# Pixen - pixel art editor — Pixel art and animation editor > Native pixel art and animation editor for iOS and macOS. (iPhone/iPad app by Furnace Creek Software LLC.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pixen-pixel-art-editor/id1161880215 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Furnace Creek Software LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/321189453) - Category: Graphics & Design, Photo & Video - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.70/5 from 170 App Store ratings · 51 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 18.0 · 9 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2016-10-11 - Data updated: 2026-08-31 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pixen-pixel-art-editor/id1161880215/reviews.md ## What is Pixen? Pixen is a native pixel art editor for iOS and macOS, designed for working with low-resolution raster art such as those 8-bit sprites found in old-school video games. Pixen packs all the tools pixel artists need in an intuitive, native interface including support for high zoom levels, animation editing, color palettes, and a lot more. PROJECTS GALLERY The Pixen experience starts in the projects gallery, which allows you to manage all of your creations in one place. You can import and export files in various file formats including PNG, JPEG, GIF, ICO, BMP, TIFF, SVG, and PSD. Files can be imported from your Photos library, the Files app, or the clipboard. Pixen for macOS users can take advantage of seamless iCloud sync. When you're ready, you can share your creations with friends. TOOLS AND APPLE PENCIL Leverage Pixen's wide array of tools when composing pixel art: Pencil, Eraser, Brightness, Text, Eyedropper, Zoom, Rectangular Selection, Magic Wand, Lasso, Move, Fill, Line, Rectangle, and Ellipse. All of Pixen's tools are fully compatible with Apple Pencil on iPad. You can take advantage of the double-tap gesture on Apple Pencil 2 to quickly switch to your last tool, switch to the eraser, or bring up the color picker. Pixen even has hover support when using Apple Pencil Pro, so you can see a preview of what you're about to draw before your Apple Pencil touches the screen. COLOR PALETTES With Pixen, you can add and organize commonly-used colors into palettes. Pixen can also import and export color palettes in the Adobe Color Table, Microsoft Palette, JASC Palette, and GIMP Palette formats. You can even perform palette operations such as sorting colors and removing duplicate colors directly in the app. ANIMATIONS Create and arrange image frames in the filmstrip view to piece together animations. Pixen can import animated PNGs, animated GIFs, and sprite sheets. It can export animations as animated GIFs, animated PNGs, movies, image sequences, and sprite sheets! GRID Take advantage of Pixen's grid and alignment tools and create pixel-perfect artwork. PATTERNS Define custom patterns to use while drawing with the Pencil, Line, or Eraser tool (instead of a single pixel). You can even import patterns from 1-bit images. PREVIEW While editing at high zoom levels, use the Preview feature to view the canvas scaled out. You can play back animations and tile small images, useful when working on repeated patterns. AND A LOT MORE... - Sync your creations with Pixen for Mac over iCloud and resume your work right where you left off, regardless of device. - Take advantage of the flexibility of layers and change opacities, blend modes, and more to compose creative effects. - Invert colors, convert to grayscale, apply sepia tone, remove alpha components, palettize, pixellate, adjust hue, exposure, brightness, contrast, and more. - Pixel Perfect mode removes extra pixels while drawing such that any drawn paths are at most 1 pixel in width. In other words, it removes the middle pixel of an L shape. - Pick a flat, striped, or checkered background to be drawn beneath the canvas, or set a reference image. - If you use your iPad with a keyboard, increase productivity with Pixen's wide array of keyboard shortcuts. - Export your artwork in PNG, JPEG, GIF, ICO, BMP, TIFF, SVG, and PSD file formats. - Share your creations quickly and easily via AirDrop, Messages, email, and more! - Adjust the size and position of Pixen's sidebars, customize the Apple Pencil 2 double-tap gesture, and more. Pixen is also available for macOS and is the only pixel art maker of its class that syncs projects with iCloud! ## Key features - Pixel art and animation editing - High zoom levels - Color palettes - Animation frame editing - Import/export various file formats - Apple Pencil support - Layers and blend modes ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Pro: One Time Purchase | $9.