Recipes

RECIPES (pxart help recipes)
  Seven workflows, end to end. Each runs as written from a folder holding the files it names;
  'pxart help CMD' has the rest of each command.

  1. Port a pack and prove it lossless
     A pack's loose PNGs and the labels.csv it ships become one .px, or several in a folder.
     One diff then checks every frame against its PNG and exits 1 if any differs: a .px's
     frames, or every frame of every .px in the folder (--exclude GLOB leaves some out).
       $ pxart from-png pack/*.png --labels pack/labels.csv -o town.px
       $ pxart diff town.px pack/ --labels pack/labels.csv
       $ pxart from-png pack/tile_0000.png pack/tile_0002.png --labels pack/labels.csv -o town/ground.px
       $ pxart from-png pack/tile_0001.png pack/tile_0003.png --labels pack/labels.csv -o town/props.px
       $ pxart diff town/ pack/ --labels pack/labels.csv
       $ pxart check town/

  2. Merge packs, variants and all
     Two characters from different packs into one file that imports a shared palette: --prefix
     keeps their ids apart, --rekey their keys, and --variant-map reads the keeper's dark as
     party.px's night. diff proves each copy renders as its original, variant by variant.
       $ pxart new party.px --empty --palette pal.px
       $ pxart frames wick.px:walk --copy-to party.px --prefix wick/
       $ pxart frames keeper.px:walk --copy-to party.px --prefix keeper/ --rekey --variant-map night=dark
       $ pxart diff keeper.px:walk party.px:keeper/walk
       $ pxart diff keeper.px:walk%dark party.px:keeper/walk%night
       $ pxart diff wick.px:walk%night party.px:wick/walk%night

  3. Build a dusk or a night
     A night derived from the base colors (darkened, tinted, the lamp kept lit), or a dusk
     fitted to another pack's; then read what each recolors, and one pixel in every variant.
       $ pxart palette pal.px --variant night --derive-from base --darken 0.35 --tint '#10183060' --keep-lit y
       $ pxart palette pal.px --variant dusk --derive-from base --match mossback.px%dusk
       $ pxart palette pal.px
       $ pxart stats hero.px:idle/0 --at 7,2
       $ pxart sheet hero.px --variant night -o night.png

  4. Slice a sheet
     A 64x64 sheet whose columns are directions: a group per column, then timing, and a look.
       $ pxart from-png Walk.png --grid 16x16 --by cols --names walk/down,walk/up,walk/left,walk/right -o boy.px
       $ pxart anim-set boy.px:walk/down ms=120 direction=pingpong
       $ pxart frames boy.px
       $ pxart sheet boy.px --rows group -o boy.png

  5. Make a scene from a map
     A text tilemap (scene in 'pxart help LOOKING' has the format) renders as a PNG, or
     composes into a .px room that renders the same, pixel for pixel, base and night (the
     proofs render at 1x on a transparent --bg). --rekey gives the map's lamp.px%base its own
     keys, so the room's night leaves it lit, as scene does.
       $ pxart check market.map
       $ pxart compose --map market.map -o market.px --rekey
       $ pxart scene --map market.map --bg transparent --scale 1 -o market.png
       $ pxart diff market.px market.png
       $ pxart scene --map market.map --bg transparent --scale 1 --variant night -o night.png
       $ pxart diff market.px%night night.png

  6. Check an animation's feet
     anim prints what moved in each frame: 'rows 9+ still' says rows 9 down (the feet) never
     moved, where 'shift +0,+1 then 0px' would be the whole sprite bobbing, feet and all. onion
     --feet 3 reads the bottom 3 rows alone ('bottom +0': the feet stayed put). A pivot on the
     feet then lines the frames up in sheet and anim. A whole-sprite bob ('shift +0,+1 then
     0px', feet and all) isn't a feet problem, and no pivot fixes it: shift that frame back up
     (shift FILE:frame --dy -1), then lower only the body (--region x,y,w,h above the feet).
       $ pxart anim hero.px:walk/down
       $ pxart onion hero.px:walk/down/0 hero.px:walk/down/1 --feet 3 -o feet.png
       $ pxart anim-set hero.px:walk/down pivot=8,11
       $ pxart sheet hero.px:walk/down --align pivot --fit -o walk.png
       $ pxart anim hero.px:walk/down -o walk.gif

  7. Stamp an overlay behind every frame of an animation
     A glow drawn once, as a frame of its own, goes behind every frame of a flight: --align
     shift moves it as anim's best shifts say the body bobs (--at places it in the first
     frame; bbox would follow the wing tips), and --under keeps it behind. Its key is
     transparent by day and lit at night, so the sheet shows the flight and the glow (FILE:a,b
     lists them) at night.
       $ pxart palette pal.px --add G=transparent
       $ pxart palette pal.px --variant night --add 'G=#f3cf6b60'
       $ pxart new bat.px:glow --size 16x12
       $ pxart ellipse bat.px:glow G --box 2,0,12,9 --ring 2
       $ pxart paste bat.px:glow --into bat.px:fly --at 0,1 --under --align shift
       $ pxart sheet bat.px:fly,glow --variant night -o glow.png