Open beta

A pixel art editor that
lives in your browser.

Layers, frame-by-frame animation, a full brush/shape toolset and a dockable panel UI — no install, no account, nothing to configure. Open a tab and start drawing.

What / why

Built because pixel art tooling shouldn't need an install.

PixisEditor is a browser-based pixel art editor: layers, frame animation, a dockable tool/panel UI, PNG/GIF export, all running client-side on Canvas 2D. Ships as a single-file build, so it works the same whether it's hosted, downloaded, or opened straight from disk.

It's an independent project developed solo, currently in active beta with new tools and fixes shipping regularly.

renderer Canvas 2D, tiled compositor
stack vanilla ES6, Vite single-file build
runs entirely client-side, no server
status open beta, shipping weekly
Features

Everything a pixel workflow needs

No plugins to hunt down, no export pipeline to wire up.

Layers & groups

Full layer stack with groups, blend modes, opacity and adjustment layers.

Frame animation

Frame-by-frame animation with onion skinning, right in the same canvas.

Full tool set

Brush, shapes, lasso, retouch and palette tools with per-tool settings.

Dockable panels

Rearrange tool, layers and preview panels into the layout you want.

PNG / GIF export

Export finished art or animations without leaving the browser.

Single-file, no install

One self-contained build — open it from a URL or straight off disk.

Want to see every tool in action first? Read the manual →

What's new

Recent updates

1.51.0 - 2026-09-01

  • Paste (Ctrl+V) an image copied from outside the editor straight in as a new paint layer, fit and centered - just like dragging a file in. Pasting inside the editor still works as before.
  • Press H or Y to flip the selected layer(s) horizontally or vertically from any tool, no need to switch to Move first.
  • Press \* to isolate the active layer (hide all others), press again to bring them back.
  • Fixed: moving or transforming a floating selection could briefly paint it on top of every layer instead of staying at its own layer's position in the stack.

1.50.0 - 2026-08-31

  • Drag an image or GIF from your file system straight onto the editor to import it - an image becomes a paint layer, a GIF becomes an animation. An on-screen prompt shows how the drop will be handled; unsupported file types are rejected with a clear message.
  • Import -> Image now creates a regular paint layer instead of a reference-only layer, so it behaves like any other layer right away. The separate "Parse reference -> layer" step is gone since it's no longer needed.
  • Fixed: erasing could sometimes leave faint leftover color behind until a larger repaint cleared it.
  • Fixed: Ctrl+right-click-dragging to resize a floating palette window could instead resize the main Color panel.

1.49.9 - 2026-08-31

  • Painting a small area no longer rebuilds the whole canvas - only the changed pixels are redrawn, so large canvases stay snappier.

1.49.8 - 2026-08-31

  • Hide, lock, layer/frame opacity, isolate, play range, and animation-track visibility/lock now undo with Ctrl+Z.
  • Onion-skin neighboring frames stay cheaper to redraw - they are no longer fully recolored on every canvas refresh.
Open beta

Try it now, help shape what's next

PixisEditor is free to use during the beta, with new tools and fixes shipping regularly. This is a limited demo build — the full version unlocks everything.

Open beta testing is coming soon. Apply now to get access.

No spam — just an email with the link when you're in.

Support

Support the project

PixisEditor is free to use during the beta. If it's useful to you, a donation goes straight toward development time ahead of the full release.

Top supporters

Nobody yet — be the first name on this list.