8bit Pixel Lab: a dedicated graphics toolkit for 8-Bit game creators

Making graphics for an 8-bit computer can get complicated fast. You can’t just shrink an image, cut down the colours and call it finished. Each machine has its own limits, its own screen modes and its own way of handling colour and pixels. That’s where 8bit Pixel Lab comes in. The software lets you pick a target machine and screen mode before you start drawing. From that point on, the editor works within the limits of that hardware. Colour restrictions, pixel sizes and display modes are built into the process, so you can see what will work while you’re creating the artwork rather than fixing problems later. It’s a simple idea, but it changes the workflow quite a lot.

One editor for characters, tiles and full levels

The Character Map Editor handles the main drawing work. You can use it for characters, sprites, tiles, backgrounds, loading screens and other game graphics. Individual characters can be edited closely, while larger working areas let you build graphics from several character cells at once. There’s also a tiling preview, which makes it easier to check repeating patterns without constantly copying sections around.

Animation support is included too. Onion skinning lets you compare nearby frames, which is useful when you’re working on movement and want to keep each frame lined up with the last. The Tile Map Editor takes things further.

Instead of stopping at individual graphics, you can arrange characters and tiles into complete rooms, screens and game maps. If you change a graphic later, the editor updates every place where you’ve used it. That can save a fair amount of repetitive work.

Rooms can contain object information as well, including positions for enemies, doors, triggers and other game elements. So while 8bit Pixel Lab is mainly a graphics tool, it also covers part of the level-building process.

It works with the limits of each machine

The software currently supports four 8-bit computer families, and each one comes with its own set of display modes. VIC-20 support includes standard character graphics, MINIPAINT-style bitmap modes, HFLI graphics and double-height character colour modes. Standard character mode uses a 22 x 23 character display with 8 x 8 pixel cells, while bitmap options include 160 x 192 high-resolution graphics and 80 x 192 effective multicolour output.

Commodore 64 support covers the familiar 40 x 25 character display, Extended Colour Mode, 320 x 200 high-resolution bitmap graphics and 160 x 200 effective multicolour bitmap output. The Amstrad CPC gets Modes 0, 1 and 2. That means resolutions ranging from 160 x 200 with up to 16 colours through to 640 x 200 with two colours.

Acorn Electron support includes Mode 1 at 320 x 256 with four colours and Mode 2 at 160 x 256 with 16 colours. Those numbers matter because Pixel Lab doesn’t treat them as simple export settings. The limits affect how you work from the start.

Image conversion is part of the workflow

You don’t have to create everything from scratch. 8bit Pixel Lab can import PNG, JPEG and GIF images, then convert them to suit the selected machine and screen mode. A live preview shows the result while you adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, gamma and sharpening. Dithering controls are available too, along with colour selection options.

That makes the conversion tools useful for more than just loading existing pixel art. You can bring in modern artwork or reference images and see how they behave once they’re pushed into the restrictions of an 8-bit display. Not every image will convert neatly, of course. The point is that you can see the trade-offs straight away.

Editing tools cover the everyday jobs

The software includes the usual selection and transformation tools you’d expect from a pixel editor. You can flip, reverse, resize and move selected areas, while a separate Scratch Pad gives you somewhere to test ideas without changing the main artwork.

Named slices are another practical addition. These let you mark specific areas inside a larger image and export them separately, which can be handy when several game assets sit on the same working sheet.

Export options include character data, tiles and bitmap information, with binary output available for use in external development tools. There’s also TRSE FLF project export, so Pixel Lab can fit into a wider game-development setup rather than acting as a closed drawing program.

Available on Windows, macOS and Linux

8bit Pixel Lab runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and is currently available as a free beta. The package includes the desktop versions, a getting-started guide and example projects. The current release is around 65 MB.

Windows and macOS may show security warnings when the program is launched for the first time because the application isn’t distributed with the usual platform developer certificate. That means users may need to approve the program manually before running it.

For anyone working on graphics for the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC or Acorn Electron, the appeal is fairly clear. 8bit Pixel Lab brings drawing, tile maps, image conversion, level layout and data export into one tool, while keeping the rules of the target hardware in view from the beginning. It doesn’t try to hide those limits. It makes them part of the editor.

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