the pixel forge — free emoji, emote & GIF maker
In 1999 I drew a dancing banana in a tool about this simple — and it took over the internet. Here's that tool, rebuilt. Pencil, fill, frames, one great palette. Make the next one.
Live at chat size
Canvas & import
Imports get pixelated onto the grid — colours it can't match join your palette.
Forge it — transparent, chat-ready
An emoji maker that respects the pixel
Most emoji makers are photo croppers with a watermark. This is a pixel emote maker: small grid, four tools, frame-by-frame animation, live preview at the exact size chat renders. Emotes live at 28–32 pixels — art drawn for that size beats anything shrunk down to it. In 1999 I drew the dancing banana in a tool this simple. This is that tool, rebuilt. Free, no account, no watermark.
This is how big an emote really is
The same GIF, at the exact sizes chat platforms actually render it. Everything to the right of the first box is what your audience sees — which is why you draw for the small size instead of shrinking something detailed down to it.
Sizes from the platforms' own specs — the full tables live in the emoji & emote size guides.
Sized for your platform
How to make an emoji
Five rules for emotes that read at 28 pixels
Draw an animated GIF from scratch
Every big GIF maker converts video. The Forge is the other kind — a GIF drawing tool, like the ones the first GIF artists used. Draw each frame in pixels, set the timing, export a real animated GIF with real transparency. Nothing converted, everything drawn. If you can doodle, you can animate.
Drawing tool vs converter — know which one you need
| The Pixel Forge | a typical online GIF maker | |
|---|---|---|
| What you start with | a blank pixel grid (or any GIF, remixable) | a video or a stack of photos |
| Draw frame by frame | yes — that is the whole tool | no, it only converts |
| True transparency | every export | rare, and often with broken halos |
| Watermark | never | common on free tiers |
| Account required | no | usually |
| Chat-ready presets | 128 · 112 · 512, transparent | generic video sizes |
| Price | free | "free" with limits |
39 years of the GIF, in one strip
Questions, answered
Is the Pixel Forge emoji maker free?
Yes — completely free, no account, no watermark. Draw in the browser and download transparent GIFs or PNGs ready for Discord, Twitch, Slack and Telegram.
Can I draw an animated GIF from scratch?
Yes — that is the whole idea. Most GIF makers only convert videos or stitch photos together; the Forge is a GIF drawing tool. You draw every frame in pixels, set the timing per frame, and export a real animated GIF.
Can I make animated Discord emojis with it?
Yes. Draw up to 16 frames with per-frame timing and export a transparent animated GIF at 128×128 pixels — exactly what Discord custom emojis require.
Can I make Twitch emotes with it?
Yes. Export at 112×112 pixels with a transparent background and Twitch auto-generates the 56px and 28px sizes when you upload.
What size does each platform need?
Discord emoji: 128×128 (shown at 32×32 in chat). Twitch emotes: 28, 56 and 112 pixels. Slack: 128×128 under 128KB. Telegram stickers: 512×512. Discord stickers: 320×320 as APNG. The Forge exports the right sizes directly, and the full spec tables live in the emoji size guides.
Are the GIFs transparent?
Yes, every export supports transparency. Anything you leave unpainted stays see-through, so your emote floats over any chat background — no white box around it.
Can I import an existing GIF and remix it?
Yes. Import any GIF and it lands on the grid frame by frame, ready to redraw — including the original 1999 Dancing Banana, which is one click away.
Do I need an account or an app?
No. It runs entirely in your browser — nothing to install, no sign-up, no watermark. Finished pieces land on your Banana Pass so you can come back to them.
Who built the Pixel Forge?
Trym Stene — the Norwegian creator of the 1999 Dancing Banana GIF, one of the internet’s oldest living memes, still pulling over a million views a month on GIPHY. The Forge rebuilds the kind of frame-by-frame tool the banana was originally drawn in.
What is the Items Workshop?
The Forge’s second bench, at its own address: draw a wearable item directly on the 1999 Dancing Banana — a hat, a sword, a rubber duck — and submit it. Approved gear goes on sale in the Banana Stand’s back-catalog — any visitor can buy it with bananacoins and wear it everywhere, and your name rides along as the maker. Furniture reaches every homestead’s phone store the same way.
Why pixel art for emotes?
Emotes render at 28–32 pixels in chat, where fine detail turns to mush. Pixel art drawn on a small grid stays crisp and readable — the same reason the 1999 Dancing Banana still works everywhere.