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Dixel 0.0.7: big projects, fixed and faster

· 2 min read
The Dixel Team
Dixel — Pixel art, built for Android

Dixel 0.0.7 is a stability and performance release, aimed squarely at large projects. The headline: projects bigger than about 700×700 pixels could crash the moment you opened them, and that is fixed.

The crash on opening large projects​

Underneath, each layer is stored as a block of pixel data in the project's database. Android reads database rows through a fixed-size window, and a single 1024×1024 layer is larger than that window — so opening the project threw an error before you ever saw the canvas. Dixel now reads layer data in chunks, one layer at a time, so a full-size project opens normally and uses far less memory while it loads.

If a project file is genuinely damaged, Dixel now says so with a clear message and a way back, and leaves the file alone, instead of crashing.

Smoother drawing​

Every stroke used to rebuild the whole picture on the CPU. Dixel now hands each layer to the GPU directly. On a 1024×1024 project with eight layers, dropped frames fell from about half to roughly one in ten, and typical frame times came down noticeably.

More that changed​

  • Saving, autosave, export, and import moved off the drawing thread, so they no longer stall the pen. If storage runs out, you get a message and keep your work.
  • The Save button reports success only once the work is really on disk.
  • Large photos import as reference layers without freezing.
  • Undo keeps many more steps for lines, shapes, and fills.
  • Colors with partial transparency now survive a save and reload exactly.

The full list is on the changelog.

Thanks for drawing with Dixel — more to come.