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 51) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pixen-pixel-art-editor/id1161880215/reviews.md ### 4/5 — Pretty good *2026-07-28* Little buggy and could borrow some bits from other iPad apps like undo gestures and stuff. There is more tapping around menus than is necessary. however the iCloud sync with the Mac version alone makes it a very nice tool for pixel game art. Work on the go and then the stuff is right there on the computer ready to be exported. ### 5/5 — Pixen review *2026-07-09* This app is great! It is very easy to use and is overall good for beginners. However, I would like there to be a gallery so I can actually see my artworks. You can of course just screenshot it, but a gallery would make things much easier. ### 5/5 — I WAS SO WROWN *2026-07-09, version 4.0.3* SORRY FOR MY LAST REVIEW I JUST GOT MY ART BACK I AM SO SORRY ### 4/5 — a couple problems but great *2026-04-28* really awesome app and its perfect except for the fact that after i drew one image it wont let me make anything else? its really weird because i cant make animations or drawings. also whenever i download its pretty low quality but i dont care much about that i can just screenshot 🤷. ALSO this one makes me really annoyed it’s the fact that there is no gallery. you cant look back at your drawings, you cant watch your animations, none of it. so you’re practically forced to download it or its just gone 🤷 but overall great app and easy to use 👍 **Developer response:** You can press the back button in the top left of the screen to return to the document picker, view recent projects, and make new ones. Please email us if you need further help. ### 4/5 — seems really great but i cant use it too much yet *2026-04-01* id like to use my logitech mouse with this app but it doesnt work with it at all, and for me its too much extra work and eventually hurts my finger in the longrun to hold down the frame for 2 seconds each time when i want to duplicate the frames etc, so i havent used the app much but it looks great and i think ill buy an apple mouse see if that fairs better, thank you for your work making this app ### 5/5 — Unknown *2026-03-23* This app low-key kinda tuff 🗿🗿🔥🔥 ### 4/5 — Very cool *2026-01-20* I just started using this app and I like it I just find it a little hard to navigate as a beginner ### 4/5 — Nice *2025-11-26, version 3.0.1* 5 stars Definitely recommend Need a Apple Pencil for ease ### 5/5 — Recommended *2025-09-01, version 3.0.1* This app is so good!!! I’m on YouTube and trying to make a game like stardew valley. It’s called “my pixel farm” and it’s on iPad and computer. It’s on App Store. ### 5/5 — It’s so cool *2025-08-31* This is increíble ## Frequently asked questions about Pixen ### What is Pixen? Pixen is a native pixel art and animation editor designed for creating low-resolution raster art, similar to sprites found in old-school video games. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for both pixel art creation and animation editing. ### What are the key features of Pixen? Key features include support for high zoom levels, animation editing with a filmstrip view, color palettes, a wide array of drawing tools, pattern creation, layers with blend modes, and various import/export options for different file formats. ### How much does Pixen cost? The app is free to download and use, but it offers in-app purchases for additional features or content. Specific pricing for these in-app purchases can be found within the app store listing. ### What devices is Pixen compatible with? Pixen is available as a native application for both iOS and macOS. It is optimized for Apple Pencil on iPad, offering advanced features like hover support with Apple Pencil Pro. ### What kind of projects can I create with Pixen? You can create a wide range of pixel art projects, including character sprites, game assets, icons, and animated sequences. The app is well-suited for retro game development, digital illustration, and creating animated GIFs. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 4.0.5 — 2026-08-30 - Handoff projects between devices with ease - The selected tool is now more obvious - Quick Look previews are now more reliable - The size of the app binary has been reduced ### 4.0.4 — 2026-08-23 - Bug fixes ### 4.0.3 — 2026-04-17 - Bug fixes Previously in Pixen 4: - Enjoy a refreshed design on iOS 26 with Liquid Glass - Run Pixen on iPhone for the first time and edit your projects on the go - Manage your creations more easily with the new document browser - Sync your work via third-party file providers like Dropbox - Use the app in Light Mode if you prefer a lighter environment (instead of Dark Mode) - Work in different documents in separate windows - Discover and access Pixen's features from the menu bar - Speed up drawing symmetrical objects with the Mirror X / Mirror Y options for the Pencil tool - Use the new "Clone Layer to All Frames" command to propagate layer changes to all frames in an animation, perfect