Skip to main content

Getting started

This short guide walks through the first things you'll do in Dixel.

Create a project​

  1. Open Dixel. The gallery is where your projects live; on first launch it's empty with a Create new button.
  2. Tap + (create) and set a name, then a width and height for the canvas. A linked-aspect toggle and a small live preview help you size it.
  3. Pick a color mode — RGBA for free color picking, or Indexed to lock drawing to a palette.
  4. Choose a starting palette and an initial color, then tap Create.

Draw with the basic tools​

The tool ribbon gives you the core drawing tools:

  • Pencil and eraser for freehand work.
  • Bucket fill to flood an area.
  • Line, rectangle, and ellipse (filled or outline) for shapes.
  • Eyedropper to sample a color already on the canvas.

Adjust brush size (1–64 px) and opacity from the rail, and turn on pixel-perfect mode for clean diagonal strokes.

A few gestures speed things up:

  • Two-finger pinch to zoom and two-finger drag to pan.
  • Two-finger tap to undo, three-finger tap to redo.
  • Long-press to sample the color under your finger.

Use layers and palettes​

  • Open the Layers panel to add, delete, duplicate, reorder, hide, or lock layers, change opacity, and choose a blend mode.
  • Open the Palette panel to switch palettes, pick colors, or create your own. Dixel ships with retro console and modern palettes, and you can build new ones.

Export a PNG​

When your art is ready, use Export and choose PNG. The file is created only when you ask for it, and you choose where it goes.

A note on Pro features​

Some capabilities are planned to require Pro once the in-app purchase flow ships — for example larger canvases, more layers, and JPG export. Until then, the free feature set is what's described here. Nothing is charged today.