LibreSprite: Animated sprite editor & pixel art tool -- Fork of the last GPLv2 commit of Aseprite

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Animated sprite editor & pixel art tool -- Fork of the last GPLv2 commit of Aseprite - LibreSprite/LibreSprite

Noticed this in my distro's repo today (fedora) and figured I'd bring some attention to it. Asesprite is the premier pixel art tool, so it's awesome to see someone keeping the FOSS version alive!

Also available on flathub.

There's also a great book from NoStarchPress made for Asesprite, and assumes absolutely no previous artistic knowledge!

15 comments

Personally, I prefer Libre7up.

This is so cool! I need to see if I can get it running on MacOS

Is there any reason to use libresprite instead of asesprite?
Asesprite source code is available and has clear instructions on how to compile from source
- From a pure usability and features standpoint, if you are capable of compiling it, there is no reason to use Libresprite over aseprite.
  LibreSprite's only advantage is the GPL license and the ease of installation compared to compiling aseprite (if one does not pay)
  
  Thankfully compiling on Windows was as easy as searching for a guide online. When I switched to CachyOS there was also a package in the AUR that seems well maintained.
  I like that LibreSprite exists though. I wonder if it can use Aseprite's extensions. I might have to check it out just to see.
  Once my financial situation is settled I do want to pay. Aseprite is an amazing tool and the devs deserve my money at this point. They don't ask much and still keep it available to compile for free. That's real marketing, imo.

I love libresprite, even tho it lacks behind aseprite in a feel features it was great to have a free and so robust pixel art editor when i was getting serious about it, i really improved a lot using it but with the lack of new updates i ended up just buying aseprite in a sale on steam

I've already bought Aseprite so I don't really have a use for this, but if it gets close to the current paid version I'll happily switch.
- I think Pixelorama (I'm on mobile right now so don't want to drag up a link) is also FOSS and has a more comparable feature set.
  
  Yeah but it’s a Nextstep app XD
- A db0 user paying for a free program is a twilight zone episode.

What's the difference between the OG Aseprite and all the forks like this one? Genuine question
- The forks are based off an older version, and received less development compared to the OG after stopped being FOSS. A serious artist or gamedev would likely appreciate the additional features of the OG, but the forks are free, and still retain much of what made aseprite so good, making them more than adequate to learn with or any pixel art amateur.
  
  We use OG version at our school but will introduce this instead. I try to implement use of foss where possible in my teaching. S little unrelated but very good CAD alternatives to fusion 360 that has a similar "easy" GUI? Blender is ok but not really a CAD tool.
- If your question is about the legal difference: this fork is licensed as GPL 2 (free libre open-source software), while the OG is proprietary (albeit source-available).
  This means that everyone is allowed to do anything with this version and nobody can ever prevent them from doing so, while the OG doesn't have such freedom.
  The original authors might one day decide to halt the development and pull the source code, and/or decide to start "enshittifying" Aseprite, but LibreSprite will forever remain free and available to everyone.

15 comments