INDIEPIXEL RETROSTUDIO | retro-style
pixel art editor with indexed color support, layers, layer fx (scrolling), rudimentary
iPad/touch support and classic pixel painting tools. Use at your own
risk! Cheers, gizmo64k
Drawing Tools
BBrush / Freehand
LLine
RRectangle (right-click for filled)
CCircle (right-click for filled)
FFlood Fill
SSpray
EEraser
IEyedropper
MRectangle Select
DDithering Mode Toggle
Selection & Transform
Ctrl+RRectangle Select Mode
Ctrl+ASelect All
TTransform (scale/rotate/move)
EnterApply Transform
EscapeCancel Transform / Clear Selection
DeleteDelete Selection
Clipboard
Ctrl+CCopy
Ctrl+XCut
Ctrl+VPaste
History & Pages
Ctrl+ZUndo
Ctrl+YRedo
JSwap Page (2 pages available)
Touch & Tablet Controls
Single TouchDraw with current tool
Two-Finger DragPan canvas
PinchZoom in/out
Pen/StylusDraw with pressure support
Color & View
Alt+ClickPick Color
Ctrl+DragMove Layer (with wrap)
XSwap FG/BG Colors
DToggle Dithering Mode
WToggle Wrap/Mirror Mode
TabToggle CRT Emulation
0Reset Zoom
ScrollZoom In/Out
Middle MousePan Canvas
Drag & Drop
Drop ImageAdd as new layer
Ctrl+Shift+DropNew document (extract palette)
Ctrl+DropOrdered dithering
Shift+DropFloyd-Steinberg dithering
Alt+DropBayer 4x4 dithering
Drop .jsonLoad palette
Layer Modes
⚙ FX ButtonOpen layer settings
Ctrl+EMerge Down (with blend mode/FX)
Ctrl+Click LayerSelect layer mask (non-transparent)
Blend Modes: Normal, Additive, Overlay, Multiply
Scrolling Animation: Create parallax, rain, snow effects by scrolling layers.
- Steps: Pixels to move per frame (negative = reverse)
- FPS: Animation speed (frames per second)
- Mode: Linear (constant), Sine/Cosine (wave motion)
- Ping-Pong: Bounce back instead of wrap around
Other
F1Show this help
v1.0 2025-11-23, initial release
v1.1 2025-11-24, added rudimentary iPad & touch
support, fixed the canvas limitation, added fullscreen mode (click on
the logo in the top left corner), dithering mode (d), preview during
click-drag (line, rectangle, circle, selection tool)
v1.2 2025-11-28, palette bumped up to 32 colors, proper
median cut palette extraction / reduction added, new ctrl-shift drop for
loading as new document, removed redundant palette overlay, performance
optimizations
v1.3 2025-12-11, added layer modes: blend modes (normal,
additive, overlay, multiply) and scrolling animation system for
parallax effects, rain, snow, etc. FX-button to access settings, new
round brushes, new patterns, ui tweaks, better tablet support, new file
format (.retro), creation playback
v1.4 2025-12-17, multi-resolution support, layer merge (ctrl+e), cut/paste to new layer as default, color picker now via alt instead of ctrl,color picker works across all layers, new wrap mode (w), move layer (ctrl-drag), input field bug fixed, new gallery images (incl. animated ones)
v1.5 2026-05-23, configurable palette size in the New Document dialog (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 colors), classic machine palette presets with authentic colors and native resolutions: Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC (Mode 0 and full 27), Atari 2600, Atari ST, Amiga (Workbench, OCS 32, AGA 256), Archimedes (Mode 12, Mode 15), IBM CGA / EGA / VGA Mode 13h, NES, Sega Master System, Game Boy DMG & Pocket, MSX 1, Apple II, PICO-8; live palette preview in the New dialog; canvas size limit raised to 1024px to fit 640-wide modes; palette grid adapts swatch size for 128/256-color palettes; new realtime CRT emulation (WebGL2) with PAL / NTSC toggle - scanlines, aperture mask, bloom, chroma bleeding (wider on NTSC), dot-crawl on NTSC, subtle barrel distortion & vignette