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Pixel grid and checkerboard

< Overview

The pixel grid and checkerboard are visual aides that are central to many workflows in Stipple Effect.

Pixel grid lines can vary in length per dimension from 1 pixel to 128 pixels, while checkerboard squares/rectangles can range from 1 pixel to 256 pixels high and wide.

Pixel grid

Despite its lines not necessarily criss-crossing every pixel, the pixel grid is so named because it is primarily used to measure pixel distances.

The pixel grid also enhances the functionality of the Box Select tool. Holding Shift while using the tool with the pixel grid enabled () will snap the selection to the grid:

Checkerboard

The checkerboard’s main uses are to visualize transparency or to separate sprites (or other units of work) in a sprite sheet.

The checkerboard dimensions act as the default frame dimensions when the split sprite sheet to frames dialog menu is opened.

Actions

Toggle pixel grid on/off

Shortcut: Ctrl + G

Toggle the pixel grid on or off. The pixel grid icon is located in the lower segment of the toolbar.

Note:

  1. It may be impossible to turn the pixel grid on based on the combination of the workspace’s zoom level and the pixel grid’s dimensions. If this is the case, the pixel grid icon will be greyed out.
  2. Stipple Effect sometimes crashes when attempting to display the pixel grid for larger canvases. This will be addressed in a future update.

Quick set pixel grid and checkerboard dimensions

Shortcut: Ctrl + B

If the project has a selection, the program attempts to set the dimensions of the pixel grid and checkerboard rectangles to the bounds of the smallest axis-aligned bounding box that captures all the pixels in the selection. If the project does not have a selection, the program attempts to set the dimensions of the rectangles to the dimensions of the project canvas.

Note:

  1. If you want to unlink the dimensions of the pixel grid and the checkerboard, they can be set individually from the Visual submenu of the program settings .
  2. This operation fails if the dimensions of the selection - or the canvas in the effect of no selection - are greater than the maximum bounds permitted for the pixel grid.

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