True Pixel is Sorceress’s pixel-art conversion tool for turning existing images, illustrations, renders, GIFs, video clips, and image sequences into crisp, palette-controlled pixel graphics. It is designed for game creators who need usable sprites: transparent backgrounds, consistent animation frames, downloadable PNGs, sprite sheets, and handoff to other Sorceress sprite tools.
True Pixel is a Pro tool. You must be signed in with active Pro access to upload files and export finished assets.
What it does
True Pixel takes an uploaded image or video and converts it into low-resolution pixel art, then optionally scales the result up with sharp, blocky pixels for easier previewing and game use. You can choose the target pixel dimensions, limit or preset the color palette, apply dithering, remove chroma-style backgrounds, stabilize animations, and export the result as individual PNGs or sprite sheets.
For videos and multi-image batches, True Pixel extracts or loads frames, lets you keep or delete frames, converts selected frames as a batch, and provides playback tools so you can compare the original motion against the converted pixel-art animation.
Access and supported uploads
- Requires a Sorceress account.
- Uploading and exporting require Pro access.
- The upload panel accepts common image and video formats shown in the tool, including PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF, MP4, and WebM.
- You can upload one image for a simple conversion, multiple images as a frame queue, or one or more videos.
- If images and videos are added together, True Pixel prioritizes videos.
- Local GPU background removal requires a configured local server and an NVIDIA CUDA-capable GPU with at least 6 GB VRAM.
Typical workflow
- Open True Pixel.
- Drag an image or video into the upload area, or click the upload box to choose files.
- Set Target Resolution. True Pixel defaults to about 64 pixels on the longest side and can keep the source aspect ratio locked.
- Choose a palette mode: Auto Extract or Preset.
- Choose a Pixel Scale such as 4× or 8× for a larger crisp preview/export.
- Optional: adjust Enhancement, Dithering, Background Removal, Frame Fit, and animation Stability settings.
- For videos or image sequences, click Render & Play to convert selected frames and preview the result.
- Export from the right sidebar.
Uploading images, videos, and queues
The upload area accepts both images and videos. After a file is loaded, the center preview shows the original beside the True Pixel result when available.
Single image
For a single image, True Pixel loads the image directly and updates the preview automatically as you change settings. The target width and height are initialized from the image’s aspect ratio.
Multiple images
If you upload multiple images, True Pixel treats them as a frame queue. Each image becomes a frame that can be previewed, converted, exported as individual PNGs, or combined into a sprite sheet.
Videos
For videos, True Pixel extracts frames automatically at 30 frames per second. Extracted frames appear in the Frames panel, where you can select the current preview frame, mark frames for deletion, restore removed frames, and adjust thumbnail size.
If you add multiple videos, a Files list appears in the right sidebar. Use it to switch between queued files, remove individual files, or clear the queue. Sprite-sheet and ZIP export can include converted frames from the queue.
Target resolution
Target Resolution controls the actual pixel-art resolution before upscaling. This is the most important setting for the final pixel-art look.
Options:
- Width / Height: Enter values from 8 to 512 pixels.
- Lock: Keeps the source aspect ratio while changing width or height.
- Preset buttons: 16, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, and 256.
For character sprites, 32–96 pixels is usually a good starting range. Lower resolutions look more retro and force stronger simplification. Higher resolutions preserve more source detail but may look closer to a filtered illustration than classic pixel art.
Color palette
True Pixel converts the source to a limited color palette.
Auto Extract
Auto Extract builds a palette from the uploaded image or selected animation frames.
Options:
- Max Colors: 2–256.
- Quick choices: 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256.
Use fewer colors for a stronger retro style and more consistent sprites. Use more colors when you want to preserve painterly shading, generated-art detail, or subtle lighting.
Preset palettes
Preset lets you choose from built-in classic palettes:
- PICO-8 (16)
- SWEETIE-16
- Endesga 32
- Game Boy
- CGA
- NES (54)
- Grayscale (8)
- 1-Bit
Preset palettes are useful when targeting a specific retro look or when you need color consistency across many assets.
Pixel scale
Pixel Scale controls how large the exported preview PNG is compared with the logical pixel-art size.
Available scales:
- 1×
- 2×
- 4×
- 8×
- 16×
For example, a 64×64 target at 4× exports as a 256×256 PNG. Scaling uses crisp nearest-neighbor pixels rather than smoothing.
Single-image exports include both a scaled PNG and a raw 1× PNG.
Dithering
Dithering changes how colors are approximated when the palette is limited.
Modes:
- None: Direct color matching. Produces clean, flat regions.
