Asemode

Draw and edit textmode art directly in Aseprite with native tools.

View Asemode on GitHub

Asemode brings character-cell drawing and fonts to Aseprite. Combine textmode layers with pixel art and animation, pick glyphs, set ink and cell colors, transform stamps, and exchange artwork across the textmode.art ecosystem.

Features

• Draw with Aseprite tools, including pencil, lines, shapes, bucket, and eraser.
• Paint with primary and secondary glyph stamps using the left and right mouse buttons.
• Flip stamps horizontally or vertically and rotate them by 90 degrees.
• Set and swap ink (foreground) and cell (background) colors.
• Use transparent cell backgrounds to layer textmode over pixel art.
• Combine textmode layers with Aseprite frames, cels, and animation.
• Use a different font for each textmode layer in the same RGB sprite.
• Choose from 18 bundled fonts in official release builds.
• Upload custom static TrueType (.ttf) fonts.
• Manage a local library of up to 64 saved fonts, subject to a 32 MiB total limit.
• Search characters by Unicode name or block.
• Replace glyphs, ink, or cell colors across a selection.
• Adjust grid and cell dimensions, with automatic font rerendering.
• Import and export Textmode Document (.textmode.json) artwork.
• Exchange artwork with create.textmode.art and import conversions from export.textmode.art.
• Import JSON exports from textmode.js sketches using textmode.export.js.
• Use Aseprite’s undo and redo history.
• Use light and dark themes that match Aseprite.
• Assign keyboard shortcuts to Asemode commands.

Requirements

• A standard build of Aseprite 1.3.18.6 or later.
• An RGB sprite when adding textmode layers to existing artwork. Asemode creates new sprites in RGB mode.

Installation

1. Download the .aseprite-extension file.
2. In Aseprite, open Edit > Preferences > Extensions > Add Extension.
3. Select the downloaded file and enable Asemode.
4. Open Sprite > Asemode > New Textmode Sprite.. to start drawing.

Feedback and suggestions are very welcome :)