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Pixen Changelog

What's new in Pixen 5.4

Jan 29, 2024
  • Pixen 5.4 includes new and improved features that help with graphics creation for the Playdate game console
  • Added a preset for the Playdate's screen size in the Create New Image / Animation window
  • Added different algorithms as options to the Filter -> Convert to 1-bit command, with thresholding and dithering settings included
  • Added different algorithms as options to the Filter -> Convert to Grayscale command
  • Added a 1-bit color palette to the default set of color palettes, which can be docked in the sidebar
  • Added a button for inverting colors to the Pattern Editor window
  • Added an option for creating patterns from 1-bit images in the Pattern Editor

New in Pixen 5.3.5 (Jan 23, 2024)

  • Blend modes can now be changed using the top level Layers menu in the menu bar (previously this was only possible with the context menu in the layers pane)
  • Added the ability to scale layers with the Layer -> Transform Layer -> Scale Layer command
  • Added different algorithms as options to the Filter -> Convert to Grayscale command
  • Added a new color palette which is installed when trying Pixen for the first time
  • Custom color palettes can now be assigned to the sidebar on the right above the layers, in addition to the existing Recent Colors and Document Colors palettes
  • Fixed an issue where applying a preset would sometimes not honor the color in the preview

New in Pixen 5.3.4 (Jan 21, 2024)

  • Custom color palettes can now be assigned to the sidebar on the right above the layers, in addition to the existing Recent Colors and Document Colors palettes

New in Pixen 5.3.2 (Jan 18, 2024)

  • Pressing the Option key no longer affects the Tools palette of background document windows
  • Fixed issues around pressing the Escape key to close the About window

New in Pixen 5.3.1 (Jan 17, 2024)

  • Pressing the Option key no longer affects the Tools palette of background document windows
  • Fixed issues around pressing the Escape key to close the About window

New in Pixen 5.3 (Jan 16, 2024)

  • Pressing the Option key no longer affects the Tools palette of background document windows
  • Fixed issues around pressing the Escape key to close the About window

New in Pixen 5.2 (Nov 20, 2023)

  • Pressing the Option key no longer affects the Tools palette of background document windows
  • Fixed issues around pressing the Escape key to close the About window

New in Pixen 5.1 (Oct 11, 2023)

  • Modernized the appearance of tool icons
  • Added a Pixel Perfect mode to the Pencil, Line, and Eraser tools that ensures the widths of drawn paths are at most 1px
  • Added a command to the Animation Settings sheet to apply the default frame duration to all of the current frames in an animation document
  • Added a command to the Animation Settings sheet to set an animation document to a FPS rate
  • Added a command to the Welcome window to create an image from the clipboard if there is an image on the clipboard
  • Added support for restoring tool properties across app relaunches if Auto Save is enabled
  • Enhanced selection rotations to no longer deselect pixels when done, allowing you to perform a second rotation more easily
  • Enhanced selection flips to no longer deselect pixels when done, allowing you to perform a second flip more easily
  • Renamed Rotate Selection/Layer/Canvas commands to make it easier to assign custom keyboard shortcuts to them
  • Renamed Flip Selection/Layer/Canvas commands to make it easier to assign custom keyboard shortcuts to them
  • Improved the legibility of the zoom in / out cursor
  • Improved discovery of tools for new users
  • Improved compatibility with macOS Sonoma
  • Fixed a rare crash that could occur while undoing moves performed with the Move tool
  • Fixed a rare crash that could occur while using the Brightness tool

New in Pixen 5.0.3 (Sep 23, 2023)

  • Compatibility fixes

New in Pixen 5.0.2 (Jan 28, 2023)

  • Crash fix

New in Pixen 5.0.1 (Sep 4, 2022)

  • Crash fix

New in Pixen 4.1.7 (Apr 26, 2022)

  • Crash fix

New in Pixen 4.1.5 (Mar 21, 2021)

  • Crash fix

New in Pixen 4.1.4 (Feb 14, 2021)

  • Crash fix

New in Pixen 4.1.3 (Feb 8, 2021)

  • Compatibility fixes

New in Pixen 4.1.2 (Dec 1, 2020)

  • Compatibility fixes

New in Pixen 4.1.1 (Sep 25, 2020)

  • Compatibility fixes

New in Pixen 4.1 (Dec 5, 2016)

  • Added a new Dark appearance that can be unlocked via in-app purchase (and also help support the project)
  • Some tools are now up to 10x faster when working with larger images
  • Fixed an issue where the Text tool would stop working on animation documents

