Guide · 5 min read

How to make Tomodachi pixel art

Chibi proportions, smart palettes and export tips — everything you need to draw a 32×32 island resident that actually looks cute.

Why 32×32 is the sweet spot

A 32×32 grid is big enough for eyes, blush and a hairstyle, but small enough that you finish a character in minutes. It's also the classic resolution for cozy life-sim sprites, so your avatar immediately feels at home next to the game's lookalikes.

Chibi proportions that read at a glance

Big head: roughly half the sprite. Cuteness lives here.
Tiny body: a short torso and stubby legs keep the silhouette toy-like.
Two-pixel eyes: at 32×32, eyes that are 2×2 pixels with a one-pixel glint read perfectly.
Outline everything: a dark border around the silhouette makes the sprite pop on any background.

The five-step workflow

Start from a random chibi. Open the maker and click Randomize until the base feels close — this skips the scary blank canvas.
Fix the silhouette. Turn on Mirror and reshape the outline; everything you draw on one half lands on the other.
Block in colors. Use the Fill bucket to swap hair, skin and shirt colors — pick from the curated palettes so everything matches.
Add asymmetric charm. Switch Mirror off and add one detail that breaks symmetry: a hair clip, a wink, a mischievous smile.
Export. Hit PNG — you get a crisp 512×512 image with a transparent background, ready for Discord, a forum signature or a game project.

Pro tip: limit yourself to 4–6 colors. Fewer colors make pixel art look intentional; the palettes in the maker are pre-harmonized for exactly this.

Skip the blank canvas: the template library has 26 hand-made 32×32 starters — chibi character bases, big-expression faces, foods and items. Each one loads onto the canvas in a single click, and every template page shows the full pixel map and palette so you can redraw it anywhere.

Export sizes for every platform

The exported PNG is 512×512, which covers every common avatar size:

Discord / forums: resize to 128×128 or 256×256 — stays crisp because it's an exact power-of-two scale.
Favicons and emoji: 32×32 or 16×16, also pixel-perfect scales.
Print or banners: the transparent background drops straight into any design tool.

FAQ

Can I share or sell what I make?

Sprites you create are yours to use. The tool itself is an unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with Nintendo; avoid selling assets that reproduce copyrighted characters.

Where is my art saved?

In your browser's local storage on your own device — there is no account and no upload. Export a PNG before switching devices.

Open the maker and try it →