image editors / graphics programs

[Edwardtoist]

I am looking for modern top down or iso style graphics. They are very hard to find.

[misterx]

I am looking for modern top down or iso style graphics. They are very hard to find.

Maybe should give a try to catch 90's game that use that feature, such ha crusader no remors, syndicate and jagged alliance 2, these assest have been posted on the forum.

As for editors, my experience: i use paint.net as for drawing tool and irfanview to apply palettes: both offer varius plugins, the former even to save files in .psd and .psb photoshot format, the latter provides even a plugin for a limited drawing capacity but is good as resizing images, in fact paint.net handles palette only in .txt files.

Adobe Photoshop C2 was relased for public download but as freeware back in 2013; I've tryed also mtpaint but it lacks of a good tool to resize areas of an image file previously cutted, but it loads the palette along with the image saved but has some compatibility problems with win 10 64 bit versions though it's usable even if it crashes on and off.



Tryed also pinta, it does not support savin .gif savind but has a tool to resize image selected areas and a community repository for add-ins but it's quite scarce of advanced funtionalities and manages palette only in .txt and .gpl files.



If you need a tool to manage palettes give a shot to Cryotec pallete editor, it supports a veriety of formats (ACO (Adobe Photoshop Color Swatch Files), GPL (GIMP Palette Files), PAL (JASC Palette Files), TXT (Paint.Net Palette Files), and PAL (Raw Palette Files). As for such tools and image editors, you should try your luck with online editors - for instance there is pixlr but requires adobe flash to work - but don't know if these gonna work.

Oh and the link in the first post there are a couple of URL with broken links:

mtpaint:
http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/

GraphicsGale got another address:
https://graphicsgale.com/us/

Pleasu update first post? Thanks

[misterx]

Roaming the web came across an OMGbutn article on PhotoFlare image editor, it's free opoensource and avaiable aside for win also for Arch and Ubuntu, its homepage is here

The software has also a youtube channel, which features its functions, some senak peak here (refers to theold 1.5 relase):

Anybody cares to give a shot? Thanks

[xcomfan]

I'll suggest to the OP to put Paint.NET in the list of not recommended until I find if it is possible to save the pictures in a way that doesn't screw the color code or a way to fix the palette within the program (in case it is that which I doubt).

I've checked better; paint.net is really good, only problem it does not handle palette files in .pal format, like openxcom ones > = (

In the meantime I've been tackling mtpaint (which seems good but I haven't got the skills yet) and graphics gale, which has a free edition and was recommended in a pixel artist web for beginners.

Good news, as for editors  GraphicsGale as of 28 june, 2017 is gone freeware, it has also a protable win version too. Also Pixel edit seems to be nice, the older verisons are free, but file opening is done by selecting import inage, and sa, export. Same as palette, in colors menu, but it is gotten from existing images, no directly .pal file loading. A windows only useful too is rotsprite, to resize and rotate sprites.

Aside from the recent fork of Gimp, Glimpse (basically providin' some interface adjustments)  after some other search i found a very excellent alternative to Aseprite: LibreSprite! Avaiable for win (installer), linux (as portable AppImage) and macos, it has nearly all the function of the paretn program, a screenshot is attched as well  Here is a quick showoff video too, here. There is a video demonstration - about one hour (!!) - here. Pixelorama is a nice editor which can even make animations,and in the 0.8 version added support for palette in .pal format, another choice might be mypaint Also, a good alternative to win-only irfanview might be xnview MP from xnsoft, it has also a wiki.

Oh, also this thread need to be moved in the Tool board

[Pandemonium]

I'm not sure if this post should go here, so someone move it if there's a better spot.

I got tired of clumsily trying to hand paint or slice 3D models into isometric tiles usable by OXC. I found the post by bulletdesigner, Bulletdesigner shipyard , and decided to try it. His YouTube video filled in the gaps. His templates were the basis for my own, which I attached. I made them in PhotoShop, Gimp, and Aseprite formats. I also added a sprite sheet template based on Dioxine's from the same thread.

Instructions for users unfamiliar with image editing

You can select the rows you need one block at a time by using wand/fuzzy select/etc. with the threshold set to zero and holding the shift key until one tile of image is selected.
Then switch to the base Layer/Level without deselecting and cut that and paste into the sprite sheet template. Or, in case of sprite repetition, you can paste them as individual sprites and remove any duplicates.
After that it's just a little work with MCD Edit and MapView and viola! You have a custom made map of whatever you like.

