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Tilf review

Free#67 of 70 in Pixel Art Software

A focused offline editor for essential pixel drawing on desktop.

5.5/10Editor score
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Tilf is a free, open-source desktop pixel art editor for sprites, icons, and small 2D assets. It suits solo creators and small teams that want an offline drawing tool without accounts or registration. The core toolkit includes pencil, eraser, bucket-fill, eyedropper, rectangle, and ellipse tools, along with custom image dimensions and zoom from 1× to 50×. Tilf runs on Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux.

For focused drawing work, Tilf covers several practical canvas controls. Users can enable a customizable grid, edit the background color with alpha support, and view a real-time movable preview panel. Undo and redo history extends up to 50 states, while drag-and-drop image opening reduces friction when bringing existing artwork into the editor. PNG, JPEG/JPG, and BMP files can be imported and exported, giving the application a straightforward raster workflow.

Its narrow scope is the main consideration for buyers choosing a pixel art tool. The published feature set does not list animation, palettes, spritesheets, onion-skinning, or tilemaps, so Tilf is better suited to static sprites, icons, and small assets than to animation or tile-focused production. Community support and desktop-only deployment also point toward an individual or small-team use case. Choose Tilf for free offline editing with essential tools; choose another application if your workflow depends on the unlisted animation, palette, spritesheet, onion-skinning, or tilemap capabilities.

Tilf pros and cons

  • Where it wins
    • Free and open source with offline use and no registration
    • Runs on Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux
    • Includes grids, live preview, undo history, and raster import/export
  • Where it doesn't
    • Does not list animation or onion-skinning features
    • Does not list palettes, spritesheets, or tilemaps
    • Community support and desktop deployment limit its broader workflow fit

Tilf fact sheet, pricing and score →

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