Small frames. Your own motion.

Pixel Art Animation Maker draw a little, bring it to life

Animate pixel art for a blinking avatar, a bouncing sticker, or a simple game character. Start on a blank canvas or bring your PNG frames, adjust the rhythm, and download a real animated GIF.

Start animating See the steps

Free browser editor · No account · Images processed on your device

Your Pixel Art Animation Maker studio

Draw your first frame, duplicate it, and change a few pixels. Press Play to see the movement.

Canvas: 1–128 px per side · Up to 64 frames / 1,048,576 total pixels · Export up to 16,777,216 pixels, including scale and return frames.

Pixel drawing canvas

Draw with mouse or touch. Keyboard: arrows move the cursor, Space paints; B pencil, E eraser, F fill, I eyedropper. Ctrl/⌘ Z undoes.

Animation preview

Frame timeline

Select a frame to edit it. Drag to reorder, or use the arrow buttons. Blank and duplicate frames insert after the selection.

    20–10,000 ms per frame. Speed scales every duration. Preview and GIF use 10 ms timing steps, with a 20 ms minimum; viewers may play differently.

    Export your animation

    GIF uses at most 255 visible colors plus transparency. More colors use a fixed palette; alpha below 50% becomes transparent, the rest opaque. PNG exports retain full color and alpha. Choose 1× for a smaller file.

    PNG frames and sheets contain each original frame once in timeline order. They are still images; GIF includes playback speed, looping and return frames.

    Ready. Start drawing or import frames.

    Tools to use with the Pixel Art Animation Maker

    Use focused tools before you begin animating. Keep every source frame on the same pixel grid.

    Turn a picture into pixel art

    Create a static pixel-art starting point, then import it and draw the next poses by hand.

    Starting point
    Convert an image

    Separate a sprite sheet

    Extract individual PNG frames from a regular grid before importing them into this pixel animation maker.

    Import preparation
    Cut a sprite sheet

    Match canvas dimensions

    Resize existing pixel art without smoothing. Use identical dimensions across all your animation frames.

    Crisp pixels
    Resize pixel art

    Pixel Art Animation Maker workflows

    Start with a short action you can finish: blink, bounce, wave, repeat. Illustrations show the workflow, not editor screenshots.

    Build poses in the Pixel Art Animation Maker

    Duplicate a pose instead of redrawing everything. Turn on previous or next onion skin, lower its opacity, and use the ghost image to keep eyes, feet and outlines aligned. Adjust the selected frame duration to hold a pose longer.

    Draw a first frame Learn the workflow
    Illustrated pixel cat jumping through successive frames with translucent onion-skin references

    Check the actual GIF before sharing

    A canvas preview preserves full RGBA color; a GIF cannot. This pixel art GIF maker shows the encoded result after export so you can inspect reduced colors and hard transparent edges. Keep the project for future edits and use PNG frames when partial transparency matters.

    Export an animation Read format differences
    Illustrated pixel cat frames becoming a looping animation and a six-frame sprite sheet

    How to use the Pixel Art Animation Maker

    Build a short loop, check its timing, and keep an editable backup.

    01

    Start small or import matching frames

    In the Pixel Art Animation Maker, try 16×16 or 32×32 for your first animation. Import static PNG, JPG or WebP images as frames; an untouched blank project adopts the first image size. Mixed dimensions are rejected before any frame is added.

    • Use transparent PNG for cut-out characters
    • Number filenames to keep the intended order
    Open the editor
    02

    Draw poses and arrange the timeline

    Use pencil, eraser, flood fill and eyedropper. Insert a blank frame or duplicate the current one, then drag frames into order. Undo recovers drawing, timing changes, deletions and project replacement within the recent history.

    03

    Set the rhythm and preview motion

    In the Pixel Art Animation Maker, begin around 120 ms per frame, then slow a pause or speed up a transition. Change the global speed without overwriting individual durations. Enable looping or ping-pong, which travels forward and then backward through your poses.

