What canvas size should I use to draw pixel art for an 8bit game?
What canvas size should I use to draw pixel art for an 8bit game?
Question
I'm working on the sprites for a 8bit game. The game is made for iOS so I'm working on a 16:9 radius.
What I'm not sure is whether I should make the sprites on a 1920x1080 canvas or if I work with a smaller canvas like 192x80 (which would be a lot easier) will we be able to scale them without losing quality (on Photoshop or the developer on Unity)?
Popular Answer
Set your canvas size so it correlates to the pixel size you want to use. That way you can use 1:1 pixel tools in photoshop. When it comes time to use the actual images, you can then re-scale in Photoshop or possibly in the app framework itself.
For example, if the physical device is 1920x1080 and you want your virtual "8-bit" pixels to be 8x8 device pixel, then divide everything by 8 and use a canvas of 240x135.
If you decide to scale up in Photoshop in the end, be sure to use the 'nearest neighbor' option in the resize dialog to prevent any anti-aliasing.