Retro Diffusion Extension for Aseprite

Rapid designing with AI

Create, change, and refine artwork in minutes.

What is Retro Diffusion?

This extension for the popular pixel art software Aseprite allows the easy installation and use of Stable Diffusion AI image generator from inside Aseprite. It also adds advanced features like smart color reduction, and text guided palette creation. In combination with the state of the art pixel model, you can design incredible pixel art pieces in record time.

Custom pixel art AI model

Retro Diffusion comes with its own pixel art model, which returns results astronomically better than any competing model or AI. If you have tried to get Dall-e 2, Stable Diffusion, or even Midjourney to create accurate pixel art before, you know that they just don't get it. 

The best part is, this model has been trained on licensed assets from Astropulse and other pixel artists with their consent.

Select the pixel art model and watch as near perfect pixel art is made in seconds!

Check out my site for more images! https://astropulse.co/#retrodiffusiongallery

Minecraft assets

Several models have been developed specifically for Minecraft style assets, making developing good looking mods and resource packs easier than ever!

All these assets took under an hour to create, with most of the time spent generating images.

Additionally, if you enable the "Tiling" modifier, you can create beautiful seamless block textures in record time.

I also have a great tool for Aseprite that lets you see a freely rotating 3D block in your editor window: https://astropulse.gumroad.com/l/BlockPreview

Game items

Generate creative and interesting game assets just by describing them, no more need for dreaded 'programmer art.'

Palettize

Using the Palettize feature, you can easily reduce the number of colors in an image, or change the colors entirely in just a couple clicks.

Built in styles

Retro Diffusion has different pixel art styles available at the click of a button. In addition to the "Game item" and "Tiling" modifiers there is:

Top-down

Front-facing

Flat shading

1-Bit

These modifiers can even be applied at different strengths to achieve different styles!

Compatibility

Ensure you have the latest version of Aseprite.

On setup, please make sure to read through the installation instructions thoroughly, and that you are connected to a stable wifi network (mobile hotspots will not work).

Refer to the chart below for exact compatibility information:

* Linux support is not guaranteed. The number of distros, environments, and the commonality of user system modifications makes assured support next to impossible. Retro Diffusion has been tested on stock Ubuntu, Mint, and Fedora. Customized versions of these distros may not be supported. If you have any issues with compatibility on Linux be sure to contact me directly via Discord.

NOTE: The first generation will take a while, as it may need to install additional models.

Performance statistics

GPU:

Nvidia GTX 1050 TI: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 2.5 minutes.
Nvidia GTX 960: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 2 minutes.
Nvidia GTX 1660 Super: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 2 minutes.
Nvidia RTX 3060: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 5 seconds.
Nvidia RTX 3090: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in <2 seconds.

Radeon RX 6650 XT: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 20 seconds.

Mac M1 Pro 64gb: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 26 seconds.
Mac M2 Air 16gb: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 50 seconds.

CPU:

Intel i5-8300H: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 10 minutes.
Ryzen 2600X: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 10 minutes.
Intel i7-1065G7: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in 5 minutes.
Ryzen 5800X: 20 steps 512x512 (64x64 pixel model) in <4 minutes.

Aseprite not for you?

Check out the standalone models here!

These models are ALSO included with the Aseprite extension!

Future versions

Any future versions or patches of Retro Diffusion will be given to previous buyers at no additional cost. Make sure to check your email for new versions!

The current version is 8.0.5.

Previews and updates

The best place to go for any information on the current state of Retro Diffusion, or previews of upcoming content is my Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/RealAstropulse

Contact information

The best place to reach me is by joining the Retro Diffusion Discord server: https://discord.gg/baCV7nJn9g

Alternatively, use the contact form on my website: https://astropulse.co/#contactme