    04

    Save your project and export the result

    Download the editable project before closing the page. Export GIF for motion, PNG frames in one ZIP for editing, or a row-major PNG sprite sheet for an engine. Export scaling uses nearest-neighbor pixels, and each long operation has progress and cancellation.

    Pixel Art Animation Maker FAQ

    Practical answers about drawing, timing, transparency and keeping your work.

    How do I animate pixel art from a single image?

    Import the image, duplicate the first frame, and redraw a small detail on each copy. A blink may need only open, half-closed and closed eyes. This editor plays the frames you draw; it does not generate missing poses or rig a character automatically.

    Is this Pixel Art Animation Maker free, and are images uploaded?

    The editor is free and needs no account. Drawing, image decoding and exports happen in your browser. The automatic draft stays in this browser profile on this device. Sharing the page link does not share your artwork or project.

    Can I turn PNG frames into an animation?

    Yes. Select multiple static PNG files, check their filename order in the timeline, set frame durations, and export GIF. All frames must share the canvas dimensions. Use frame01, frame02 and similar names to make PNG frames to animation imports easier to review.

    What canvas size should I use for a beginner animation?

    The Pixel Art Animation Maker works well with a 16×16 or 32×32 canvas and a short two-to-eight-frame action. Smaller canvases make each edit easier to see. The limit is 128 pixels per side, 64 frames, and 1,048,576 source pixels in total. Imports are not silently resized or cropped.

    How do frame duration and playback speed work?

    Duration is how long a single pose stays visible. For equal durations, 100 ms is about 10 frames per second. A 2× speed halves each duration while preserving relative pauses. Preview and GIF round to 10 ms steps with a 20 ms minimum, and image viewers may apply their own timing rules.

    What does onion skin do in a pixel animation maker?

    It overlays the previous or next frame at adjustable opacity. Use the translucent reference to align outlines or judge how far a limb moves. Onion skin, the editing grid and the keyboard cursor are editing aids only; they are excluded from previews and downloads.

    Can I export a transparent animated GIF?

    Yes, but GIF has binary transparency. This exporter makes alpha values below 128 fully transparent and all others opaque. It preserves up to 255 visible RGB colors exactly; richer artwork uses a fixed reduced palette. Check the exported GIF preview, and keep PNG files for smooth partial transparency.

    Why does the exported GIF look different from the canvas?

    The canvas supports full color and partial transparency; GIF uses a palette and one transparent index. These limits can change gradients, soft edges and imported artwork. The post-export image shows the actual encoded GIF. Use a compact palette and hard pixel edges, or export PNG frames for full RGBA fidelity.

    Can I reopen my work after refreshing the page?

    The Pixel Art Animation Maker automatically saves completed edits to IndexedDB and restores the latest draft on return. Wait for the saved message. Private browsing, storage limits or clearing site data can remove a draft, so download a .pixelanim.json backup and use Open project to restore it.

    What is the difference between GIF, PNG frames and a sprite sheet?

    GIF is one playable animation with timing and loop settings. The ZIP contains each original frame as a separate PNG, while the sheet places those frames left to right, then top to bottom. PNG exports retain alpha but are still images; configure timing separately in your game engine or editor.

    Does ping-pong playback repeat the end frames?

    With looping enabled, three frames play 1–2–3–2 and repeat, without doubling the endpoints. A one-shot return plays 1–2–3–2–1, then stops. GIF export uses the same order. PNG frames and sheets contain the original frames once, regardless of playback direction.

    Can I import an existing GIF or cancel a large export?

    Import accepts static PNG, JPG and WebP frames, not existing GIF, APNG or animated WebP files. Extract those into static frames first. During import or export, use Cancel processing to stop the job. If the scaled output exceeds 16,777,216 pixels, reduce the scale, frame count or return playback.

    Make your first loop with the Pixel Art Animation Maker

    Start with a tiny canvas and two poses. Refine the timing, save an editable project, and export a GIF you have checked in the encoded preview.

    Create an animation Prepare a sprite sheet

    Manual frame-by-frame editing · GIF, PNG frames and sprite sheets · No automatic motion generation