Why AI ruins pixel art — and flood-fill doesn't

AI segmentation softens edges by design. Pixel art has no soft edges — every pixel is intentional.

AI method on pixel art

  • ⚠️ Generates antialiased, sub-pixel transparency
  • ⚠️ Blurs the hard edges pixel artists intentionally drew
  • ⚠️ Introduces colour fringing on high-contrast outlines
  • ⚠️ Trained on photos — doesn't understand pixel grids

Flood-fill on pixel art ✦

  • ✓ Binary per-pixel decision — keep or remove, nothing in between
  • ✓ Hard edges stay exactly as drawn
  • ✓ Colour boundary followed precisely at the pixel level
  • ✓ Correct result at any canvas scale

Auto-detect routes flat-colour pixel art to flood-fill automatically. You can also force it with the Fast option.

Pixel Art Background Removal FAQ

My pixel art has a checker pattern background — will flood-fill handle it?

Flood-fill works on solid, uniform background colours. A checker pattern (alternating colours) is not a single colour, so the result will be partial. For checker backgrounds, use the AI method or manually pick a simpler background before uploading.

Why does my sprite look blurry after processing?

This happens when you use the AI method on pixel art. Switch to Fast (flood-fill) — it makes binary keep/remove decisions per pixel with no antialiasing. Also avoid resizing the GIF before upload, as that introduces blur before processing even starts.

How do I use the spritesheet in Unity?

Import the spritesheet PNG into Unity, set Texture Type to Sprite (2D and UI), then set Sprite Mode to Multiple. Open the Sprite Editor and use Slice → Grid By Cell Size with the frame dimensions. Unity generates individual sprites from the grid automatically.

What tolerance setting should I use for pixel art?

Set tolerance to 8–12 for standard pixel art with hard edges. Higher values (16+) may eat into the sprite's outline pixels if the background and outline colours are close. If you see the outline being clipped, lower the tolerance.