- Ordered: Uses a regular pattern for retro-style shading.
- Floyd-S: Uses error diffusion for smoother gradients and a more organic texture.
When using Ordered or Floyd-S, set Intensity from 0% to 100%.
Tips:
- Use None for clean sprites and animation frames.
- Use Ordered for deliberate retro texture.
- Use Floyd-S for portraits, gradients, and soft lighting, but be careful: it can add noise or shimmer to animations.
Enhancement settings
The Enhancement panel contains optional visual adjustments.
Edge Enhance
Edge Enhance sharpens edge detail before palette conversion.
- Toggle: Edge Enhance.
- Strength: 1–200%.
Use low values for subtle crispness. High values can make edges harsh or noisy.
Outline / Dark Edges
Outline / Dark Edges darkens visible contours and strong transitions.
Options:
- Threshold: 5–90%. Higher values outline fewer edges.
- Opacity: 10–100%. Higher values make the outline stronger.
- Color: black, dark gray, dark brown, or dark navy.
This is useful for improving sprite readability on busy backgrounds.
Contrast and brightness
- Contrast: -80 to 80.
- Brightness: -80 to 80.
These adjustments are applied after pixel conversion. Use them to tune readability after palette reduction.
Background removal
Background removal lives in the right sidebar above the frame tools. True Pixel includes two modes: Chroma Key and CorridorKey.
Chroma Key
Use Chroma Key for solid-color backgrounds such as green screen, magenta, or other flat key colors.
Steps:
- Choose Chroma Key in the Background Removal panel.
- Click Pick Chroma Key Color.
- Click the color on the True Pixel preview that you want to remove.
- Adjust Tolerance from 0 to 500.
- Keep Pre-process at full resolution enabled when possible. It removes the key color before downscaling, which helps prevent colored fringes.
- Optional: enable Auto Edge Chroma to clean edge spill. Set the number of cleanup passes from 1 to 30.
If too much of the subject disappears, lower Tolerance. If colored edges remain, raise Tolerance slightly or enable Auto Edge Chroma.
CorridorKey
CorridorKey is AI-powered green-screen/chroma background removal. It is intended for images and frames with a clear solid chroma-style background.
Options:
- Cloud GPU: Processes in the cloud.
- Local GPU: Uses your configured local GPU setup.
For videos, CorridorKey processes the currently selected frames. The button changes to indicate whether it will remove the background for one image or multiple frames. You can cancel while processing.
When using Local GPU, the panel shows whether the local server is connected. If it is offline, use the Set up local server in Settings link and make sure your machine meets the GPU requirement shown in the tool.
Frame fit modes
Frame fit controls how transparent space is handled in preview and export.
Modes:
- Animation: Preserves the frame canvas and character position. Best for animation because frames stay aligned.
- Tight: Crops to visible content and outputs the cropped size.
- Tight Stretch: Crops to visible content, then stretches it back to fill the fixed canvas.
Use Animation for sprite animations. Use Tight for standalone icons or single character images. Use Tight Stretch only when you want every frame to fill the same output area even if that changes proportions.
Video and animation tools
When a video or image sequence is loaded, the Frames panel appears.
Frame tools:
- Click a frame to preview it.
- Shift-click to mark a range for deletion.
- Ctrl/Cmd-click to toggle individual marked frames.
- Press Delete or Backspace to remove marked frames from the selected set.
- Click Restore All to bring removed frames back.
- Use the Size slider to change thumbnail size.
Playback tools:
- Quick Play: Plays the selected original frames without converting them.
- Render & Play: Converts the selected frames and plays the pixel-art result.
- FPS: Set playback from 1 to 60 frames per second.
The original and converted previews play side by side, making it easier to judge motion, silhouette changes, palette flicker, and background removal.
Animation stability
The Stability panel appears for videos and multi-frame image queues. These options help reduce flicker and unstable pixel decisions across frames.
Options:
- Auto-rerun on change: After you manually render once, changing visual settings automatically re-renders the selected frames after a short delay.
- Temporal Stability: Smooths frame-to-frame color decisions. Strength ranges from 0 to 100.
- Mode Downsample: Uses a more stable downsampling method for animated pixel art. Set the source resolution cap from 256 to 1024; higher values can preserve more information but require more processing.
Recommended starting point for animations:
- Keep Temporal Stability enabled.
- Start with the default stability strength.
- If small details shimmer or crawl, enable Mode Downsample.
- Avoid heavy dithering when animation stability is more important than texture.
- Use Animation frame fit mode unless you intentionally want each frame cropped.