New in Pixen 4.0.11 (Oct 14, 2016)

  • Pixen is now also available for iPad
  • Palettes are now saved in a new, more future-proof file format
  • GIMP palettes can now be imported

New in Pixen 4.0.10 (Oct 8, 2016)

  • Fixes a bug where older animation documents would not load
  • Fixes a bug where the Magic Wand tool would select incorrect pixels

New in Pixen 4.0.9 (Oct 5, 2016)

  • Certain color palettes now load faster and are more accurate

New in Pixen 4.0.8 (Oct 4, 2016)

  • The Text and Move tools are now more reliable.

New in Pixen 4.0.7 (Oct 4, 2016)

  • Auto Save is now enabled by default for new installations
  • Fixed an issue where animation documents could not be saved
  • Improved iCloud syncing

New in Pixen 4.0.6 (Sep 30, 2016)

  • The background color of the Preview window can now be changed
  • The color is persisted per-document
  • Fixed an issue where exported animated GIFs would not loop

New in Pixen 4.0.5 (Sep 30, 2016)

  • Improved animated GIF imports.

New in Pixen 4.0.4 (Sep 28, 2016)

  • Various stability improvements when using the Text tool and importing files.

New in Pixen 4.0.3 (Sep 27, 2016)

  • Various bug fixes and performance improvements.

New in Pixen 4.0.2 (Sep 23, 2016)

  • Various bug fixes and performance improvements.

New in Pixen 4.0.1 (Sep 22, 2016)

  • Various bug fixes and performance improvements.

New in Pixen 4.0 (Sep 20, 2016)

  • Major Features:
  • The Background picker has been re-designed
  • A "Share" command has been added to the File menu and can be used to quickly share images as PNGs and animations as animated GIFs
  • A new Brightness tool has been added for lightening and darkening pixels underneath the cursor
  • A new Text tool has been added
  • Pressure-sensitive drawing is now supported on Force Touch trackpads
  • Blend modes can be set for layers by right-clicking them in the Layers pane
  • Pixen Image (PXI) and Pixen Animation (PXA) file formats are now more space-efficient
  • Note: PXI and PXA files saved in Pixen 4 cannot be edited in previous releases of Pixen
  • Animation documents now show a unified color palette or a per-canvas color palette
  • A "New Layer from Image" command has been added to the Layers menu (you can also drag-and-drop an image into the Layers list)
  • A "Flatten Image" command has been added to the Layers menu
  • A "Stroke Selection" command has been added to the Edit menu for quick framing/outlining
  • Opacity percentages in the Layers list can now be double-clicked and edited
  • Patterns can be exported from the Pattern Editor by right-clicking a pattern and selecting the new "Export..." command
  • The left [ and right ] square bracket keys can now be used to change the line thickness, tolerance, or border width of the respective tools
  • Pixen can now open and save files in the LEGO MINDSTORMS Graphics Format (RGF)
  • A new Posterize filter has been added that snaps each pixel value to the closest color in a palette
  • Images can now be reduced to their top N primary colors using the Reduce to Primary Colors filter
  • The padding, frame spacing, row spacing, and maximum number of frames per row can now be customized in the Export Sprite Sheet window
  • Images can now be exported at multiple resolutions/file types using the revamped "Export" command under the File menu
  • The most recent file name and types used for export are now saved in PXI/PXA files
  • Images can now be exported as SVGs
  • Pixen now directly integrates with iCloud Drive
  • Document colors can now be sorted by frequency or hue
  • A preference for choosing the top or bottom left as the origin has been added
  • A preference for changing the preferred drawing cursor has been added
  • The color of the Alignment Crosshair can now be changed in the Preferences window
  • Patterns can now be shared with system sharing services from the context menu in the Pattern Editor
  • New filters for changing the hue, exposure, saturation, contrast, and brightness of a layer or selection have been added
  • A new Remove Alpha Components filter has been added
  • The new "Convert Pixen Image" Automator action can be used to convert batches of images from the PXI format to other image formats
  • Palette panels can now be shown with the "Show New Palette Panel" command in the "Palette" menu

New in Pixen 3.8.1 (May 15, 2015)

  • Bug fixes.

