Anti-Aliasing in Pixel Art: When and How

What Is Anti-Aliasing?

Anti-aliasing (AA) uses intermediate colors between two contrasting areas to smooth out jagged edges (jaggies). In pixel art, it's applied manually, pixel by pixel.

When to Use AA

• Curved lines: Circles, arcs, and diagonal lines benefit most
• Character outlines: Smoothing where the sprite meets the background
• Large sprites: 64x64 and above where jaggies are more noticeable

When to Skip It

• Small sprites: At 16x16, AA colors can make things look blurry
• Straight horizontal/vertical lines: These don't have jaggies
• Retro-style art: If you're going for a sharp, NES-era look

How to Apply It

Identify a jaggy step in your outline

Place an intermediate color (between outline and background) at the corner of the step

Use 1-2 AA pixels maximum — more than that creates banding

Common Mistakes

• Double-wide AA: Using too many intermediate pixels, creating a fuzzy look
• AA inside the sprite: Only apply AA where the sprite meets the background, not between internal colors
• Wrong intermediate color: The AA color should be a mix of both neighboring colors, not just a lighter version of one