Preview controls and backgrounds
The center preview can show the original and True Pixel result side by side.
Controls:
- Mouse wheel: zoom the preview.
- Middle mouse button or Alt + left click: pan.
- A zoom indicator and Reset button appear when the preview is not at 100%.
Preview backgrounds include:
- Transparency checker.
- Solid dark, black, gray, white, magenta, and green.
- Custom color picker.
- Scene previews: Daytime, Night Sky, Ocean, and Dungeon.
These backgrounds are only for previewing transparency and readability. They do not replace the transparent export background.
Exporting
Export options appear in the right sidebar after you have a result or loaded frames.
Single image exports
- Download Scaled: Exports the upscaled PNG at the selected pixel scale.
- Download Raw: Exports the 1× pixel-art PNG at the target resolution.
Use Raw when a game engine or pipeline expects exact 1× pixel dimensions. Use Scaled when you want a larger PNG that still displays crisp pixel blocks.
Animation and frame exports
For videos and multi-frame queues:
- Download Sprite Sheet: Exports converted frames arranged into a sheet.
- Download PNGs (ZIP): Exports individual converted frames as PNG files in a ZIP.
- Send to Sprite Analyzer: Sends a generated sprite sheet to Sprite Analyzer for further work. This option appears for video queues.
If frames have not been converted yet, True Pixel converts them automatically when you export.
In WizardGenie embed contexts, single-image results may also show a drag action for importing the result into WizardGenie Explorer without downloading first.
Settings profiles
Use Profiles in the top bar to save and reload conversion settings.
You can:
- Save the current settings under a profile name.
- Load a saved profile.
- Delete profiles you no longer need.
Profiles are useful for repeatable looks, such as “64px PICO-8 no dither,” “32px Game Boy,” or “clean animation with temporal stability.” Profiles store conversion settings, not the uploaded source files.
Showcase mode
After generating a result, click Showcase to create a vertical, social-media-style presentation comparing the original and pixel-art conversion.
The showcase cycles through examples of:
- Target resolution changes.
- Edge enhancement.
- Color palettes.
- Dithering modes.
- Your final custom result.
While the showcase overlay is active, you can:
- Close it with the close button.
- Download it as a WebM video.
Showcase output is designed for a 9:16 vertical presentation format.
Tips and troubleshooting
My sprite has a colored halo after removing the background
Use Chroma Key with Pre-process at full resolution enabled. If a halo remains, enable Auto Edge Chroma and increase the pass count gradually.
Too much of my character becomes transparent
Lower Tolerance, or pick a more precise key color from the preview.
CorridorKey local mode says offline
Open Sorceress settings and configure the local server. Make sure the local server is running and that your machine has a supported NVIDIA CUDA GPU with at least 6 GB VRAM.
My animation flickers
Enable Temporal Stability. If flicker remains, enable Mode Downsample and consider lowering or disabling dithering.
Exported animation frames are misaligned
Use Animation frame fit mode. Tight cropping can change each frame’s canvas size or position, which is usually not ideal for animation playback.
Conversion feels slow on long videos
Delete unnecessary frames before rendering. Lower the target resolution, reduce the Mode Downsample source cap, or convert shorter clips.
The result looks too smooth or not pixelated enough
Lower Target Resolution, then use a higher Pixel Scale for display. For example, convert at 32×32 or 64×64 and export at 4× or 8×.
My palette changes too much between animation frames
Use Temporal Stability or a Preset palette. Preset palettes force every frame into the same color set.
FAQ
Is True Pixel an editor for drawing pixel art by hand?
No. True Pixel is a converter and batch-processing tool. It turns existing images, renders, GIFs, videos, and frame sequences into pixel art.
Can I use True Pixel for sprite sheets?
Yes. Upload a video or multiple images, render the selected frames, then choose Download Sprite Sheet.
Can I export individual animation frames?
Yes. Use Download PNGs (ZIP) to export converted frames as separate PNG files.
Can I send results to other Sorceress tools?
Yes. Video-frame outputs can be sent to Sprite Analyzer. In WizardGenie embed contexts, single-image results may also be dragged into WizardGenie Explorer.
Which palette should I start with?
For general use, start with Auto Extract at 32 or 64 colors. For a specific retro look, try PICO-8, Game Boy, CGA, Grayscale, or 1-Bit.
Should I use Chroma Key or CorridorKey?
Use Chroma Key for clean solid backgrounds when you can pick the exact color. Use CorridorKey for more difficult green-screen-style images where edge cleanup needs extra help.