New in Pixen 3.8 (Mar 31, 2015)

  • Tile Mode is back!
  • Click the Gear icon in the Preview panel to enable Tile Mode
  • Use the panel's Zoom button to size the panel to wrap the preview
  • Added an option in Grid Settings for displaying an isometric grid
  • The Pixen Color Picker now includes an 8-bit color palette
  • The new Animation Settings sheet (found under the Animation menu) can be used to set whether animated GIFs should loop
  • Refreshed the Export Sprite Sheet window's UI
  • Updated the Discover Pixen tutorial
  • Improved the color accuracy of exported animated GIFs
  • Animated GIFs with frames of different sizes can now be exported
  • The last-used tool is now selected on launch
  • The keyboard shortcuts for the Invert Selection, Resize Canvas, Scale Image, Zoom to Fit, Zoom to 100%, Delete Layer, Merge Down menu items have changed to better match other editors
  • Fixed a rare crash that would occur in the Export Sprite Sheet window
  • Up-scaled animation frames are no longer anti-aliased in the film strip
  • Improved the accuracy of the Frequent Colors palette
  • Importing backgrounds is now more reliable
  • Minor UI and stability improvements

New in Pixen 3.7 (Jan 8, 2015)

  • Refreshed interface for OS X Yosemite
  • Animated PNGs can now be imported as animations
  • Added two filters: "Invert Colors" and "1 bit"
  • Multiple animation frames can now be copied and pasted
  • Layers can now be shown/hidden with a menu item and keyboard shortcut
  • Significant improvements to line drawing performance
  • Fixed an issue where certain PNGs would open as empty images
  • Fixed visual artifacts that would appear while resizing the animation film strip
  • The zoom percentage is now shown next to the zoom slider in animation documents
  • Various stability and usability improvements

New in Pixen 3.6 (Apr 16, 2014)

  • Layers are preserved when using "Create Animation from Image"
  • Bug fixes
  • New: multiple selection support for animation frames:
  • shift-click to select regions of frames
  • command-click to select individual frames
  • delete, duplicate, and change the duration of frames in bulk

New in Pixen 3.5.19 (Apr 9, 2014)

  • Stability improvements

New in Pixen 3.5.18 (Apr 1, 2014)

  • Performance improvements

New in Pixen 3.5.17 (Dec 2, 2013)

  • Use multi-touch pinch gestures to zoom the canvas in and out
  • Scale factors can now be decimal numbers in the Scale Canvas sheet

New in Pixen 3.5.16 (Nov 28, 2013)

  • Changes to colors in the frequency palette now update continuously
  • Improved color accuracy

New in Pixen 3.5.15 (Oct 10, 2013)

  • Faster image loading

New in Pixen 3.5.14 (Sep 16, 2013)

  • Improved ICO file exports

New in Pixen 3.5.13 (Aug 27, 2013)

  • Modernized film strip view
  • Changes to a frame's duration can now be un-done

New in Pixen 3.5.12 (Mar 30, 2013)

  • Tool Properties are now displayed in the new Properties Bar beneath the toolbar in document windows.

New in Pixen 3.5.11 (Mar 5, 2013)

  • New popover UI for selecting patterns in tool properties panels
  • The Pattern Editor is now accessible via Windows -> Pattern Editor
  • Improved pattern import/export support
  • Pattern documents now have icons

New in Pixen 3.5.10 (Jan 30, 2013)

  • The Info window has been integrated with document windows
  • Auto Save and Versions can be disabled in the Preferences window
  • Bug fixes

New in Pixen 3.5.10 Beta 1 (Jan 17, 2013)

  • Auto Save and Versions can be disabled in the Preferences window
  • The Info window has been integrated with document windows

New in Pixen 3.5.9 (Dec 13, 2012)

  • Hold down the Shift key while drawing with the Pencil tool to constrain drawing in the current direction
  • Re-implemented the zoom control as a slider in the bottom bar of document windows
  • Improved the rendering of transparent colors
  • Bug fixes

New in Pixen 3.5.8 (Oct 30, 2012)

  • QuickTime export is back! Animation->Export to QuickTime...
  • Images and animations can now be re-ordered by drag-and-drop in the Export Sprite Sheet window
  • General improvements

New in Pixen 3.5.7 (Oct 6, 2012)

  • The grid's origin now lies in the top-left
  • Reordered Hotkeys preferences
  • Added Support link to the Help menu
  • A confirmation dialog is now displayed after palettes are imported
  • Fixed drawing issues
  • Fixed layer selection issues
  • Updated Discover Pixen tutorial
  • General improvements

