There must be an easier way.

[darthducky]

I've been pixeling sprites for way too long now and I'm starting to get tired of it. Most of what I'm tired of is trying to give my circular images depth by drawing rings of the same color pixels, making each row darker than the one before. It is taking forever. Is there any graphics program that can darken the edges of images to give them depth? Also, is there any way to automatically add lighting to an image?

[Evilfred]

I personally just use Gimp 2 to do all that stuff. It's easier with that, as you can draw "paths" and then darken pixels proportional to their distance to the path. Still, I've been thinking recently that it might be cool to have a big collaborative TJGames project. Would people actually be interested in trying to make some sort of image program? I was thinking something kind of "modular," by which I mean something wherein the user could go and write a short little class in whatever language was used and actually load it into the program. It might not be easy, but I think it might be cool.

[Jason]

What you discribe is pillow shading...

EVIL!

http://www.natomic.com/hosted/marks/mpat/shading.html

[Evilfred]

While it is true that pillow-shading is not the optimal method for adding illumination to a pseudo-3D sprite, in the event that you are attempting to add a fog-like feel to the object wherein pixels that are intended to be perceived as farther away from the viewer are darkened it often can yield the desired results marvelously. Discounting its uses everywhere simply because it does not work well in one particular case is akin to condemning the postal service as a whole because it is not as useful as email when it comes to sending a letter.

No package for you!

[darthducky]

Still, I've been thinking recently that it might be cool to have a big collaborative TJGames project. Would people actually be interested in trying to make some sort of image program? I was thinking something kind of "modular," by which I mean something wherein the user could go and write a short little class in whatever language was used and actually load it into the program. It might not be easy, but I think it might be cool.

That sounds really cool. I'd help. I suggest C++ because the modular stuff would give people practice. We could make this a continuous project.

I personally just use Gimp 2 to do all that stuff. It's easier with that, as you can draw "paths" and then darken pixels proportional to their distance to the path.

How do you do that?

[Evilfred]

Well, you choose the path tool first, then construct it however you please, presumably along the edge of the layer (based on your example). You then change your brush to something in the fuzzy circle section, the radius being determined by the need of the particular situation. Also select the dodge/burn tool and make sure it's on burn, and probably "shadow." You can experiment with the other settings, some of them work better in certain cases than others. Then you open up the paths dialog (File->Dialogs->Paths) and select the path you made earlier. Right click, go to "stroke" selection, and a menu should pop up. Choose the lower option, which I believe says something like "stroke with tool," choose "dodge/burn," and then press okay. Whatever layer is currently selected (you can check this in the Layer's Dialog, File->Dialogs->Layers) will then be darkened along the path. You can change the intensity of the darkening in the burn tool menu.

Another thing I like to do in the case of a rounded figure is to stroke multiple times at lower intensities with different brushes. I usually start with a large fuzzy circle and then decrement the radius by some number each stroke, so the edges seem more rounded. It also works of course starting with small brushes and incrementing.

[darthducky]

Just found an easier way. Open the "Filters" menu, select "Light Effects" and then "Lighting Effects". Play around with the values and see what you can come up with.