PIXELFORGE v1.2.2
Open Studio

Workstation

Workstation & Pixel Tools

Master the 5-mode multi-viewport, 7 non-destructive pixel retouch tools, 12x Loupe, RGB/Luma histogram, and Tileset Studio.

The PixelForge Workstation (/editor/) combines real-time WebGL 2 procedural pixelation with non-destructive hand-pixeling, perceptual color science, and game-ready tilemap inspection in a single four-column layout.

4-Column Workstation Layout#

  1. Top Command Deck — Brand emblem, active file & resolution metadata, 5-Mode Viewport Switcher (1–5), 12× Pixel Loupe (L), 1px & 16×16 Tile Grid (G), integer zoom controls, Undo/Redo, Local IndexedDB Workspace Save, and primary Export menu.
  2. Far-Left Pro Tool Rail (48px) — Quick toggles for the Studio Asset Drawer (Sources, 20 Presets, Palettes & Harmony Lab) plus 7 Non-Destructive Pixel Retouch Tools and active paint swatch well.
  3. Interactive Multi-Viewport Stage — Hardware-accelerated pan/zoom stage with floating Quick-Settings Pill, Contextual Brush/Edit Bar, Video Frame Transport, and 4-Up Snapshot Arena.
  4. Right 3-Tab Scientific & Game-Asset Inspector — Live RGB + Luminance Canvas Histogram, 4 Style Snapshot Slots (A/B/C/D), and dedicated tabs for Pipeline, Color & FX, and Game & Export.

5 Live Viewport Modes#

Switch viewports anytime from the Top Command Deck or with number keys 1–5:

Shortcut Mode Purpose
1 Single Pixel Canvas Distraction-free integer- crisp pixel output with full retouch tool support and optional 1px + 16×16 tile grid overlay.
2 / C Split Curtain (V / H) Draggable before/after divider comparing raw high-res source against pixelated output. Click the orientation button on the quickbar to flip between Vertical and Horizontal split curtains.
3 Dual Sync Side-by-Side Locked pan-and-zoom twin viewports displaying the original source on the left and the processed pixel art on the right simultaneously.
4 4-Up Snapshot Arena Renders 4 style configurations concurrently on the active image—either your saved Snapshot Slots A–D or 4 signature presets—so you can compare palettes, widths, and dithers side-by-side and load any quadrant in one click.
5 3×3 Seamless Tile Wrap Repeats your pixel output in a live 3×3 matrix with subtle tile-boundary guides so environment artists can inspect repeating textures and seamless edges immediately.

7 Non-Destructive Pixel Retouch Tools#

Procedural shaders get an asset 95% of the way there; manual pixel artistry finishes the remaining 5%. PixelForge composites a non-destructive pixel edit layer directly over the live GPU output—meaning you can tweak contrast, swap palettes, or change dithering while preserving your hand-drawn pixel edits, or undo/clear strokes independently.

Shortcut Tool Behaviour
V Navigate / Pan Drag to pan, scroll wheel to zoom around cursor. Hold Space while using any paint tool to pan temporarily.
B Pixel Pencil (1px–4px) Continuous Bresenham pixel brush. Right-click or Alt+Click samples any pixel color on the fly.
E Pixel Eraser (1px–4px) Default mode restores the underlying procedural GPU pixel cleanly; or paint true alpha transparency.
K Flood Bucket / Global Swap Contiguous 4-way flood fill. Hold Shift+Click to perform a Global Color Swap, replacing every matching pixel across the entire sprite at once.
U 1px Bresenham Line Crisp, jag-free 1px pixel-art line previewed live as you drag.
R 1px Pixel Rectangle Crisp 1px pixel-art bounding box previewed live for UI frames, windows, and mechanical edges.
I Smart Eyedropper Samples #HEX from the rendered pixel canvas into your active brush swatch.

Note

Manual pixel edits automatically propagate into every export target—crisp PNG, Indexed-Color PNG, Clipboard Copy, 12× Loupe, Live Histogram, and Deduplicated Game Tilesets. If you change the output grid dimensions (Width / Block Size), edits reset cleanly for the new grid geometry.

12× Pixel Loupe & Telemetry HUD#

Press L to enable the floating 12× Pixel Loupe Magnifier. Hovering anywhere over the canvas displays:

The bottom Telemetry HUD also reports live WebGL 2 render latency in milliseconds, output dimensions, zoom factor, and clickable active palette swatches (Click = set paint color, Shift+Click = copy #HEX).

OKLab Procedural Harmony Generator#

Open the Palettes drawer (\ or palette icon on the left rail) to access the built-in Procedural OKLab Harmony Lab:

Live Mirror-Deduplicated Tileset Studio#

Switch the Right Inspector to Game & Export to use the live Tileset Studio:

Keyboard Shortcuts Reference#

Keys Action
1 2 3 4 5 Switch Viewport: Single, Split Curtain, Dual Sync, 4-Up Arena, 3×3 Tile Wrap
V B E K U R I Select Tool: Pan, Pencil, Eraser, Bucket, Line, Rectangle, Eyedropper
L / G / C Toggle 12× Loupe / 1px & 16×16 Grid / Split Curtain
[ ] (Shift for ±8) Decrease / Increase target pixel width
D / Shift+D Cycle dithering algorithm (including Bayesian Posterior & 64×64 Blue Noise)
F / + / - Fit to viewport / Integer zoom in / out
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z Multi-level Undo / Redo (prioritizes pixel strokes, then pipeline settings)
Ctrl+O / Ctrl+S Open media files / Instant PNG download
</kbd> / / / T Toggle Asset Drawer / Toggle Right Inspector / Toggle Dark & Light Theme