Picotap vs PixelForge

Easy controls. Draw the pixel art and animations you imagine. Picotap is a pixel art app built for easy phone controls. Trace the Swipe Area at the bottom of the screen to move the cursor, then press a button to place color. Your finger never hides your artwork, so precise pixel-by-pixel work stays comfortable. Easy to start, and it does what you need. From your first icon to game assets and animations, it handles it all. ◆ New: Bring Your Pixel Art to Life with Animation • Up to 64 frames. Make animations just like a flip book • Onion Skin shows the previous and next frames faintly, so smooth motion is easy to draw • Play back your animation right away to check it • Export as GIF or APNG for social media or your games ◆ Precise Control at Your Fingertip • Trackpad-style cursor: move fast to go far, move slowly to go one cell at a time. Tap the Swipe Area to draw right where the cursor is • Switch to One Cell at a Time or D-Pad controls if you prefer • Pinch to zoom the canvas • The draw and Undo buttons you use most sit within easy reach of your thumb, with haptic feedback so you feel every press • A hands-on tutorial teaches the basics as you draw ◆ Tools for Whatever You Want to Make • Layers: up to 8. Show or hide them and adjust their opacity • Shape tool: line, rectangle, and ellipse. Outline only, filled, or drawn from the center • Tool switching: Pen, Brush, Eraser, Fill, Eyedropper, and Shape. Choose the size and shape of the Brush and Eraser • Selection: move, copy, cut, flip, and rotate. Swap parts or make symmetrical art with ease • References: load multiple reference images, then pinch and drag to fit their position and size for tracing. Show or hide them frame by frame in your animation • Brush patterns: 8 types, including checker and stripes, to cover large areas efficiently • Canvas size: from tiny 8×8 icons to 512×512 masterpieces. Over 50 presets plus custom sizes ◆ Free Colors and Saving • Palette: set any number of colors from 1 to 256. Includes 60 preset palettes that give you a matching color scheme in one tap • Transparent areas are shown as an easy-to-see checkerboard • Choose the background when saving images: transparent, white, black, or a palette color • Export multiple artworks at once ◆ Create with Peace of Mind • Undo up to 50 times: try anything without worrying about mistakes • Auto-save: your work is saved automatically as you go • Backup and restore: switch devices worry-free • Trash: recover artworks you deleted by accident ◆ Perfect For • Anyone who wanted to try pixel art but struggled because their finger covered the screen • Anyone who wants to make cute retro pixel animations (GIFs) to post on social media • Anyone who wants to make their own social media icon • Anyone who wants to create pixel art or animated character assets for game development • Anyone who wants to casually draw pixel art on their phone while on the go or in spare moments • Anyone who wants to start by tracing a photo or illustration You can also use the app ad-free with the one-time purchase Remove Ads. Anytime, anywhere, right at your fingertip. Create your own pixel art and animations with Picotap.

The pixel art studio built for game developers, sprite artists, and retro creators. Draw, animate frame-by-frame, and export spritesheets — all on iPhone and iPad. No subscription required to start. PROFESSIONAL PIXEL ART TOOLS - Precision Drawing - Pixel-perfect brushes with customizable sizes (1-3px) - Advanced Layer System - Unlimited layers for complex artwork (Pro) - Color Management - HSV color picker with custom palette creation - Shape Tools - Draw circles, rectangles, lines with pixel precision - Smart Selection - Lasso, rectangle, and magic wand selection tools - Eyedropper Tool - Sample any color directly from your canvas ANIMATION FEATURES - Frame-by-Frame Editor - Full control over every frame - Timeline Control - Adjust frame duration and playback speed - Frame Management - Add, duplicate, delete, and reorder frames - Onion Skinning - See adjacent frames while editing for smooth animation - Play/Pause Preview - Preview animations in real-time - Export - Save as animated GIF or sprite sheets ADVANCED FEATURES - Image Import - Convert photos to pixel art with dithering - Tiling Preview - Create seamless textures and patterns - Canvas Resizing - From 1x1 to 256x256 pixels - Undo/Redo - 50-step history - Clipboard Support - Copy, cut, and paste selections - Color Replace - Swap colors across your entire project - Dithering Patterns - Retro-style gradients and shading EXPORT OPTIONS - PNG, GIF, and sprite sheet export - Auto-save so you never lose work - Share directly from the app PERFECT FOR - Game developers creating sprites and tilesets - Pixel artists and illustrators - Retro game enthusiasts - Animation hobbyists - Anyone who loves pixel art FREE AND PRO Free tier includes: - 2 layers, 4 animation frames - All basic drawing tools - Project saving and export Pro unlocks: - Unlimited layers and frames - Premium tools: dithering, gradient fill, magic wand, color replace, move tool - Tiling preview mode UNIVERSAL APP Optimized for both iPhone and iPad. Hardware-accelerated rendering via Skia for smooth, responsive drawing. Download PixelForge and start building your pixel art today.