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jvalen/pixel-art-react

★ 5,900JavaScriptAudience · designerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

A browser-based pixel art editor where you draw on a grid and export your artwork as pure CSS code, an animated GIF, or a PNG image, with no server or image hosting required.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((pixel-art-react))
    Drawing Tools
      Color palette
      Undo and redo
      Grid editor
    Export Options
      CSS code
      PNG image
      Animated GIF
    Animation
      Frame editor
      Timing control
      Keyframes
    Tech Stack
      React
      Redux
      ImmutableJS
    Projects
      Save to file
      Load from file
      Share as text
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Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Create pixel art icons or characters and export them as pure CSS using box-shadow, ready to drop into any webpage without image files

USE CASE 2

Build animated pixel art sequences and export them as GIF files using the built-in frame and timing editor

USE CASE 3

Save a pixel art project as a plain-text file and reload or share it later for continued editing

USE CASE 4

Generate CSS keyframe animations from pixel art drawings for use in web pages or game UIs

Tech stack

JavaScriptReactReduxImmutableJSPostCSSJest

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
Use, modify, and distribute freely for any purpose including commercial use, as long as you keep the original copyright notice.

In plain English

Pixel Art to CSS is a browser-based drawing and animation tool that lets you create pixel art and export it as working CSS code. You draw on a grid, color individual pixels, and the app generates the CSS needed to reproduce that artwork directly in a webpage, without any images. The CSS it produces uses two standard properties: box-shadow (to place colored squares) and keyframes (to animate them in sequence). This means the resulting code can be dropped into any website and will run in the browser with no extra dependencies. You can also export your work as a static image or an animated GIF if you prefer a file over code. The editor includes several tools for working on a piece: a customizable color palette, an undo and redo history, animation settings for controlling timing and frame order, and the ability to save projects and load them back later. There is also an import and export feature for sharing project files as plain text. On the technical side, the app is built with React for the interface, Redux for managing state, ImmutableJS for keeping data consistent, and PostCSS for styles. The repository includes linting and formatting tools that run automatically on commits. The test suite uses Jest. The project is currently in an idle state while a refactor and tech upgrade is in progress. The maintainer is not accepting new pull requests or issues at this time. The code is released under the MIT license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Using pixel-art-react, write me the CSS output format for a 16x16 smiley face so I can embed it in a webpage using only box-shadow.
Prompt 2
Help me add a bucket-fill tool to pixel-art-react that colors all connected same-colored pixels when I click one.
Prompt 3
Show me how to import an existing pixel-art-react project JSON file and export it as an animated GIF using the current export feature.
Prompt 4
I want to parse a pixel-art-react project file in Node.js and render each frame as a canvas image. Write me that script.
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