Quickstart

Piko is a free, browser-based 2D graphics editor for vector, bitmap, and pixel art. There is nothing to install — open it in your browser and start creating. This guide walks you from a blank canvas to an exported image in under five minutes.

Tip

Piko runs entirely in your browser. Your work stays on your device and is autosaved every 60 seconds.

Open the editor

Head to app.piko.gg in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. A new project with a blank canvas loads automatically — no account required.

Choose your mode

Piko has three editor modes. Switch between them using the three-button switcher in the center of the menu bar.

Vector

Best for illustrations, UI mockups, and anything that needs to scale to any size.

Tools: Select, Frame, Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Star, Line, Pen, Pencil, Text

Paint

Best for freeform painting, photo editing, and bitmap artwork.

Tools: Select, Frame, Brush, Eraser, Fill, Eyedropper

Pixel Art

Best for retro sprites, game assets, and pixel-perfect drawing.

Tools: Select, Frame, Brush, Pencil, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, Fill, Eraser, Eyedropper

Pick whichever mode interests you — you can switch at any time.

Draw something

1. Select a tool

   Grab a tool from the toolbar on the left. Try the Brush in Paint mode, the Rectangle in Vector mode, or the Pencil in Pixel Art mode.

2. Choose a color

   Pick a color from the color picker at the bottom of the toolbar.

3. Draw on the canvas

   Click and drag on the canvas to create your first strokes or shapes. Use Ctrl + Z (or Cmd + Z on macOS) to undo freely as you experiment.

4. Organize with layers

   Open the Layers panel on the right side. Click the + button to add a new layer. Keep your background on one layer and foreground elements on another — you can reorder, hide, or lock layers at any time.

Save your project

Piko’s native file format is .pik — a ZIP-based project file that preserves all your layers, modes, and settings.

• Save: Ctrl + S — saves your project as a .pik file to disk.
• Save As: Ctrl + Shift + S — saves a copy with a new name.
• Open: Ctrl + O — opens an existing .pik file.
• New: Ctrl + N — creates a new blank project.

Note

Piko also autosaves your work to the browser’s IndexedDB every 60 seconds. If your browser closes unexpectedly, your project should be there when you reopen the editor.

Export your image

When you are ready to share your work, export it to a standard image format.

1. Select the elements you want to export, or leave nothing selected to export the full canvas.

2. Open the export dialog with Ctrl + Shift + E, or go to File > Export Selected.

3. Choose your format:

   • PNG — lossless raster, great for sharing and uploading
   • JPEG — compressed raster, smaller files for photos
   • WebP — modern format with excellent quality-to-size ratio
   • SVG — vector format that scales to any size (Vector mode)
   • PDF — document format for print or presentation

4. Click Export and save the file to your computer. Done!

What to explore next

Now that you have the basics down, dive deeper:

Canvas Basics Learn how to pan, zoom, and configure your canvas.

Tools Guide A detailed look at every tool across all three modes.

Working with Layers Master layers, blending modes, and grouping.

Keyboard Shortcuts Speed up your workflow with every shortcut at a glance.