i'm a sad individual so here are my not good sprites

[miyabi95_]

here's a step-by-step process of how i make sprites

paint the sprite with photoshop brush

lower the number of values via save for web feature in photoshop

fix the dithering

obviously didn't come out amazing, i kinda overwhelmed myself with all the dithering the anti-aliased brush caused lol

[Gors]

Your technique is highly flawed however because of many reasons.

While indexpaint is a very valid way to make pixelart, you are doing it in a way that goes against the very fundamentals of pixelart:

Sharpness and readability over anything else.

As a rule of thumb, you shuld always use this technique for big pixelart. Like, 200 pixel and onwards, never for game-size pixelart. This resolution will cramp all the drawing you did and ruin all the detail that you've put into the drawing (this is a recurrent problem in your art, which looks unreadable and filled with stray pixels).

indexpaint, then, should be used in a smart way, and not in literally all instances of pixelart. There are times where placing the pixels on your own will yield much better results.

This being said, you should always make indexpaint in a very large size. For example, for a 200 pixel tall sprite, you should draw it in a 4-times bigger (800 pixel tall) canvas space, and then resize it down to 200. This will ensure that the pixels will still look sharp despite being done with digital art. Remember that since you're making a drawing 4 times bigger than the final output, try using a 4 pixel thick brush to draw the outline

Avoid blurry brushes and brushes with pressure sensitivity, too, as they are the main source of pixel noise when color reducing. Try using a 100% hardness brush, with the blurs used only on spaces where shading should blend more. This will speed up the process and yield readable pixelart.

In other words, if your sprite is smaller than 100x100 pixels, then do it by hand. over that size, use indexpaint wth aforementioned techniques.

[miyabi95_]

That does make a lotta sense. thanks for your help! I'll give that a go and see what i can come up with...

[Gors]

After reading more about indexpaint techniques, I found this @ 2dwillneverdie.com:



This is Contra 3's sprite. Notice how the indexpaint source is very big compared to the original sprite. Also, notice how sharp the strokes are, with more emphasis on the blobs of light and shadow. This source is then shrunk, and run into an index palette with the Color Table. The result (end sprite) is very close to the original (the first sprite, at the left), but even then it's still not as detailed. This must be fixed with hand-placed pixels.

it probably could help with the way you make sprites - bur I still feel that for small sprites, making them directly with the hand is faster and since you're placing them yourself, you won't be surprised by any algorithm photoshop might use for blurs and colors.

---

http://2dwillneverdie.com/tutorial/fix-m...-volume-3/

this is the link for the tutorial. I suggest reading them all, even for fun, It'll open your eyes to how you approach pixelart as a medium.

[miyabi95_]

fooled around with 2DWND's resize-indexing technique. it's not great but I think I get the idea now

before

after

[miyabi95_]

more experimenting with index


probably could use more cleanup but i was just fooling around.
(thank you Ploaj for ripping the Ekoro sprites)

[Gors]

your attempt looks very close to the original! that looks very nice.

The remaining pixels (especially the black outline where it doesn't connect) can easily be made by hand