Pixel Photo Art Tutorial

Make photo pixel art.

Pixel art is art that uses the smallest pieces of your computer's display hardware. These pieces are called pixels. You can change the color of individual pixels in many different paint programs, including Windows Paint. With pixel art, you can apply the same manual effects as those at higher-than-pixel levels, but with greater control over the final image. The cost of this greater control is the extra time needed to manipulate so many individual pixels.

Instructions

Make Shiny Teeth

1. Get a photo that clearly displays at least one person whose teeth are displayed in a smile.

2. Paste the photo into Windows Paint, then click Paint's zoom tool (the magnifying glass). Zoom to the maximum level into the person's smile. You'll be able to see the individual pixels of the teeth.

3. Click the freehand drawing tool (the pencil), then click the color eyedropper. Click on the brightest part of the brightest tooth you can find. Windows Paint will automatically change back to freehand drawing mode.

4. Color the full set of teeth, except the gaps in between the teeth, with the freehand tool. This will whiten all the teeth.

5. Check the effect of your work by zooming back out to look at the complete face. Notice the new, radiant smile of the person.

Make Manga Eyes

1. Zoom in to pixel level on one of the eyes in the photo. Then, choose Paint's rectangle selection tool and select just the eye.

2. Hover your mouse over the rectangle's middle top or bottom sizing handles. Click and drag the handle to enlarge the rectangle until its size reaches about one quarter the size of the face. Move the selection area as needed to re-center the eye.

3. Zoom back out to evaluate the complete face with the changed eye. Notice the jagged edges. This quality indicates that further pixel-level work is needed. Re-zoom to the pixel level around the eye.

4. Begin smoothing (AKA dithering) the eye, from the pupil outward. Apply the color eyedropper to any pixel in the eye's second-darkest part, which will be just outside the eye's pupil (which is its darkest part).

5. Apply the freehand tool to only the most jagged-looking pixels that have the darkest color. This action has the effect of blending away the jagged edges.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5, but apply the color eyedropper to the third-darkest region, and dither the second-darkest region's pixels.

7. Repeat step 6 for each pair of adjacent regions in the enlarged eye, until the complete eye is smoothed. Then, view your completed manga eye by zooming out to maximum level.

References

• Manga University: How to Draw Manga Eyes
• Gas 13: Handmade Pixel Art Antialiasing Tutorial