Spoiler:

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Tips:
If your object takes up multiple levels be sure to move the remaining image to align to the grids as needed to ensure your image lines up well.
Pay careful attention to how the edges are placed into the sprite sheet template for the same reason.
Move the block on the end to the piece you begin with so you don't get an incomplete sprite.
You can delete, move, and add block sections from rows as you see fit. Just don't save, flatten, or otherwise overwrite the template unless you want to start over and remake the template.

[Flaubert]

Hi!,
  anyone has managed to compile ASEPRITE from source? I'm trying to do it under Ubuntu-Linux, but it drops a "WEBP_LIBRARIES not found error" (thought they're installed), which I cannot fix, when running CMake step.

Edit: I finally manage to do it! But I had to disable WEBP options in CMakeLists.txt. I had also to link python to python3, installing package "python-is-python3". I will try to do it also in windows10.

New Edit: windows 10 build process need the same: disable  WEBP options in CMakeLists.txt and them follow INSTALL.md instructions. (Aseprite v1.3-rc2-dev)

[ontherun]

Hi!,
  anyone has managed to compile ASEPRITE from source? I'm trying to do it under Ubuntu-Linux, but it drops a "WEBP_LIBRARIES not found error" (thought they're installed), which I cannot fix, when running CMake step.

Edit: I finally manage to do it! But I had to disable WEBP options in CMakeLists.txt. I had also to link python to python3, installing package "python-is-python3". I will try to do it also in windows10.

New Edit: windows 10 build process need the same: disable  WEBP options in CMakeLists.txt and them follow INSTALL.md instructions. (Aseprite v1.3-rc2-dev)

Hi Flaubert, try libresprite instead?
https://libresprite.github.io/#!/downloads

[PPQ]

Has anyone figured out how to use Paint.Net to save PNG files for this game? Ideally in the form of simple instructions. I've searched through the entire forum but found nothing.

[Meridian]

Paint.Net is literally the worst program to use to create/edit images for Openxcom.
There are no instructions here simply because nobody uses it... because it simply doesn't work.

The only advice we can give you is: use something else, anything else.

[PPQ]

Paint.Net is literally the worst program to use to create/edit images for Openxcom.
There are no instructions here simply because nobody uses it... because it simply doesn't work.

The only advice we can give you is: use something else, anything else.

I see. Well, that sucks. I definitively don't have the time to learn an entire new tool. So I guess I have no choice but to abandon things.

Thanks anyway. At least I got to quit before I wasted too much time on the impossible. And that is valuable in its own right.

[Meridian]

In that case you can create your image in paint.net and save it as a BMP for example.

And just do the bmp->png conversion in a different program.

[PPQ]

In that case you can create your image in paint.net and save it as a BMP for example.

And just do the bmp->png conversion in a different program.

Good idea. What's the easiest thing to use for this? I understand you need to configure something about color pallets.

[Meridian]

Good idea. What's the easiest thing to use for this? I understand you need to configure something about color pallets.

I use Irfanview.
It's not even an editor, just a viewer and converter.

But many people use many different tools.

[PPQ]

I use Irfanview.
It's not even an editor, just a viewer and converter.

But many people use many different tools.

Maybe I am looking at the wrong program here but from what I see that thing is a video player. I can open an image file with it but I can't save it.


EDIT: I tried every program listed on this thread and I can't get any of them to work. Most of them won't allow me to paste in from other programs meaning that I can't just use them for resaving easily. I would have to save with a custom color for transparency and manually delete it or some such. And that's too much of a paint. And the only one that does what I need is MTPaint which is just the most painful piece of software I used since I last had the misfortune of dealing with the eclipse IDE.

So yea, unless there is an easy non painful way to do this I have to quit. It's sad, but it is what it is.

[ontherun]

Maybe I am looking at the wrong program here but from what I see that thing is a video player. I can open an image file with it but I can't save it.


EDIT: I tried every program listed on this thread and I can't get any of them to work. Most of them won't allow me to paste in from other programs meaning that I can't just use them for resaving easily. I would have to save with a custom color for transparency and manually delete it or some such. And that's too much of a paint. And the only one that does what I need is MTPaint which is just the most painful piece of software I used since I last had the misfortune of dealing with the eclipse IDE.

So yea, unless there is an easy non painful way to do this I have to quit. It's sad, but it is what it is.

please read irfanview instructions, it's very easy or ask other users, don't give up! Quick start: https://www.irfanview.net/tutorials/bartosz_makuch1/irfan-view-quick-start-guide.htm. Even YouTube if full of tutorials