Am I supposed to be outlining my pixel art?

[GameSmashDash]

I saw some pixel art tuts and I'm wondering if I have been doing pixel art wrong this whole time; am I supposed to be outlining my pixel art before making it?

[Kilo]

no if you don't want to you don't have to

its good practice to have a general idea of what you want to make and usual drawing principles apply to pixel-art but pixel-art also has a lot more room for breaking the rules

[Vespertine]

Yeah like Kilo said, it is all up to you. There is no one style of pixel art. For me personally I do outline whatever piece of the art I'm making but if I don't want any kind of border to it I then color over the outline. It helps me see the object I'm making better but to each their own.

[GameSmashDash]

Originally posted by FUJIIDEW:

Yeah like Kilo said, it is all up to you. There is no one style of pixel art. For me personally I do outline whatever piece of the art I'm making but if I don't want any kind of border to it I then color over the outline. It helps me see the object I'm making better but to each their own.

Huh; I never realized that if I'm honest.

[Vespertine]

Originally posted by GameSmashDash:

Originally posted by FUJIIDEW:

Yeah like Kilo said, it is all up to you. There is no one style of pixel art. For me personally I do outline whatever piece of the art I'm making but if I don't want any kind of border to it I then color over the outline. It helps me see the object I'm making better but to each their own.

Huh; I never realized that if I'm honest.

Yeah don't be afraid to play around with styles or even mixing them together. Most people find their preferred style of drawing this way

[◢ k r i s ◤]

There is some contextual application for outlining sprites - such as enhancing detail visibility or dynamic contrast. It can particularly help when you want sprites to pop out of a background or be easier to "read" when playing quick and reactive video games.

But there's only design technique and philosophy behind all that - nothing biblical.

You should find a copy of the ebook from Michael Azzi called "Pixel Logic" if you want some good explanations for all sorts of common techniques like outlining and similar.

[Enoch]

I would for any really small sprites, 16x16 etc. Smaller you go the harder it gets to isolate and show contrast and readability of separate parts (i.e. arms, legs, etc)

But as others have said, there's no rule that says you must. Personally I will use shaded outlines or no outlines more often than not. Shaded outlines are just color-saturated outlines that blend into the sprite and can convey shadow or highlights without entirely giving up the the idea of an outline.

I find it keeps sprites from looking too soft around the edges when necessary to do so.

[Kilo]

Originally posted by Enoch:

I would for any really small sprites, 16x16 etc. Smaller you go the harder it gets to isolate and show contrast and readability of separate parts (i.e. arms, legs, etc)

But as others have said, there's no rule that says you must. Personally I will use shaded outlines or no outlines more often than not. Shaded outlines are just color-saturated outlines that blend into the sprite and can convey shadow or highlights without entirely giving up the the idea of an outline.

I find it keeps sprites from looking too soft around the edges when necessary to do so.

don't forget anti-aliasing outlines or better known as Sel-Out

these can convey the shape as well as shadow and highlights