I'd like to learn

[FinalSmash]

That's what I'm doing now. If I can only find THE STRAIGHT LINE TOOL!!!! AARARRARGGHHH!!!

[Vipershark]

What version of Paint are you using?

Use the version of Paint that came with Windows XP.
It's older, but it's much easier to use. (Also you really shouldn't be using the line tools...)

[FinalSmash]

What version of Paint are you using?

Use the version of Paint that came with Windows XP.
It's older, but it's much easier to use. (Also you really shouldn't be using the line tools...)

I'm using the one that came with 7. Why shouldn't I be using the line tool?

[Vipershark]

Don't use 7Paint, it's absolute crap. Switch to the one I just sent you.

Basically you shouldn't use the tools for several reasons. One, they sorta go against the spirit of laying pixels individually (the line tool can be acceptable in some cases where necessary but only the line tool), but mostly it's because the tools are a lot less accurate than you would be had you laid the pixels by hand. For example, the curve tool leaves lots of jaggies and the circle tool makes really ugly circles most of the time. It's generally easier and faster to just do it right the first time instead of getting a tool to do it for you.

[FinalSmash]

Well the tutorial I'm following only says to use the straight line tool. I did switch, It's much much better. Thank you.

Here's the tutorial in case you're wondering: http://www.sythe.org/graphics-resources-...paint.html

[Vipershark]

That's a really bad tutorial by a guy who has no idea what he's doing. Don't follow that.
I'll try to find you something better.
What ARE you trying to make?

[FinalSmash]

Well, I'd most like to do sprites of game characters.


I think it's Mario's hat.

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

The line tool can come in handy, when it comes to things like architecture or objects on a large scale. Trust what you can do freehand, may it be with a mouse, a trackpad or a tablet-you can always clean up later. You won't get things right the first time, so don't worry about cleanliness until the later stages of your sprite creation.

[E-Man]

Well the tutorial I'm following only says to use the straight line tool. I did switch, It's much much better. Thank you.

Here's the tutorial in case you're wondering: http://www.sythe.org/graphics-resources-...paint.html

That's a really bad tutorial by a guy who has no idea what he's doing. Don't follow that.

No offense, FinalSmash, but why did you choose that tutorial of all things? I took a look at it myself and even the less accomplished spriters can sprite better than he can (he doesn't even know what hue shifting is). Also, the fact that he was mostly getting buttpats from his work instead of the solid critiques you could early find on this site smells like bad news to me.

Anyway, for your Mario hat, I think you made it too big. When starting out in pixel art, I would recommend you try something smaller, so you can easily edit and manage it without any hassle.

[psychospacecow]

Try out gimp. Its like photoshop but its open source. I don't really like it but its free so it can't hurt you. If nothing else, I believe it uses layers so you could have the comparison advantage if nothing else.

[Vipershark]

Gimp is completely unnecessary.
GG already has layers and Photoshop is easily installable.

---

No offense, FinalSmash, but why did you choose that tutorial of all things? I took a look at it myself and even the less accomplished spriters can sprite better than he can (he doesn't even know what hue shifting is). Also, the fact that he was mostly getting buttpats from his work instead of the solid critiques you could early find on this site smells like bad news to me.

Okay, this is a really bad response.

FinalSmash obviously has no idea how to sprite or what spriting terms are, so calling him out over picking a bad tutorial is frankly really stupid.
I know I already commented on that but I wasn't like "HEY MAN THIS SUCKS WHY WOULD YOU EVEN USE THAT".

[FinalSmash]

Nah, it's okay. I'm not bothered by those things. I just want to learn is all, and I'll accept any critique along the way.

[Vipershark]

Anyway, just start off by spriting a character you like.
Open up paint, find some reference images, and then do your best to sprite that character.
Don't trace, though. (Also don't make something gigantic like your last one, heh)

Don't worry if your result is bad. Post it here anyway for C+C and we'll start putting you on the right path.

[E-Man]

Okay, this is a really bad response.

FinalSmash obviously has no idea how to sprite or what spriting terms are, so calling him out over picking a bad tutorial is frankly really stupid.
I know I already commented on that but I wasn't like "HEY MAN THIS SUCKS WHY WOULD YOU EVEN USE THAT".

Errr… Sorry about that. I wasn't meaning for it to sound harsh. I was only speaking my mind out loud about what was going on in the tutorial.

[Kelvin]

I agree; you're a pretty good artist. One technique I've found works is to draw a sketch, shrink it down, then pixel over it. Also, be careful if you choose to use MS Paint; the Vista version is horribly glitchy, and everything after that is, well, useless. The Windows XP version is the best. Paint.NET is also good, especially since it offers both soft and aliased drawing modes and different transparency options, and it's free. The free version of Graphics Gale does everything you need for animation, and can even export frames as a neatly-organized sheet, as does Tileset Maker.