What art programs do you usually use for 8-bit style sprite creation?

[datahead8888]

What art programs do you usually use for 8-bit style sprite creation?

I was wanting to make a game using this style and was just curious what other people found to work well.

If I want to be really exact, I'd need to use the correct number of colors per sprite and only so many sprite palettes across the entire screen, though I might occasionally deviate from these rules if it works in my style.

[Cpl.Bator]

pyxeledit is a good software : http://pyxeledit.com/ the old beta is free, but is just cost 9 bucks.

[Elias Daler]

I use PyxelEdit for tiles and some animations (it's great to have a preview window). And I use Paint.NET/Photoshop for anything else.

[SpeCter]

Pyxel Edit(personal choice) or Graphics Gale.

[Ztormi]

Graphics Gale, I like the way it deals with palettes. And it's free!

[SeriousITGuy]

I tried some tools for that, and what works best is PyxelEdit. Paint.NET works but has no tile specific tools, Krita, Photoshop or Gimp are overkill alternatives. GraphicsGale seems to be very good, but I find it hard to use.
Try the old beta of PyxelEdit, it's worth it. As soon as I start to need more gfx I will buy it.

[Jesper Juhl]

Personally I use the Gimp.

[Elias Daler]

Try the old beta of PyxelEdit, it's worth it. As soon as I start to need more gfx I will buy it.

The current version is so much better. Animations are especially cool. What I like about them is that you see them in preview window running. So, you can instantly see how your changes affect the animation. This is the best stuff to create awesome animations.

[dabbertorres]

Is the new version still based on Adobe Air?

[Elias Daler]

Is the new version still based on Adobe Air?

Yep

[datahead8888]

The big features I'd need are easy control of the screen resolution (probably only need to set the sprite image size), exporting to a sprite sheet, and being able to preview the animation.

It's also best if it supports setting a limited palette (though I might need to expand the palette on some images if I decide to break from the 8-bit style).  The basic tenets with 8-bit graphics are a limited number of colors in a palette and a limited number of palettes on the screen.  Finding a good way to limit the number of palettes on the screen in the game might be an interesting challenge; I'd usually follow it but might occasionally override it.  Changing the palette in the game code itself might make it a bit more cumbersome.

It looks like Pyxel Edit supports these features.  I don't think the Gimp does natively, and I don't get the impression Paint.NET does either.  Does anyone know of an open source free equivalent to Pyxel Edit?  Otherwise it doesn't look too expensive.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

[Ztormi]

There is open source Grafx2 but I find it a bit clumsy. It sure has retro aesthetics and I've seen some amazing stuff created with it.

[dabbertorres]

Both Gimp and Paint.NET support custom palettes.

[datahead8888]

I get the impression that Pyxel Edit does not support saving/loading of palettes from what I've read, which may be concerning for me.

Pyxel Edit does appear to have a nice feature where it automatically tiles a sprite in a grid so that you can easily see how the tiles bleed into each other.  You can edit it as you view it this way.

Both Gimp and Paint.NET support custom palettes.

Yes, but to my knowledge they don't let you view the animation within the tool itself or automatically tile a sprite for preview.