Photos become pixel art

Stamped pictures are turned into the face’s own pixel grid. The Paint canvas fineness sets the pixel size.

The fineness picker

Select the Standard ▾ dropdown in the Paint header before you stamp to set the resolution:

Paint · 48 faces Done

Standard ▾Paint ▾

Chunkybig pixels

Standardthe default

Finesmall pixels

Ultra finetiny pixels · bigger files

• Chunky: Gives 4 pixels per grid unit.
• Standard: Gives 8 pixels per grid unit.
• Fine: Gives 16 pixels per grid unit.
• Ultra fine: Gives 64 pixels per grid unit. Makes bigger files.

Each face’s pixel grid grows with its longest edge, rounded up to a power of two. Each face is at most 256x256 pixels.

One pixel size per fig

A fig uses one resolution for all its parts. Opening a fig set to Chunky, Standard, or Fine lowers all its paint to that setting, permanently. Finer patterns or pictures added before are cut down to the setting. This keeps the whole fig looking the same.

Ultra fine is different. Opening a fig on Ultra fine doesn’t lower its paint. Fine patterns and pictures keep their full detail, and new painting is at 64 pixels per unit. It’s best for flat parts that need readable text or detailed labels. Going back to a lower setting lowers the whole fig right away.

Figs with too many faces can’t use Ultra fine. The dropdown shows too many faces then.

Patterns put on with the Pattern tool turn into pixels at the fig’s resolution right away. If the pattern is finer than the fig’s resolution, the Pattern page shows a note. On a Standard fig, it reads: Pattern reduced to Standard to match the fig. Ultra fine has full detail. Select Use Ultra fine to switch the fig to Ultra fine and bring back the pattern’s full detail on those faces. This is a normal Undo step.

Resolution changes in Paint are their own steps in Paint’s Undo. Keep undoing the strokes made after a resolution change and you reach the change itself. Switching the resolution straight back (e.g., Standard › Chunky › Standard) with no strokes in between restores the drawing exactly: Back to Standard: the drawing is as it was.

Stamped pixels

Stamped picture pixels work like paint. They export with crisp pixels, animate right in animated pages , can be painted over with the Pen, and turn see-through when erased with Erase to set to Transparent.

The dither tool works with fineness: dithering cuts down the colors, while fineness sets the pixel grid.