en Pixia

Pixia
	Pixia 6.03c running on Windows 10.
Original author(s)	Isao Maruoka, Tacmi Co.
Developer(s)	Isao Maruoka
Initial release	1998; 26 years ago
Stable release	6.62b (32-bit); 6.61p (64-bit) / October 8, 2024; 2 months ago (32-bit); March 12, 2024; 9 months ago (64-bit)
Operating system	Microsoft Windows (Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7); older versions support Windows 95 / 98 / ME / NT 4.0
Available in	Multilingual (10)
Type	Raster graphics editor
License	Freeware
Website	www.pixia.jp

Pixia is a freeware raster graphics editor program for Windows, created by Isao Maruoka (丸岡勇夫, Maruoka Isao). It was originally designed for the anime/manga community but has also been used in other branches of art. A successor to ART/fw, a full-color graphics tool developed for Windows 3.1, ver. 0 was released in the fall of 1998 and celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2013.^[1] The program is still being upgraded at a high frequency. Although it is freeware, it has advanced functions.

In addition to Pixia, other versions were developed under the names A/PIXIA and Phierha to enhance functions, but they were never officially released. After reviewing those versions, Pixia ver. 5 was released in 2009. Ver. 5 also features significant changes in interface design, among others.

Although ver.4 continues to be supported for users who prefer the conventional interface, the focus of development has shifted to ver.6, resulting in the existence of two series of Pixia.

Overview and features

The program has a layer function, masks, blending planes, and transparent color planes (filter required). It supports external plug-ins to add data read/write formats and to expand functionality such as integration with other software. Filters and plug-ins are created and published by volunteers on many sites. Some attempts were made to mutually use Adobe Photoshop and Pixia filters.

For a long time, Pixia could not manage GIF files by default because the software was developed before the GIF patent expired. However, since ver. 4 released after the expiration of the GIF patent, GIF files have been available as a standard feature.

There were also multiple language versions for the program, including Japanese, English, French, German, Spanish, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Chinese (simplified and traditional), and Korean, but only the Japanese and English versions have been released since ver. 4.

In addition to the freeware version, there is also a paid version of the software that comes with Wacom and other tablets with additional material data, among others. Paid filters and downloads with support are also available.