This guide walks you through creating your first project, configuring an AI provider, and generating your first pixel art asset.

Step 1: Create a Project¶

When you first launch Retro Asset Studio, you will see a welcome screen with a Create Your First Project button.

1. Click Create Your First Project (or go to Project > New Project in the menu bar).
2. Fill in the project details:
3. Project Name -- Give your project a descriptive name (e.g., "Jungle Platformer").
4. Style Description -- Describe the visual style you want (e.g., "16-bit adventure game, earthy tones"). This text is injected into all AI prompts to maintain consistency.
5. Background Color -- Choose a solid background color for generated images. This color is used behind sprites and can later be made transparent.
6. Optionally select an AI provider and enter your API key under API Configuration (this can also be done later from Project Settings).
7. Click Create Project.

Your project is now active and visible in the project selector dropdown in the title bar.

Step 2: Configure an AI Provider¶

AI image generation runs through Google Gemini, the recommended and only enabled provider in this alpha. Retro Asset Studio itself is free; Google bills you for the images you generate, and image generation requires a paid Google AI plan. Without a key you can still use the pixel editor, the pose tools, and the spritesheet tools, but you cannot generate images.

1. Get a Google AI Studio key at aistudio.google.com/apikey and make sure billing is enabled on the linked Google Cloud project.
2. Navigate to Project Settings from the sidebar (or Project > Project Settings in the menu bar).
3. Scroll to the API Configuration section. Google Gemini (Image Generation) is already selected.
4. Paste the key into the Google AI API Key field and choose a model. gemini-3-pro-image is the recommended default.
5. Click Test Connection to verify the key. This generates one small test image, which Google bills.
6. Click Save Settings.

For the settings themselves, see API Configuration.

Step 3: Generate Your First Character¶

1. Click Character Designer in the sidebar.
2. Fill in the character details:
3. Character Name -- e.g., "Adventure Hero"
4. Description -- Describe appearance, clothing, and key features.
5. Style Notes (optional) -- Additional style direction.
6. Click Generate Character.
7. Wait 10-30 seconds for the AI to produce an image.
8. The result appears in the AI Image tab on the right side.

Step 4: Process the Image¶

The AI output is a high-resolution image. You need to convert it to pixel art:

1. In the AI Image tab, adjust the Grid size slider so the grid lines align with the visible pixel boundaries in the image.
2. Set the Colors slider to the number of palette colors you want (e.g., 16 or 24).
3. Click Get Pixel Perfect to snap the image to a pixel grid and quantize colors.

The result opens in the Image Editor tab where you can fine-tune the pixel art.

Step 5: Save Your Asset¶

1. Review the pixel art in the Image Editor. Make any touch-ups with the pencil or eraser tools.
2. For non-background assets, set a Transparent Color in the palette sidebar and click Generate Preview to see the asset with transparency.
3. Click Save Pixel Art at the bottom of the panel.

Your asset is now saved and visible in the Asset Browser.

Step 6: Explore Further¶

From here you can:

• Generate backgrounds and props using the Asset Generator.
• Pose your characters with the Pose Editor and save animation frames.
• Generate a whole animation at once with the Spritesheet Generator.
• Build spritesheets in the Spritesheet Editor and export them for your game engine.
• Browse and manage all assets in the Asset Browser, or create a variant of any of them.
• Back up your project with File > Export Project… (see Project Management).

The Menu Bar¶

The title bar contains the application menus:

When you report a bug, copy the version number from the About dialog.

Understanding the Workflow¶

Describe Asset → AI Generation → Pixel Snap → Palette Edit → Save ↓ Pose Editor / Spritesheet Generator → Save Frames ↓ Spritesheet Editor → Export PNG Strip

The typical workflow flows from generation through refinement to export. Each stage gives you full control over the output.