Hi everyone,

New in the forum and also new in pixel art, I wanted to submit a pixel art of Vin Diesel in some of his best characters but got a message from the system saying :

How can I fix this ?

Here is my Pixel Art http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/cz5qtvj.png - http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/cz5qtvj.png

The issue is likely one of color usage/palette control. The PJ Image Specs tool says your image uses 56 colors (not counting the transparency). You could get away with using far fewer colors to achieve the same effect. Look for any colors that look as if they could be replaced by a color already used in your piece, then do exactly that. For example: #6f4a33, which is used on precisely a single pixel in the entire image, could likely be replaced with #5a3521, which is used on more pixels in the image. The same goes for similar colors #4e3a29, #463122, #392411, and #3a2b21 (among possible others). Six colors can be whittled down to one without losing the overall feeling of the image.

Smaller sprites must often sacrifice detail for readability. You went in the opposite direction: You used too many colors to create detail where none is necessary—or necessarily visible. Most people would not be able to tell the difference between #30170d and #5a3521 (the two colors used for the outlines on the arms) without zooming in. You’ll always want to ask yourself whether the color you’re using is one you need. If the color is absolutely necessary for a specific detail that must be visible and distinct for the picture to make sense, keep it. If not, use a similar color that’s already in your piece.

If I had to guess, I’d say you could get the idea in your picture across with about a dozen colors—maybe 15, at the most. But for the sake of learning and progression, I’ll ask you to try cutting down the amount you’re using to half of your current count, which would be 28. If you can do that and retain the overall idea of your image, you can them aim for the 12-15 range. Remember: It’s not about detail, it’s about readability—and in your case specifically, it’s about whether one color is readable as distinctly different from another.

Good luck in your endeavours!

Thank you very much for the explanation that is precise and really interesting for me as a noob in pixel art

So am going to work on it (had some IRL issues it's why I was AFK) and I'll let you know how it going maybe I'll update this reply to keep things coherents