In Krita, go toĀ Tools ā£ Scripts ā£ Import Python Pluginā¦, find theĀ .zipĀ file and press OK.
Restart Krita.
Go toĀ SettingsĀ ā” DockersĀ ā” SZK Pixel Art Suite
A newĀ dockerĀ with the plugin will appear:
Ā Different tabs of the docker
š”Ā TIP:Ā EverythingĀ isĀ documented. SimplyĀ hoverĀ your mouse over any element to reveal its tooltip, learn how it works, discover shortcuts, and get helpful tips.
Tools
Pixel Shading Tab šØ
This is inspired by the color shading panel fromĀ Pyxel Edit, which provided interesting color shadings very easily. It brings its original functionality to Krita and expands on it by adding a few more options.
It also includes actions for adding andĀ sortingĀ colors in Krita's default Palette docker by different criteria (hue, value, saturation, perceived lightness, color similarity, etc.), similar to other software likeĀ Aseprite, which I personally find very useful when working with limited color palettes.
š”Ā TIP: When choosing a color from a palette, you can useĀ shortcutsĀ to quickly select darker or lighter variations within the palette.
Color Replace
Allows to precisely replace an specific color in the selected layers/groups or in the entire document.
This is useful when you want to change a palette or a certain color of an entire document or layer.
Note:Ā At the moment undo/redo is not supported natively in Krita' scripts, so if you want to undo changes you can swap the colors (with the swap button) and re-execute the color replace.
Index Painting
Sets up an index painting group for a layer (or group) with a single click.
TheĀ Index PaintingĀ is a technique that automatically dithers and reduce colors on a non-pixel art artwork. This means that you can use non-pixel art brushes, gradients, etc. for painting and still obtaining a Pixel Art aesthetic. Learn more about itĀ here.
It comes with a pattern editor that allows to create, save and load different patterns-pressets for the dithering effect.
This is mostly to play, experiment and discover new and cool pixel gradient effects.
š”Ā TIP: Hover a cell to see more matrix drawing options.
Export Tab š¾
Allows exporting the document (or any selected layer(s)!) scaled by a factor very easily and fast.
Useful when you want a higher resolution image of your Pixel Art drawing.
SZK K-Sprite āļø
Pixel art editor inside Krita that is meant to add some pixel artĀ featuresĀ that are missing in Krita. Like a pixel perfect brush, or tools for propper ellipses/circles, bezier lines, etc.
Is not meant to replace the process of drawing Pixel Art in Krita (because Krita is still a great tool for making pixel art!). Is meant to add those tools when you need them.
Tutorial
To executeĀ K-Sprite, go to theĀ Pencil Tab āļøĀ in the docker, or press the shortcut forĀ Open SZK K Pixel Art Editor (SZK Pixel Art Suite)Ā (DefaultĀ Alt+F3).
A new window will appear on top of Krita (1), and will grab the active layer (2):
1Ā - The window will render on top always so you can still use other krita dockers/plugins while drawing inĀ K-Sprite >Ā 2Ā - The active layer will be temporarily hidden in Krita's UI. This is dueĀ K-SpriteĀ renders the document, and having it visible will make it impossible to see changes in case you erase parts of the active layer insideĀ K-Sprite
Active tool options: Options related the selected tool
Actions: Diferent actions, like undo/redo, solo mode, etc.
Tool Bar: Contains all the drawing tools.
Brush: 1px brush with pixel perfect option.
Antialiasing brush: Automatically calculates the color of a pixel by their neighbour pixels.
Line
Bezier
Square
Circle: Improved circles
Fill: š For big areas, reaches a python recursion limit set by krita, so is only suitable for not so big regions.
Text: Tool to render correctly pixelated fonts
Zoom: For zooming specific areas easily.
š” You can check each tool shortcut by hovering any tool button and seeing theĀ Info Bar.
Canvas:
Controls
Left MBĀ -Ā PaintĀ with Foreground Color
Right MBĀ -Ā PaintĀ with Background Color
Middle MBĀ -Ā Pan
CTRL + Middle MB + DragĀ -Ā ZoomĀ in/out
CTRL + Left/Right MBĀ -Ā SampleĀ Foreground/Background color
XĀ -Ā SwitchĀ Colors
š”Ā TIP: You canĀ mask regionsĀ for painting by making a selection in Krita:This way, you will only be able to draw within the selection.
Export Buttons: Export the drawing to aĀ New LayerĀ or to theĀ Active Layer
New layerĀ will export the drawing to a new layer above the selected layer
Active layerĀ will export the drawing to the layer thatĀ was activeĀ (ā) when executing the editor.
š These buttons may show or not depending on the active layer when launching the editor.
Launching it with anĀ empty layerĀ will makeĀ notĀ show theĀ New LayerĀ button (to avoid cluttering).
Launching it with aĀ hidden layerĀ selected will makeĀ notĀ show theĀ Active LayerĀ button (to avoid committing changes to an invisible layer by mistake).
Info Bar: Displays information, shortcuts, etc. when hovering a button/tool.
Options āļø
Index Painting Options
Add gradient: Adds a gradient to preview the dither and to sample colors.
Position: Changes the position of the gradient.
Size: The size of the gradient as a percentage of the document's size.
Invert: Inverts the gradient.
Method
Index colors: Uses an index color filter
Gradient map: Uses a gradient map filter. You can configure its dither pattern in its properties.
Dither live preview: When selecting a new pattern preset or editing it (rotate, invert, etc), if a "Dither" layer is selected or is a sibling of the selected layer, it will be updated automatically.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts provided by the plugin:
Palette
When selecting a color from a palette in the Shading tab, you can move backward/forward the active palette color with the shortcuts:
Previous Palette Color (SZK Pixel Art Suite)Ā - Default:Ā Alt+1
Next Palette Color (SZK Pixel Art Suite)Ā - Default:Ā Alt+2
K-Sprite
You can execute the editor with the shortcut:
Open SZK K Pixel Art Editor (SZK Pixel Art Suite)Ā - Default:Ā Alt+F3
Export Pixel Art
You can bind to a shortcut the action to export your pixel art with your current settings with:
Export Scaled Pixel Art (Full Document) (SZK Pixel Art Suite)
Export Scaled Pixel Art (Selected Layers) (SZK Pixel Art Suite)
This tookĀ a lot of workĀ and thought. If you find it useful, value the work and want to contribute to future updates, any amount you find fair is appreciated. Thank you so much š.