for updating a background that is shared across all frames - Adjust the size of the layers / color palettes sidebar - Hide and show the layers / color palettes sidebar to free up canvas space - Hide and show tool properties to free up canvas space - Customize the toolbar to access common commands more easily - Added a new command for selecting visible pixels - Improved thumbnail rendering in the Files app ### 4.0.2 — 2026-04-14 - Bug fixes Previously in Pixen 4: - Enjoy a refreshed design on iOS 26 with Liquid Glass - Run Pixen on iPhone for the first time and edit your projects on the go - Manage your creations more easily with the new document browser - Sync your work via third-party file providers like Dropbox - Use the app in Light Mode if you prefer a lighter environment (instead of Dark Mode) - Work in different documents in separate windows - Discover and access Pixen's features from the menu bar - Speed up drawing symmetrical objects with the Mirror X / Mirror Y options for the Pencil tool - Use the new "Clone Layer to All Frames" command to propagate layer changes to all frames in an animation, perfect for updating a background that is shared across all frames - Adjust the size of the layers / color palettes sidebar - Hide and show the layers / color palettes sidebar to free up canvas space - Hide and show tool properties to free up canvas space - Customize the toolbar to access common commands more easily - Added a new command for selecting visible pixels - Improved thumbnail rendering in the Files app ### 4.0.1 — 2026-03-22 - Bug fixes Previously in Pixen 4: - Enjoy a refreshed design on iOS 26 with Liquid Glass - Run Pixen on iPhone for the first time and edit your projects on the go - Manage your creations more easily with the new document browser - Sync your work via third-party file providers like Dropbox - Use the app in Light Mode if you prefer a lighter environment (instead of Dark Mode) - Work in different documents in separate windows - Discover and access Pixen's features from the menu bar - Speed up drawing symmetrical objects with the Mirror X / Mirror Y options for the Pencil tool - Use the new "Clone Layer to All Frames" command to propagate layer changes to all frames in an animation, perfect for updating a background that is shared across all frames - Adjust the size of the layers / color palettes sidebar - Hide and show the layers / color palettes sidebar to free up canvas space - Hide and show tool properties to free up canvas space - Customize the toolbar to access common commands more easily - Added a new command for selecting visible pixels - Improved thumbnail rendering in the Files app ## Apps similar to Pixen | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Pixquare - Pixel Art Studio](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pixquare-pixel-art-studio/id1659428179) | 4.8 (3,059) | Free | Graphics & Design | | [Poster Maker - AI Flyer Design](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/poster-maker-ai-flyer-design/id1241339881) | 4.6 (20,218) | Free | Graphics & Design | | [aesthetic photo editor - R4VE](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aesthetic-photo-editor-r4ve/id1030361826) | 4.7 (17,120) | Free | Graphics & Design | | [Art Word: Add Text to Photos](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/art-word-add-text-to-photos/id1156396870) | 4.7 (18,577) | Free | Graphics & Design | | [Split Pic Collage Maker Layout](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/split-pic-collage-maker-layout/id570748340) | 4.6 (15,676) | Free | Graphics & Design | | [Picsart Color: Draw & Paint](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/picsart-color-draw-and-paint/id1183817887) | 4.5 (22,325) | Free | Graphics & Design | ## More apps by Furnace Creek Software LLC - [Forthcoming](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/forthcoming/id697815574) - [Quick Synonyms](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/quick-synonyms/id1076119771) - [Vidmote](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vidmote/id1078121524) - [Licon Collection](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/licon-collection/id1088681344) - [BluePiano LE](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluepiano-le/id1114357838) All apps by Furnace Creek Software LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/321189453 ## Related topics [pixelmator classic ios](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/pixelmator-classic-ios) · [pixel photo editor art](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/pixel-photo-editor-art) · [pixel animation art](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/pixel-animation-art) · [pixel art editor](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/pixel-art-editor) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-31.*