SpriteGrid

How to use SpriteGrid

Layers

The Layers panel#

  • The top layer is drawn over the ones below it.
  • Click a layer to work on it. Shift+click selects a range, Ctrl+click adds one.
  • Drag layers to reorder them, or onto a group's row to put them inside it.
  • Double-click a name to rename it.
  • The eye shows or hides a layer; Alt+click it to show that layer alone.
  • Opacity and Blend at the top apply to the selected layer.

The buttons along the bottom add a fill layer, an adjustment layer, an effect and a mask, duplicate the layer (Ctrl+J), add a group, add a layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and delete. Right-click a layer for everything else.

Kinds of layer#

  • Image: pixels to draw on.
  • Group: holds other layers. Ctrl+G groups the selected layers; Ctrl+Shift+G ungroups them.
  • Text: words that stay editable. See Text.
  • Fill: a solid color or a gradient over the whole canvas.
  • Adjustment: effects on everything below it in its group, like a color change for a whole scene. See Effects.
  • 3D: a model, drawn in pixels. See 3D models.
  • Linked document: another SpriteGrid document, shown as a layer and kept up to date when that file changes.
  • Atlas group: a tile. See Tiles.

Blend modes#

Normal, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Soft Light, Hard Light, Color Dodge, Color Burn, Darken, Lighten, Difference, Exclusion, Addition and Subtract.

Masks and clipping#

  • Add Mask (Ctrl+M) gives a layer a mask: paint it black to hide parts of the layer, white to show them again. Click the mask's thumbnail to paint on it, and the layer's to go back. Shift+click the mask to turn it off for a moment.
  • Clipping Mask, in a layer's right-click menu (or Alt+click between two layers), shows a layer only where the layer below it has pixels, which is handy for shading.

Locking#

Layer ▸ Lock Layer stops a layer from being changed. A lock shows on its row; click it to unlock.

Linked documents#

Right-click the layer list and choose New ▸ Linked Document... to place another .spritegrid file as a layer, or hold Alt while dropping the file on the canvas. Save the original and every document that links it updates. With Live Link on, it shows the original's changes as you make them, while it's open. An animated document plays on the timeline.