Comparison of pencil strokes with Pixel Perfect lines toggled on and off

Draw Pixel-Perfect Lines

Clean 1px pencil strokes without chunky corner pixels — smart enough for touch-up work.

Overview

The clip in the header shows the same stroke with Pixel Perfect toggled off, then on — watch the corner pixels disappear when the mode is enabled.

Turn it on

  • Select the Pencil tool (E).
  • In the tool options panel, enable Pixel P. (pixel-perfect lines).
  • Set brush Size to 1 — pixel-perfect mode applies to 1px strokes only.

What it does

While you draw, Manabit watches the path of your stroke. On diagonal moves, a normal line would drop an extra pixel at each L-shaped corner, making the stroke look twice as thick. The pixel-perfect algorithm holds those corner pixels back so curves and diagonals stay a true 1px wide.

The result is closer to carefully plotted pixel art lines — useful for sprite outlines, hair strands, rope, cables, and any detail that needs to stay crisp at 1px.

Smart enough to paint over areas

Pixel-perfect is not only for blank canvas work. When your stroke runs near or over existing pixels — filling a shape, touching up an outline, or drawing back over an area you already painted — the algorithm eases off so it does not fight you.

That means you can:

  • Sketch clean outer contours on open canvas.
  • Switch to filling and detailing inside those shapes without the tool removing pixels you need.
  • Return for touch-up passes over existing art when the stroke moves away from dense areas.

On fresh segments away from older pixels, pixel-perfect correction kicks back in automatically.

When to use it

  • Character and prop outlines — keep silhouettes readable at small sizes.
  • Interior detail — thin folds, cracks, and highlights on 1px brushes.
  • Sketch passes — block forms with confidence before you commit to a final line.

For thicker brushes (size 2 and up), use the standard stroke — pixel-perfect applies only at 1px. Pair with the pencil Stabilizer on tablet or mouse if you want smoother input while the algorithm handles corner cleanup.

See the Pencil tool page for size, stabilizer, and shortcut options. For a short walkthrough with the on/off comparison, see How to draw clean pixel-perfect lines.