http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spriting#Tools Oh, hell, Wikipedia is blacking out for 24 hours to protest SOPA. Here's the text: Tools -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spriting needs only a computer and a graphic editing program, although other tools can help. Depending on the target use of the sprite, it may be necessary to have a program capable of adding transparency information (e.g. an "alpha channel") to sprites. For handheld/mobile games, it is also necessary to post-process the imagery, converting it to a format native to the hardware the game will run on. When editing pixel images, a professional artist will typically use either a program designed for sprite-editing and animation, and/or will modify the workspace of a major image-editor like Photoshop to accommodate sprite editing. The following programs are prevalent: Software The needs of pixel art are very different from those of high-resolution illustration, of image retouching and of digital photo management; not all image editors are suitable for spriting. Common programs Microsoft Paint is included in Microsoft Windows. It lacks many advanced features, but basic graphic editing is very mature and suitable for pixel by pixel editing. Programs designed for sprite editing GraphicsGale, for Windows, has both freeware and ¥1995 (roughly $20) shareware versions, and has features designed for animation and cursor creation. Pro Motion is available for Windows, and costs $78. It is often used by professionals, and offers many animation features, and features tailored to producing art for the Game Boy Advance, or Mobile Phones. Pixen is free, open-source, and available for Mac OS X. It offers many tools tailored to sprite creation and animation. ASEPRITE is free, open-source and available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It is specifically tailored for sprite creation. Supports animation, onion skinning and layers. Major image editors The GIMP is a free, open-source image editor, available for all major platforms. The GIMP-GAP plugin greatly enhances its animation capabilities. Adobe Photoshop is a commercial image editor available for Windows and Mac OS X. In order to make a sprite in this program, users mostly have to use the pencil tool. Paint.NET, built with the .NET framework, is open-source freeware capable of similar functionality as Adobe Photoshop and a number of professional tools. GrafX2 is an open-source picture editor very similar to Deluxe Paint and others from 80's and 90's. Hardware A scanner can be useful for transferring penciled sketches/designs of a sprite into a computer. Advanced sprite artists often create their sprites directly on a computer although, a graphics tablet can greatly ease the majority of the work; especially the sketching and blocking stages, although the finer details will inevitably need to get tweaked with the mouse.
http://www.dredmorwiki.com/wiki/User:Rick/ConvertSprites turns them into .png with .xml files for their animations, which DoD reads just fine. Use that method instead.
