Explore the Toolbar
Resprite ships with a comprehensive toolset tailored for pixel art. The toolbar adapts to different layouts, and each tool exposes contextual options on the right-side panel.
Customise the Toolbar Layout
- Reposition the toolbar from the edge to the top of the screen in Preferences ▸ Toolbar ▸ Toolbar position.
- Use the layout toggle
to switch between compact and landscape modes.
- Hide tools you rarely use under Preferences ▸ Toolbar ▸ Visible tools. Hidden tools remain available through gestures or shortcuts.
Pencil
The pencil is the primary drawing tool and supports a wide range of pixel art workflows.
Key options:
- Brush shape – toggle between square and circle tips.
- Brush size – drag horizontally or vertically to adjust; double-tap the size slider to reset to 1 px.
- Blending – blend semi-transparent colours with the pixels underneath.
- Pixel Perfect – remove the diagonal “L” corner artefact on straight lines.
- Alpha Lock – restrict strokes to pixels that already contain colour.
- Dithering – enable pattern-based shading; swipe the pattern chip to browse designs.
Learn more about dithering patterns.
Eraser
The eraser mirrors pencil behaviour, including dithering, Alpha Lock, and Pixel Perfect options. Combine Alpha Lock with dithering to cut precise transparency patterns.
Shading
The shading brush cycles through palette swatches to produce directional gradient effects.
- Colour range – use the selected colour plus neighbours in palette order.
- Direction – tap to flip direction or drag to choose one of four axes.
- Entire palette – apply shading across the full palette.
Enable “Pencil double-tap toggles shading direction” in preferences if you frequently alternate directions.
Selection Tools
Resprite offers rectangle (marquee), lasso, and magic wand selections. Combine them with the Replace, Add, and Subtract modes to build complex masks. When a selection is active, editing only affects the highlighted area.
Manage Selections
- Tap outside the selection while in Replace mode to clear it.
- For other tools, use the Cancel selection button at the end of the option strip.
- The status bar shows selection width × height in place of canvas size.
Refine Selections
Open Menu ▸ Select to invert, expand, contract, or add borders around the current selection.
For free transforms, continue to the Transform guide.
Eyedropper
Use the eyedropper to sample colours from the canvas.
- All Layers – sample a composite of every visible layer.
- Auto back – automatically return to the previous drawing tool after sampling.
- Sync palette – select the matching swatch in the palette if it exists.
Long-press on the canvas to invoke the eyedropper without switching tools.
Bucket fill
Fill regions with the active colour, palette swatch, or dithering pattern.
- Continuous – limit fills to connected pixels.
- Tolerance – include similar colours within the threshold.
- Ignore colour – treat a target colour as transparent during the fill.
- Pattern – apply dithering while filling.
Disable Continuous to replace the target colour across the entire layer.
Gradient tool
Create linear or radial gradients that respect pixel art constraints.
Options include:
- Connected only – mirror the Continuous option from the bucket fill.
- Tolerance – expand the gradient into similar colours.
- Gradient type – choose linear or radial falloff.
- Start / End colours – pick palette entries or custom colours.
- Dither – toggle RGB blending or select 2×2, 4×4, or 8×8 patterns.
Cell Move
Shift content within the current cell or across multiple frames/layers.
- All frames – offset every frame in the timeline.
- All layers – offset all layers. When the selected layer is a group, its descendants move together.
Shape tools
Choose between line, curve, rectangle, ellipse, and contour tools.
Shared options:
- Brush shape & size – define the outline thickness.
- Fill – fill rectangles and ellipses with the active colour or pattern.
- Dither pattern – apply dithering to outlines and fills.
Learn more about contour drawing in our contour tool showcase.
Blur tool
Blur averages the 3×3 pixel neighbourhood of each stroke. Alpha Lock support prevents colour from spilling into transparency. Adjust the Force slider to control intensity.
Spray tool
Spray scatters pixels within the brush radius for airbrush-style effects.
- Width – defines the spray radius.
- Speed – controls how densely pixels are emitted.
Jumble
Jumble randomly displaces pixels under the brush, useful for breaking up repetitive textures or adding noise.
