easy "virtual resolution" pixel pushing

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What would you like to be changed or added ?

hi. doing pixel graphics with a 1x brush in a 1440x900 mac resolution will get 
you a high resolution picture too. what do you think of an option to select 
automatically a "virtual resolution" like x1, x2, x3, x4, etc., where it would 
change the brush size, grid size and snap to grid accordingly? check the 
example image: http://imm.io/dMIu

Original issue reported on code.google.com by gtbibsei...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2011 at 6:46

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Go in screenmode menu and select "double" or "quad".

Original comment by pulkoma...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2011 at 6:55

• Changed state: Invalid

[GoogleCodeExporter]

thanks for the reply but, correct me if i'm wrong, when saving the image and 
opening it in an external application (xee) at the current 1440x900 screen 
resolution it will look as high resolution and it will only look the way i drew 
it, when opened in an external application, if i actually change my mac's 
resolution in system preferences, right? sorry if i'm wrong (replying from 
work).

Original comment by gtbibsei...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2011 at 7:08

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Well yes, the point is to do pixel precise work.
You can easily resize your image when you are done with it, in the "picture 
adjust/effects" menu (bottom left button).

Original comment by pulkoma...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2011 at 7:13

[GoogleCodeExporter]

yes, thanks i know precisely what you mean. grafx2 is a professional app to 
make pixel gfx meant to be viewed at the same resolution they were made in (for 
games, demos, etc.).

for me it's just an amateur hobby really, and i just wanted to make new/convert 
old work to be viewed in more mainstream resolutions (even putting them on a 
website) *but* as low resolution gfx - is high resolution pixel art even 
considered pixel art? =)

for example, the image below is still low resolution in a 1280x1024 resolution 
monitor. this could be easy done by drawing in the same 1280x1024 resolution, 
with a 8x8 pixel brush. that's why my initial suggestion was a about an easy 
"virtual resolution" setting. to virtualize low resolution in a high resolution 
screen.

http://www.macupdate.com/images/user_img/84501.png

sorry to for the follow-ups and my noobness, just sharing my enthusiasm really. 
to finish it up, the resize you mention (picture adjust/effects) will be able 
to double/triple/etc. the exact pixels without aspect-ratio distortion or any 
extra anti-aliasing? because that will ruin it. anyway, thanks a lot for your 
quick replies and the great app grafx2, guys.

cheers.

Original comment by gtbibsei...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2011 at 7:29

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Of course the resize takes care of not breaking anything. Use ratio mode with a 
factor of 2:1 (or 4:1 or 8:1...) to make sure nothing is distorted. If you have 
a big picture and want to make it "normal size" again so you can edit it, 
resize it 1:2 or 1:4 or 1:8. It's lossless this way too.

As for using artificial big pixels like this, I find that a bit artificial and 
unneeded. But, if it's what you are after, that's ok.

The solution I gave (using quad pixel ratioscreenmode) allows you to see big 
pixels and work efficiently with all tools grafx2 has to offer. A final resize 
step allows you to export your picture that way. That's some kind of 
post-processing :)

Another solution is, as you said, to use a big brush and enable grid snapping 
in the options. This way you don't need to scale the picture, but several tools 
will ignore the setting, such as the circle drawing and many others.

It's not too profesional either. Just have fun with it :)

Original comment by pulkoma...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2011 at 8:04

[GoogleCodeExporter]

To make pixels look bigger than a "screen-pixel", there is the Pixel scaler 
setting as mentioned, but there's also the Magnifier view ('looking glass' 
icon).
In all cases, you'll want Grafx2 to count distances in "pixel units" that go 
0-1-2-3, not 0-4-8-12 etc. So basically, the above tools give you exactly what 
you need during editing.
Now, I can see the hassle of resizing x4 every time you save an image and /4 
every time you reload it... I have myself considered adding some data in the 
file format(s) to inform Grafx2 that the image must be saved N times bigger 
than normal and reduced by N when loaded. But the Resize screen is very fast to 
use, so I no longer feel the need.
If there is one improvement to do about it, it's to provide Lua bindings for 
image resize. Then whoever needs it writes the one-line scripts that resize x4 
and /4 (if they do all their works in x4), they attach keyboard shortcuts to 
them, and they're done.

Original comment by yrizoud on 30 Dec 2011 at 11:32

[GoogleCodeExporter]

lots of good information here, i just copied it to my notebook. i really 
appreciate it guys!
here's an example of one of my gfx made in 92 on the amiga as a thank you gift.

original amiga resolution: http://cl.ly/0R2H2W2P3N0S2i2H3M37
mimic amiga resolution: http://cl.ly/441O1k3q3Z1T3n000P0F

Original comment by gtbibsei...@gmail.com on 31 Dec 2011 at 12:54