Tesserra

What Tesserra is

Tesserra is a retro-inspired pixel art editor for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. Its tools cover drawing and painting, custom brushes, layer groups and blend modes, alongside an animation timeline with onion skinning. Indexed colour tools and sprite-sheet export are also listed. Built-in palettes support up to 64 colours, and the editor can import GPL, PAL, HEX and ASE palettes. It imports images and exports GIF, PNG, SVG and ASE files. For retro effects, it includes themed interfaces and six shaders: Composite NTSC, three CRT types and two handheld LCD looks. The same file opens on every supported platform. Tablets use the desktop layout, while phones use a simpler touch layout. Cloud storage sync works with Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Nextcloud, and requires an account with the selected provider. Tesserra Lite is free and includes drawing, painting and layer tools, colour selection tools, limited built-in palettes, image import and PNG export. Tesserra Full costs $7 while in beta, with a stated increase to $14 on full release. A Full purchase grants access to platform versions except iOS; iOS and iPadOS are in development.

Who it suits

Tesserra suits pixel artists who want drawing and painting tools alongside animation features on Windows, macOS, Linux or Android. Its free Lite plan may suit people who need basic artwork tools, while Full is aimed at those who want the broader feature set and additional export formats.

Limits

Tesserra Lite is limited to drawing, painting and layer tools, colour tools, limited built-in palettes, image import and PNG export. Tesserra Full costs $7 while in beta; its price is stated to rise to $14 on full release.

Getting started

1. Visit https://tesserra.itch.io/tesserra.
2. Choose a supported platform: Windows, macOS, Linux or Android.
3. Check that the device meets the listed operating system and memory requirements.
4. Start with Tesserra Lite for drawing, painting, layer tools, image import and PNG export.
5. Purchase Tesserra Full for $7 while it is in beta to access the full feature set on supported versions except iOS.
6. Connect a Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Nextcloud account if you want cloud storage sync.

Verdict

Choose Tesserra if you want pixel drawing and animation features across Windows, macOS, Linux or Android, with a free Lite option and a Full purchase. Look elsewhere if you need an iOS version now or need exports beyond PNG without upgrading from Lite.