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[rabidgam3r]

So I want to make pixel art, but I don't know any easy-to-use software to do it. You guys know anything like that?

[HavingPhun]

There is always paint...  . But you should use paint.net or gimp, or photoshop if you can afford it. Paint.net and gimp are both free but I think paint.net is only on windows because of the .net. Paint.net seems easier to use too.

[rabidgam3r]

Well that brings me to another question: Does Paint have a grid setup to easily do pixels?

[miauw62]

I can confirm that paint.net is much more accesible than gimp.

And yes, it has an option to enable a grid.

[Absolute Niro]

In my opinion the old Windows XP Paint is all you need for pixel art. It's even got a grid. It's not like you're gonna need any advanced tools other software can offer.

[freeformschooler]

In my opinion the old Windows XP Paint is all you need for pixel art. It's even got a grid. It's not like you're gonna need any advanced tools other software can offer.

There's some other nice features for pixel art in other software that I can think of. Transparent .png support goes without saying. Extensive undo/redo history, select all pixels that are a specific color at once, a large, easily-accessible palette area (that's better than the Paint one). Not to mention built-in grid for positioning multiple sprites on a larger sheet.

Oh, and layers. I love layers.

[rabidgam3r]

Hmm. I got Paint.net, now one more question: ARGLEFLARGLE WHERE IS THE GRID FEATURE ARIGAFLARGLE. Or do you mean the one where you have to zoom in?

[Dutchling]

Yes?

[freeformschooler]

Hmm. I got Paint.net, now one more question: ARGLEFLARGLE WHERE IS THE GRID FEATURE ARIGAFLARGLE. Or do you mean the one where you have to zoom in?

http://www.getpaint.net/doc/latest/ViewMenu.html

When you're at 100% zoom or less, the pixel grid is your monitor.

[LordBucket]

I second the vote for windows paint. Get gimp if you need to do transparency and shading. Get gifedit and/or easy gif animator if you want to do animations. The vast majority of everything else can be done faster and easier in windows paint.

[Shook]

Chiming in to say that GraphicsGale (free edition) is an excellent tool for making pixel art. I'd even go so far as to say that the only thing that Paint has on it is the ability to work with bigger pencil sizes (which, depending on how you work, could be a major flaw, but fortunately i work with lines rather than blotches of colour). Basically, it shows you where the pixel will be placed before you click, which is a TREMENDOUS help, and also picks colours ala pipette with the right mouse button, something i'm sorely missing in Paint. Also, it has that grid you're seeking as well, which i suppose is another point for it.
It also has a small preview window within it, which can be very useful indeed, since it saves you the trouble of zooming out all the time by means of displaying a full-scale view of the sprite/area (depending on size) you're working on.

tl;dr screenshot of all the neat things. Note that the singular free black pixel you see is just where my cursor was, it's not placed yet. I typically don't work with a grid, but i enabled it just to show that it's there. (in case you try it: View --> Grid)
GraphicsGale is specifically made for spriting/pixel art, so it's no wonder that it's pretty good for the purpose.

[Virex]

In my opinion the old Windows XP Paint is all you need for pixel art. It's even got a grid. It's not like you're gonna need any advanced tools other software can offer.

I would consider layers a pretty important feature that Paint is missing, but it might be less important for pixels. Depends on the size of the scenes your doing I guess.

[Max White]

I've drawn some pixel art in the past, and I find layers very, very useful, even for small images.
You want to work in order of drawing an outline, adding solid color and then adding shading, and then demands minimum three layers (Although I always find myself using at least five just for the outline) so I would never recommend MSPaint.

GraphicsGale, on the other hand, is awesome. It is built for pixel art and the design choices show.

[Aerie]

Use the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It's freeware, and provides everything you need: transparency, layers, grid, GIF animation.

[GlyphGryph]

It's interface remains horrible as ever, though. (imo, it's actually gotten worse over time)