12 replies to this topic

[Mero]

I have paint.net and it seems that cropping my images as I do screws with the way they're coloured when I try to rip them into Zelda Classic. Is there a way to crop a tile export without messing with the coloring info.

[Adem]

Hmm...I've never heard of that kind of issue, nor have I ever had it. Are you possibly saving the cropped versions as a file type that results in color loss?

[Mero]

.png is what I've always used.

I don't crop it per say but copy and past the selected tile block into a new image. Is that the problem?

[NoeL]

Graphics Gale is the best for working with discrete colour palettes, such as ZC. I'd recommend that one.

[Mero]

Doesn't that cost money though?

[MoscowModder]

No, there is a free version.

[The Satellite]

You could also give GIMP a try. It's a free program. Takes a short bit of time to figure out completely and get used to, but once you do, it's an amazing program.

[Ventus]

I'm with TS. Give GIMP a Try. Its like Photo shop without the lag or big huge Price tag.
Because its free. Though it'll take some time to learn but once you mess around with for awhile it be one of the best paint programs you'll find and that is free.

[Twilight Knight]

Also keep in mind .gif and .bmp is easier rippable in ZC.

[Koh]

Also keep in mind .gif and .bmp is easier rippable in ZC.

But GIF can = Jumbled Palette and .bmps are huge :O.

[Rambly]

But GIF can = Jumbled Palette and .bmps are huge :O.

GIFs shouldn't necessarily mean jumbled palettes if you use a good program that preserves the palettes (GraphicsGale does), and BMP being large isn't as big of a deal if you're just saving copies for personal use. BMP files for sprites aren't necessarily that large anyway since sprites are generally pretty small image files.

Thankfully as far as Zelda Classic goes, 2.5 can read PNG files... but if you're ripping into 1.92 or 2.10, you still have to use GIF or BMP I think.

You could also give GIMP a try. It's a free program. Takes a short bit of time to figure out completely and get used to, but once you do, it's an amazing program.

GIMP is a bit unwieldy for sprite editing, though. It's meant for more of an alternative to programs like Photoshop which have more advanced photo manipulation features, and IIRC its pixel-by-pixel editing isn't that good.

[Zemious]

I started spriting with Tile Studio. I then moved up to Graphics Gale but it can't really handle some stuff effeciantly, such as transparency and animations. I'm using a tablet now with photoshop and it works wonders for spriting.

If you have a tablet as well, the pencil tool is great for doing pixel art in Photoshop. I find myself pressing "I", "M", "V", and "B" a lot while spriting.
I is paint dropper I believe
M is the rectangular selection tool.
V moves the selection.
B is brush or pencil I believe, whichever you have selected.

Ctrl+J is also helpful if you want to make a quick copy of the layer. This works wonders in some scenarios.

[Beefster]

mtPaint is pretty good for pixel art. If you can run GiMP, you can run mtPaint- as they both use GTK.

There's also ASE (Allegro Sprite Editor).