbar. Your pixel data, selected color, and palette are all saved automatically as a draft and restored the next time you open the same canvas size.
Use the system color picker to choose any color, then tap an empty palette slot to register it. Tap a filled slot to make it the active color — no need to reopen the picker every time. With up to 16 colors stored, switching between shades while drawing is instant. Palette state is included in the draft save.
Tap "Convert Photo to Pixel Art" to open your photo library. Select any image and the app automatically center-crops it to a square, resamples it to match the current grid size, and maps each sample point to a pixel. You can continue editing after the conversion. Use "Load Photo as Background" to display the photo at half opacity behind the canvas as a tracing guide.
Tap the share button and the app renders the canvas at full resolution without any grid lines, then presents the iOS share sheet. Choose "Save Image" to add it to your photo library — an alert confirms when the save is complete. AirDrop, email, Messages, and any other share destination available on your device are all supported.
From the menu, select 8×8, 16×16, or 32×32. Each opens a fresh grid canvas ready for painting. Pick a color from the color picker at the bottom and start tapping cells to fill them.
Register frequently used colors in the 16-slot palette so you can switch between them instantly. Convert a photo to pixel art for a quick starting point, or load it as a background layer to trace over manually.
Tap the share button to generate a grid-free PNG and open the share sheet. Save it to your photo library, send it via AirDrop, or share it to social media — all in one step.
"I use this to create icon assets for my game projects. Being able to switch between 8×8 and 16×16 is great, and the palette makes it easy to reuse colors without having to re-pick them every time. The photo-to-pixel-art conversion is a great way to start from a rough reference."
"My kids and I make pixel art together on weekends. It's simple enough that they figured it out in seconds — just tap to paint. Saving to the photo library and sharing via Messages takes two taps. Perfect for a quick creative activity."
"Clean UI, no clutter, nothing in the way of actually making art. I love being able to toggle the grid lines on and off instantly, and the auto-save draft means I never lose work when I switch apps. Exactly what I was looking for."
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