Tilemap Mode
Paint 2D game maps using tiles from your session. Place tiles on a grid, fill regions, and validate edge compatibility — all visually.
Switching to tilemap mode
Click Tilemap in the mode toggle at the top of the editor. The canvas switches from pixel editing to a tile grid.
Tools
| Tool | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp | T | Place the selected tile. Click or drag to paint. |
| Eraser | E | Clear grid cells (remove tile). |
| Fill | G | Flood fill a region with the selected tile. |
| Eyedropper | I | Pick a tile from the grid and set it as the brush. |
Selecting a tile
Click a tile in the Tiles panel on the right to set it as your active brush. The selected tile appears highlighted. Use the eyedropper (I) to pick a tile from the map itself.
Grid size
Set the map dimensions (width x height in tiles) in the tilemap properties panel. Default is 12x8 tiles.
WFC edge validation
When you place a tile, the editor checks if its edges are compatible with its neighbors. Incompatible placements are flagged — you'll see which tiles conflict so you can fix the edge classes or choose a different tile.
pixl check tileset.pax --fix from the CLI to auto-classify edges from pixel content.Play mode
A Zelda-style screen-locked camera for testing your map layout. The player moves tile by tile, and the camera scrolls screen by screen when reaching the edge — just like classic top-down games.
Canvas controls
Same as pixel mode:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Space + drag | Pan |
Scroll wheel / + - | Zoom |
H | Toggle grid |
Cmd+Z / Cmd+Shift+Z | Undo / Redo |
Exporting maps
Maps created in tilemap mode can be exported to Tiled (.tmx), Godot, or Unity formats via the CLI:
pixl export tileset.pax --format tiled --out ./export/