New in Pixen 3.5.7 Beta 3 (Sep 14, 2012)

  • The grid's origin now lies in the top-left
  • Reordered Hotkeys preferences
  • Added Support link to the Help menu
  • A confirmation dialog is now displayed after palettes are imported
  • Fixed drawing issues
  • Fixed layer selection issues
  • Updated Discover Pixen tutorial
  • General improvements

New in Pixen 3.5.7 Beta 2 (Sep 5, 2012)

  • A confirmation dialog is now displayed after palettes are imported

New in Pixen 3.5.7 Beta 1 (Sep 5, 2012)

  • The grid's origin now lies in the top-left
  • Reordered Hotkeys preferences
  • Added Support link to the Help menu
  • Fixed drawing issues
  • A confirmation dialog is now displayed after palettes are imported
  • Updated Discover Pixen tutorial
  • General improvements

New in Pixen 3.5.6 (Aug 30, 2012)

  • Added HSV color sorting commands to palette panels
  • Implemented support for Auto Save + Versions
  • Tool hotkeys are now shown in tooltips in the Tools palette
  • Sped up color frequency counting
  • Reduced CPU and RAM usage while working with larger images
  • Improved undo/redo support app-wide
  • Layer selection fixes
  • Fixed a crash that would occur while exporting animated GIFs
  • Fixed crashes in the Preview window
  • General improvements

New in Pixen 3.5.6 Beta 4 (Aug 14, 2012)

  • Faster color frequency counting
  • Added HSV color sorting options to palette panels
  • Fixed a crash that would occur while exporting animated GIFs
  • Experimental support for Auto Save + Versions - please file any bugs you encounter
  • Tool hotkeys are now shown in tool tips in the Tools palette
  • Layer selection fixes
  • Reduced CPU and RAM usage while working with larger images
  • Better undo/redo support app-wide in preparation for Auto Save + Versions support
  • Fixed crashes in the Preview window

New in Pixen 3.5.6 Beta 3 (Aug 8, 2012)

  • Experimental support for Auto Save + Versions - please file any bugs you encounter
  • Tool hotkeys are now shown in tool tips in the Tools palette
  • Layer selection fixes
  • Reduced CPU and RAM usage while working with larger images
  • Better undo/redo support app-wide in preparation for Auto Save + Versions support
  • Fixed crashes in the Preview window

New in Pixen 3.5.6 Beta 2 (Aug 7, 2012)

  • Reduced CPU and RAM usage while working with larger images
  • Better undo/redo support app-wide in preparation for Auto Save + Versions support
  • Fixed crashes in the Preview window

New in Pixen 3.5.6 Beta 1 (Aug 4, 2012)

  • Better undo/redo support app-wide in preparation for Auto Save + Versions support
  • Fixed crashes in the Preview window

New in Pixen 3.5.5 (Jul 31, 2012)

  • NOTE: While Pixen remains an open source project, please consider supporting future development by purchasing it in the Mac App Store
  • Pixen now requires Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion"
  • Added a View->Toggle Grid command
  • Redesigned View->Grid Settings... sheet
  • Images are now included in the Sprite Sheet Export window
  • Fixed saving, sprite sheet exporting, copying and pasting issues on Macs with Retina displays
  • Minor performance enhancements, bug fixes and visual tweaks

New in Pixen 3.5.3 (Jul 6, 2012)

  • Added a new Fill with Active Color command under the Edit menu which acts on the current selection or entire canvas
  • Restored 'Tool Properties' shortcut
  • More intuitive image sequence exporting UI
  • Updated icon to 1024x1024px
  • Smaller binary size
  • Under-the-hood improvements

New in Pixen 3.5.2 (Jun 22, 2012)

  • Fixed crashes that would occur while saving
  • Improved the accuracy of X and Y coordinates displayed in the Info panel
  • Fixed a potential crasher in the Resize Canvas command
  • Improved Windows Icon file export

New in Pixen 3.5.1 (Jun 6, 2012)

  • Fixed an issue where the 'File Format' selector would be empty

New in Pixen 3.5 Beta 9 (May 19, 2012)

  • Half of Pixen's Help pages have been migrated to the Wiki
  • Added support for dragging and dropping image files into the Layers pane
  • Updated the 'Discover Pixen' tutorial
  • Pixen is now App Sandbox-compatible
  • Fixed issues with undoing layer merges
  • Fixed an issue where 0x0px selections would prevent drawing
  • General stability and usability improvements