Simple Sprite Maker

Simple Sprite Maker Help › Drawing Tools

Drawing Tools

Switch tools from the toolbar at the top of the window or with a keyboard shortcut.

Pencil ⌘D

Draws single pixels in the selected color. Click and drag to lay down strokes. Use Tools > Brush Size to switch between 1×1, 3×3, and 5×5 pixel brushes.

  • ⌥ + click — temporary Eyedropper. Pick the color of the clicked canvas pixel without leaving the Pencil.
  • ⌥⇧ + click — temporary Eyedropper, sampling the reference image instead of the canvas pixel.
  • ⇧ + click — temporary Paint Bucket. Flood-fill at the clicked cell.

Eraser ⌘E

Clears pixels back to transparent. Honors the current brush size.

  • ⌥ + click — Magic Eraser. Erases the entire connected region of cells that share the clicked color.
  • ⇧⌥ + click — Clump Eraser. Erases the entire connected non-transparent blob, regardless of color.

Paint Bucket ⌘B

Flood-fills a connected area of matching pixels with the selected color. Click an empty (transparent) region to fill it; click a colored region to replace that contiguous block.

  • ⌥ + click — temporary Eyedropper (samples the canvas pixel).
  • ⌥⇧ + click — temporary Eyedropper, sampling the reference image.
  • ⇧ + click — temporary Pencil. Drop a single pixel without leaving the Bucket.

Eyedropper ⌘I

Click any pixel on the canvas to make its color the active drawing color. The Eyedropper stays selected after a pick — switch back to your drawing tool manually, or use the modifier-key shortcuts on Pencil/Bucket (⌥ Click) for a one-shot pick that returns to the drawing tool automatically.

Sample from a reference image: hold ⇧ while clicking to pick the color from the underlying reference image instead of the canvas pixel. A small dot indicator shows the exact sample point.

Move ⌘J

Slides the contents of the current frame around the canvas. Click and drag anywhere on the canvas to translate the artwork.

While dragging, every pixel that will move is outlined: a blue border means it stays on the canvas, a red border means it will be clipped off-canvas when you release.

If your cursor leaves the canvas mid-drag the move pauses (the preview freezes at its last in-canvas position) — bring the cursor back inside to resume. Releasing the mouse outside the canvas cancels the move and snaps pixels back to their start.

Flipping and rotating pixels and the reference image

  • Move tool + ⌥ Drag — flip the canvas pixels in place. Drag horizontally to flip horizontal; drag vertically to flip vertical. Each direction zone fires once per pass — drag back and forth without releasing to toggle.
  • Move tool + ⌥⇧ Drag — rotate the canvas pixels 90° at a time. Drag right to rotate clockwise, left for counter-clockwise. Long drags step through multiple 90° rotations. The rotation pauses when the cursor leaves the canvas and resumes when it returns; winding the drag back within the same gesture undoes prior steps.
  • ⌥⇧⌘ Drag (any tool) — flip the reference image. Same direction gestures as the canvas flip. Works from any tool, not just Move.

All three are undoable as single steps.