Free C++ pixel art editor

Supported file formats

✔ - implemented
〰 - partially implemented
❔ - implementation non-functional/not finished
✖ - not implemented
* - see notes

Import / Export

Name	Extension	Import	Export
voidsprite session	.voidsn	✔	✔
PNG	.png	✔	✔
JPEG	.jpeg	✔	✔
AVIF	.avif	✔	✔
BMP	.bmp	✔	〰(24-bit only)
TGA	.tga	✔	〰(uncomp. 24-bit only)
JPEG XL	.jxl	✔	✔
Portable Bitmap, Graymap, Pixmap	.pbm .pgm .pbm	✔	〰(text mode only)
X Bitmap	.xbm	✔	✔
Windows cursor	.cur	✔	✔
OpenRaster	.ora	✔*	✔*
Pixel Studio session	.psp	〰*	✔
Pixel Studio (compressed) session	.psx	〰*	✔
XYZ (RPG Maker 2000/2003)	.xyz	✔	✔
DIBv5 Clipboard dump	.dibv5	〰*	✔
PBM (Cave Story engine)	.pbm	✔	✔
Valve Texture Format	.vtf	〰*	✔(v7.1, BGRA8888)
Aseprite Sprite	.aseprite .ase	〰*(Frame 1 only)	✔
Piskel	.piskel	〰	✔

◆ OpenRaster: advanced features from painting programs like layer blend modes, etc. are not available here. Exporting the thumbnail will not work until color quantization is implemented.
◆ Pixel Studio sessions: a 1:1 read of this format requires accurately implementing every tool from that program. For the best experience, wipe the undo history before attempting an import (Functions -> Resize canvas -> Resize -> Yes). Animation is not supported.
◆ VTF - no mipmaps are imported or exported. Formats: I8, IA88, A8, RGB565,BGR888,RGB888, BGRA8888, RGBA8888, ARGB8888, ABGR8888, DXT1, DXT3, DXT5
◆ DIBv5: JPEG, RLE4 and RLE8 subformats currently not supported.
◆ Aseprite - experimental. Only frame 1 is loaded. Layer blend modes and tilemaps are not available here.

Import only

Name	Extension	Import	Export
Nintendo DS banner	.nds	✔	✖
NES (dump CHR-ROM)	.nes	✔	✖
Mario Paint save file	.srm	✔(only main canvas)	✖
X-Com SPK, BDY, SCR	.spk .bdy .scr	✔	✖
Windows Shell Scrap	.shs	✔(uses Win32 API)	✖
Atrophy Engine texture	.aetex	〰*	✖
PS2 Icon	.icn .ico	〰	✖
DirectDraw Surface	.dds	〰*	✖
Wii/GameCube TPL	.tpl	〰*	✖
Windows 1.0/2.0/3.11 Paint	.msp	❔	✖
PS Vita GXT	.gxt	❔	✖
PSP/PS3 GIM	.gim	❔	✖
Nintendo 3DS app icon	.cxi	❔	✖
Every other SDL_Image format	*	✔	✖

◆ Wii TPL - only I4, RGB5A3, RGBA32
◆ AETEX - GXT and Switch ASTC subformats not implemented
◆ DDS - only BC1, BC2, BC3 and BGRA8888

Export only

Name	Extension	Import	Export
C header (as uint32_t array)	.h	✖	✔
Python NumPy array	.py	✖	✔
HTML Base64 image	.html	✖	✔
Java BufferedImage	.java	✖	〰*

◆ Java BufferedImage - only works for small images. Larger images go beyond the function size limit.

Installing

◆ You can grab a pre-built binary from the latest CI artifacts: https://nightly.link/counter185/voidsprite/workflows/msbuild/main

For Windows, get the voidsprite-build-win64.zip file.

For Linux, get the voidsprite-build-linux-flatpak-x86_64.zip file; this requires Flatpak to be installed.

Building

Windows

1. Go to freesprite/devlibs and extract devlibs.7z to the current directory (right click devlibs.7z > Extract here).
2. Go back to the repository root and run the copy_devlibs.bat script
3. Open freesprite.sln with Visual Studio and build/run like any other C++ program

Linux

1. Install the dependencies and their respective development packages: sdl3, sdl3_ttf, sdl3_image, libpng, pugixml, zlib, liblcf, libjxl, libhwy
   • Some dependencies (libpng, pugixml, zlib, liblcf) will be automatically downloaded and built during the build step if not installed - don't worry if your distro does not package them.
   • GCC/G++ 13 or later is required
2. Install meson (note that version 0.62.2 or higher is required; Ubuntu 22.04 users will want to install a newer version directly from pip with pip3 install --user meson)
3. Run ./linux_build.sh
   • You can also pass the --run flag to automatically run the built binary, the --global flag to install to /usr/local, and --portable to generate a portable build (assets stored in the same directory as the executable).
   • If you installed a separate version of GCC to use alongside your system install, you can specify a different compiler by setting the CC and CXX variables while calling linux_build.sh, e.g. CC=gcc-13 CXX=g++-13 ./linux_build.sh

By default, the generated output files will be placed in /tmp/voidsprite. When --global is passed, they will be installed to /usr/local instead.

Flatpak

You can also build the program as a Flatpak, see Flatpak README.

System requirements

Windows/Linux

	Minimum	Recommended/Tested compatible
OS	Windows 7 / Linux with Flatpak	Windows 10 / Ubuntu 24 / Mint 21
CPU	any x64 CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3200G / Intel Core i5-2500K
GPU	any GPU with Direct3D 9 / OpenGL 3	Intel HD Graphics 620 / AMD Radeon Vega 8
Display	1280x720	1920x1080
RAM	2 GB (comfortable minimum)	8 GB
Input	-	Wintab/Windows Ink-compatible tablet

◆Windows: Visual C++ 2019 runtime is required: Download

Android

	Minimum	Recommended/Tested compatible
OS	Android 5	Android 9 / Android 14
SOC	any x64 or arm64 CPU	Exynos 8895 / Snapdragon 778G
Display	1280x720	1080p+ tablet
RAM	2 GB	6 GB
Input	-	Samsung S Pen

◆Some tools currently require a mouse
◆Compatibility with chromeOS/Chromebooks is unknown
◆Devices tested: Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy Tab S7 FE

macOS

	Minimum	Recommended/Tested compatible
OS	macOS 13	TBD
CPU	Intel 64-bit	TBD
GPU	TBD	TBD
Display	1280x720	TBD

◆Due to lack of hardware we can't test what works and what doesn't.
◆Have a Mac and want to help us out? Join the Discord server below.

Community

◆ Official Discord server
◆ Itch.io page
◆ BlueSky page

Donate

◆ You can support the project by donating on itch.io

Licenses

◆ voidsprite is licensed under GPLv2.
◆ Licenses for other libraries and fonts used in voidsprite can be found in the OPEN_SOURCE_LICENSES directory