How to Make a Pokémon Sprite

Last Updated: April 22, 2022

Although the number of Pokémon species was billed at 150 on the animated TV series, the number of these "pocket monsters" continues to grow as the franchise grows through video games, manga, and anime for television and the movies. It's also possible for would-be Pokémon trainers and breeders to create their own Pokémon by combining the characteristics of two or more Pokémon into a single new creature. This process is called spriting , and the steps below tell you how to make a Pokémon sprite of your own.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Planning Your Sprite

1
Consider what you want your Pokémon sprite to look like. You may want to have your Pokémon have the features of a single class of Pokémon, such as an electric Pokémon that combines the features of Pikachu and Voltorb. You may instead want to have a Pokémon that crosses types, such as a miniature version of Gamera that combines Charizard's flame with Blastoise's jet appendages.
- Even if you want to create a sprite to fit into a single Pokémon class, you may want to borrow from Pokémon of several classes to create your sprite. If you want to create an electric Pokémon with a body like Voltorb's, you may want to give it a shock aura that looks similar to Gasly's gaseous aura or projections resembling Bulbasaur's whip-like tendrils.
2
Open a Pokémon image generator program or website. Also called sprite programs, these programs/websites are sources of raster images of existing Pokémon that you can combine to make your own creatures. Examples of such generator websites include http://randompokemon.com/, and http://www.dragonflycave.com/testing.htm.

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3
Capture the Pokémon images you want to borrow from to make your sprite. Instead of using a Pokeball, you'll use the screen capture commands for your computer system or the graphic editor program you'll be using. You'll need a Pokémon for the principal body type, and one or more additional Pokémon for arms, legs, and other appendages.
4
Copy the Pokémon images to your graphic editor program. Place the captured images close together to make it easier to move image portions from one Pokémon to another.
- You may also wish to save your selection of images, so that if you make a mistake, you don't have to recapture the images when starting over.
- Some images will display a black background when copied onto the canvas of your graphic editor program. For those images, you'll need to erase or repaint the background to match the canvas, or use the option to make the background transparent when pasted if such an option is available.
5
Decide which Pokémon image will form the body of your sprite and which image(s) you will take parts from to add to the body.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Making Your Sprite

1
Erase the parts from the body of your base Pokémon that you want to replace. For example, if you want to give Charizard's arms to Squirtle, you'll want to erase Squirtle's existing arms.
2
Cut the part from the donor Pokémon that you want to apply to the base Pokémon. If you plan to use the part more than once on the base Pokémon, you may instead want to copy the part.
- You may want to flip or rotate the part to make it better fit onto the base Pokémon before attaching it, such as if you want to use Feraligatr's head spikes as chin or belly spikes for a sprite made from Voltorb's body.
- In some cases, you may want to erase away the body of the donor Pokémon, leaving only the part you want to attach to your sprite. For example, Voltorb and Gastly are both ball-shaped, so if you want to put Gasly's aura on Voltorb, you can erase Gasly's body, leaving only its aura.
3
Affix the donated part to the base Pokémon. In most cases, you'll drag the donated part to the base Pokémon. In other cases, you may find it looks better to drag the base Pokémon to the new part. Experiment to see which way works best.
4
Repeat the previous two steps until your sprite has all the appendages you want. In some cases, you may want to capture additional Pokémon images if you suddenly realize one of them has appendages your sprite should have.
5
Color your sprite as you wish. You can use the existing colors from the base Pokémon, its appendages, or any of the colors available in the paint palettes of your graphic editor program.
- One coloring technique you can use is to set up your erase feature to erase in the color you want to paint the sprite and use it instead of one of the brush settings.
6
Save your sprite. Give the sprite a name that suggests its appearance or capabilities. This is how most Pokémon are named.

Community Q&A

Question

Can I use MS Paint to make a sprite?

Community Answer

Yes. It's a little bit slower than some other programs, but it will do the job.
Question

How can I make a Pokemon sprite without combining official sprites?

Weekee

Community Answer

You'd have to create your own pixel art, using Pokemon as a reference, so it fits the same style.
Question

What is the program that you use?

Dere112

Community Answer

Use http://randompokemon.com and http://www.dragonflycave.com/testing.htm .