Color palette rules for submissions
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: The Lounge
Forum Name: Resources and Support
Forum Discription: Help your fellow pixel artists out with links to good tutorials, other forums, software, fonts, etc. Bugs and support issues should go here as well.
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24620
Printed Date: 13 September 2025 at 11:16am
Topic: Color palette rules for submissions
Posted By: marcomoracha
Subject: Color palette rules for submissions
Date Posted: 07 October 2015 at 10:34pm
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Why does this really matter? I have several images I posted and all but one got rejected because I have pixels with a color only used once or twice so I was asked if I use "dirty tools" like brushes etc.
When I created the game sprites there was no criteria for X number of colors in the palette as we weren't trying to be super retro. I've never opened someone's pixel art to count the palette.. Everything was drawn with a 1 pixel size hard round pencil tool in Photoshop. Maybe there should be a category for general pixel art and for strictly adhered to color palettes. I'm not mad at anything just really taken aback. I hope photoshop isn't frowned upon. Here is the game the sprites are used in: http://www.seanspradlin.com/tankhero - www.seanspradlin.com/tankhero |
Replies:
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 2:08am
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It's not a matter of palette restrictions, so much as it is a lack of palette control. Take a look at my avatar. Each color in that image is used with a specific intent, even if it's only used in one part of the image (see: the grey pixels around the eyes). I didn’t have any sort of color restrictions to match; I could’ve used as many colors as I wanted on that sprite. But I intentionally chose to use as few colors as possible—it’s part of the pixel art “aesthetic”, at least as far as I’m concerned. Pixel art is a form of minimalist art: you use as little space and as few colors as possible to create a piece. User rhlstudios posted an excellent image yesterday that proves the point:  Zoom in on that image and examine both the color usage and the pixel placement. Every one of the 35 colors in that image has a purpose. Every pixel has a reason for being exactly where it is. Your pieces have an excellent shape and feel to them, but they appear to lack a cohesive palette. You used a specific color for what amounts to no reason instead of looking for a color already in your image. That sort of “easy fix” says a lot about your ability to create and properly use a cohesive color palette. Your PO-2 Biplane image is a perfect example of what I mean, too. PJ’s specs tool says that image has 83 colors in it: 77 actual colors, the transparent background, and five different transparent pixels somewhere in the image. You could easily eliminate those five transparent pixels, then drop about half those colors, and still end up with an image that looks just as good as the one you posted. You don’t need twenty different shades of green where five will work. Before you think I’m only running you down, I do think your work shows promise. You have an eye for shape and shading, and with a little extra work, you could definitely improve in terms of making everything more readable (the treads on your Hero Tank image come to mind here). I think I even upvoted your stuff when it was in the Queue, too, and I don’t do that unless I think a piece belongs in the PJ gallery. But to make it as a pixel artist—and to live up to the standards set by PJ’s best artists/works—you’ll need to learn some color control. Go back to your images and count how many colors you used. (The PJ specs tool can help with that.) Create a palette that uses all of the non-transparent colors, then figure out how many of those colors are necessary and how many of them can be “merged” into a closer color. How many of those twenty shades of green does your work need? Why do the caps on the biplane pilots need four different shades of brown? Question every decision you make when it comes to color—and above all else, keep this question lodged in the back of your head: “How can I do more with less?” |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 6:29am
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There is no rule about color counts or anything like that.
Control on the pixel level is what counts. I looked at all your submissions and some were ok, to me but I noticed highly experienced PJer votes being NO votes so I contacted them for in depth feedback. All were 'control' issues. The 2 pixels left in the queue are the most controlled but I left in the queue for more votes. ------------- |
Posted By: marcomoracha
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 8:07am
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That's an easy enough fix, I just didn't have a limited (controlled) palette in mind when I set out to make 'cool looking sprites' for the game.
Everyone who has played it immediately said how nice the art was so I wanted to come here and share it. Thanks for the responses, it's easy enough to have a controlled palette in Photoshop. What is a good rule for maximum colors in a sprite? |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 10:17am
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There is none you use what you need so its just what you need in a controlled manner which cannot be defined but is obvious to the pixel art viewer.
Please note that I personally did not find them bad or anything and that I went by consensus. ------------- |
Posted By: marcomoracha
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 10:39am
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No feelings hurt at all, it's just a technical issue you guys brought up I didn't consider before. I've never really drawn pixel art before except 8bit stuff here and there in Pixaki on my iPad (using very minimal color palette) because I was trying to keep it looking NES style. For these sprites I just went ape. Check out the game and let me know what you think of them animated atleast. Future submissions will be color controlled. I already converted the Stuka to 26 colors from almost 100. But since it wasn't how I drew it from the start and I don't like conversions/photoshop tricks for pixels I'll hold off on resubmitting them. |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 11:08am
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The game and sprites all look great. You did a great job.
In pixel nerd terms however its more hybrid than pure. Nothing wrong with hybrids. Its just that Pixeljoint focuses more on purity so the medium lasts forever. ------------- |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 11:12am
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For your future work, try to stay in the mindset of reusing colours. For example, on your helicopter, you had some yellow markings in two different areas, but used different yellow colours for them instead of reusing yellows from one marking on the other marking. Try to think, "do I already have a colour in this art I can reuse for this new thing?" before you pick a new colour. |
Posted By: marcomoracha
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 1:49pm
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Originally posted by jalonso
The game and sprites all look great. You did a great job. In pixel nerd terms however its more hybrid than pure. Nothing wrong with hybrids. Its just that Pixeljoint focuses more on purity so the medium lasts forever. Good point that's what my sprites are, hybrids. I value what you guys are doing here and in in the color / print industry so I have no excuse not to extend my knowledge to RGB and start reading some tutorials here. My friend who does the programming is highly encouraging of me limiting the nunber of colors I use and I personally find it more rewarding. |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 08 October 2015 at 2:08pm
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Check out the 'sticky reads' link in my sig and review the pinned posts. cure's 'the pixelart thread' is great but the 'colors: I don't get it' should have lots of new things to discover. n00btorials too :p ------------- |