Open studio →

← Guides · · 3 min read

How to export a sprite sheet for Godot 4

In PaintLasso Pixel Studio, choose Export → Bundle (.zip) to get a sprite sheet PNG and a Godot SpriteFrames resource. Put both files at the root of your Godot project, then assign the resource to an AnimatedSprite2D node. The bundle already contains the frame positions and timing.

Build a four-frame loop

Start with a 32 × 32 canvas and a small lantern. Keep its body in the same position while you change the glow over four frames. Or download the editable lantern example and open it with Pixel Studio’s Import button. Preview the loop before you export. The example gives its brightest frame 180 ms and the others 125 ms each, for a 555 ms loop.

Export the bundle from PaintLasso

  1. Choose Export and leave Export size at Native (1×). Open Game export settings and set Sheet padding (px) to 2 for this example.
  2. To name the animation, set Clip name to pulse, set First frame to 1 and Last frame to 4, then choose Save named clip. Use a looping preview mode before saving a clip you want to repeat. Skip this step to export the timeline as the default animation.
  3. Choose Bundle (.zip) and unzip the download. Find the sheet PNG and the .tres resource. The bundle also includes sprite metadata, individual frames, and an editable Pixel Studio project.
Sprite sheet with four lantern frames whose glow grows and recedes
This 144 × 36 PNG contains four 32 × 32 frames with two transparent pixels around each frame.

Open it in Godot

  1. In Godot 4, copy the two files next to project.godot. The generated resource looks for the PNG in res://. Keep the PNG’s filename as exported so Godot can resolve that reference.
  2. Add an AnimatedSprite2D node. Drag the .tres file from the FileSystem dock into the node’s Sprite Frames property in the Inspector.
  3. Select pulse or default in the SpriteFrames panel and press play there to check the loop. For a crisp enlarged preview, use a whole-number scale and set the node’s Texture → Filter to Nearest.

Check the frame bounds if you import the PNG by itself

For a simple manual import, re-export with padding set to zero and choose Sprite sheet. In Godot’s SpriteFrames panel, add frames from the sheet and set the grid to four columns and one row for this example. With padding enabled, use the supplied resource so it can crop each frame to its actual bounds.

For the editor steps, see Godot’s 2D sprite animation guide. The CanvasItem reference explains the texture filter options.

Open Pixel Studio →

Related guides · Animate your first sprite · Keep pixel art crisp · Explore the pixel art tools