Aseprite-Compatible
Read and write .aseprite files. Drop into your game pipeline.
Pixel-art & image editor · v1.6.0
A pixel-art and
image editor
for the web.
Open source. Free. Two editors in one: make sprites, tilemaps, and animations, save as Aseprite-compatible .aseprite and drop them into your game. Edit photos, screenshots, and artwork with layers, brushes, selections, and effects — PNG, JPEG, WebP, TIFF and more. No account, no upload, no catch.
Pincel is two editors in one browser tab, and the file decides which one opens. Pixel mode is built for game developers and pixel artists: it reads and writes the Aseprite file format, so your work fits into existing pipelines, with tilemaps, slices, animation tags, palettes, and indexed color — the things you actually need. Image mode is a full paint.net-style editor for everything else — photos, screenshots, UI mockups, artwork — with layers, blend modes, brushes, selections, transforms, effects, and adjustments; it opens PNG, JPEG, WebP, BMP, GIF, and TIFF and saves OpenRaster so GIMP and Krita open it too. Both run offline as a PWA or as a desktop app, speak English and German, and work on an iPad. It's open source under MIT or Apache 2.0, and it will stay that way.
What it does
From game assets to everyday images.
Tilemaps
First-class tilemap layers with tilesets. Stamp, swap, edit in place.
Slices
Named regions, 9-patch, pivot points — for hitboxes, UI, and game logic.
Animation
Frames, tags, onion skin, ping-pong. Tag your states; export sheets.
Palette Workflow
DB32, PICO-8, NES and Game Boy presets, GIMP .gpl import and export.
Tablet & Pen
Pinch-to-zoom, pen pressure, on-screen Shift and Alt. iPad-friendly.
Image Mode
Layers, brushes, selections, effects, and adjustments for photos, screenshots, and artwork. Saves .ora.
Offline PWA
Install it. Works without a connection. Your files stay on your device.
Embeddable
npm package. Drop into your tool. Same editor, in your app.
Open Source
MIT / Apache 2.0. Forkable, auditable, yours.
Honest comparison
Where it stands today.
| Feature | Pincel | Aseprite | Piskel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aseprite file format (read+write) | ✅ | ✅ native | ❌ |
| Tilemaps | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Slices (9-patch, pivot) | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Animation timeline + tags | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ basic |
| Tablet / pen support | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Runs in browser | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Layered image editing (photos, screenshots) | ✅ Image mode | ❌ pixel art only | ❌ |
| Native desktop app | ✅ Tauri | ✅ | ✅ via NW.js, ageing |
| Embeddable as a library | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Lua scripting / extensions | ❌ Phase 2 | ✅ | ❌ |
| Custom brushes | ❌ Phase 2 | ✅ | ✅ |
| Price | Free | Paid | Free |
| Open source | ✅ MIT/Apache | ✅ EULA-restricted | ✅ Apache 2.0 |
| Active development | ✅ | ✅ | 🟡 modernization in progress |
Pincel is new and Aseprite has 14 years of features. We're catching up where it matters for game-dev workflows. Where it doesn't, we're not.
In three steps
How it works.
-
1. Open
Drag in a
.asepritefile or start fresh. -
2. Edit
Paint, animate, build tilemaps, define slices.
-
3. Save
Save back to
.aseprite. Your engine hot-reloads.
Open Editor
Or as a desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux: download it →
Or: npm install @amigo-labs/pincel to embed it →