This page has several tools to help you create templates for pxls.space-compatible canvases.
Please read each step carefully and consult the documentation
What would you like to do?
Process an existing template link
You can enter a pxls.space-style link with template information here, and (re-)process it.
By default, links pasted here will affect links generated in the Turn pixel art into a dot/letter/hearts template image and Generate a template link for a template image sections will use the template location*, view location, and zoom level from this link.
They will also affect build-time and progress estimations used in various sections as they will take into account the current canvas state (cached every 5 minutes), instead of only assuming a fixed canvas background color.
You can choose to re-process the template link. This will automatically cause any template style to be removed to generate 1:1 images, be processed for color (no dithering), and new template styles be generated.
You can use this section to submit or update art to the /progress page if you are currently authenticated. All projects will be submitted as the user '-snip-' for the time being.
ℹ️ * To position a template on pxls.space-compatible sites, hold the ctrl key and click-and-drag the template slowly into place.
ℹ️ INFO: Reprocessing a template will automatically pixelize and templatize the input with your stored preferences, but will not automatically store the image. 'Automated updates' will open a pxls.space window that updates every 5 minutes with a 'diff only' output; only incorrect pixels will be placed into the template image, with arrows pointing to boundary incorrect pixels. This is an experimental option.
⚠️ Note:submitting your layer(s) will make your associated username public. abuse of the /progress submission will lead to removal and block. abuse includes claiming authorship where there is none, submitting inappropriate images, and other tomfoolery
⚠️ You must be authenticated to submit a template to /progress
Turn an image into 'pixel art'
Creating pixel art is an art form of its own and is best done manually with appropriate graphics software.
Automated tools like this section of the fiddle are just that: tools. They may not give you the exact result you're looking for, but can be a helpful guide. The tools here allow you to take a picture, any picture, and adjust its size to the size you'd like to build on the canvas, and adjust its colors to match those of the pxls.space palette.
Step 1: Enter the URL of an image to pixelate, or drag&drop an image (from desktop or browser image), or paste an image here. Once provided, the image will be processed automatically.
If the image provided has a template style applied, it will be de-templatized first.
Turn pixel art into a dot/letter/hearts template image
Templates on pxls.space help you to build intricate art on the canvas by letting you see which pixels should be which colors.
While originally the template could only show a solid color for a pixel, with some transparency, new template styles were designed that helped make it clearer what color is required even if the pixel is already another color. Template styles were even designed to help differentiate between colors that can appear similar on the canvas (such as black and dark grey).
*6x6 variant of default Custom pattern
**11x11 cells - not recommended for large art!
***customize patterns in the 'Further configuration options' sub-section
Step 1: Enter the URL of an image to templatize. Once entered, the image will be processed automatically.
If you just got here from the previous section, you can skip this step!
Choose the style of template you want to use and either:
Step 2: Click/tap 'accept' to automatically upload this style to the pxlsFiddle server for hosting and use it in the next section.
or
Step 2: Save the image (right-click and save, or tap-and-hold and download).
Step 3: Upload the image you saved to an image host, such as imgur, and proceed to the next section.
Generate a template link for a template image
When you want to use one of the stylized template images on pxls.space directly, you run into a small issue; pxls.space doesn't know what the size of your original image was, and just uses the template image's size. That makes stylized template images appear too large on the canvas.
This section lets you generate a link to pxls.space that loads your template with the correct size and other settings.
If you just got here from the previous section by clicking a template style, you can skip this step!
Step 1.5 (optional): Enter a name for the template. On pxls.space, this will set the title for the tab/window this template opens in.