Touching up a Pixelpond icon pack
Every Pixelpond pack ships its real source: a source/icons.json plus per-icon 16x16 grids. Drop that file into the free Pixelpond Engine and the whole pack opens as editable frames — fix one pixel or restyle a category, then export the same source back out with everything you didn't touch left exactly as it was.
Open the pack as editable frames
In the Pixelpond Engine, choose the icon-pack lane and drop your pack's source/icons.json. Every icon loads as a 16x16 frame with the ink colour and grid locked, so edits stay pack-safe. Step through the timeline to reach any icon.
- Use source/icons.json — the same file the pack's generator reads.
- The palette is locked to ink + transparent, so no stray second colour creeps in.
- Nothing uploads — the pack stays on your device.
Aim for the QA targets, not just your eyes
The pack panel scores the active icon as you work, so you can aim for the readable band instead of guessing. A complication-safe micro icon wants enough ink to read at a glance, but not so much that it blurs into a blob when the watch shrinks and dims it.
- Fill 24–34% — too light vanishes at 16px, too heavy blurs to a blob.
- Zero strays and one to three clean pieces — Suggest → Remove stray pixels clears loose dots.
- Check the white-on-dark ambient preview: a watch dims to exactly that.
Export the source losslessly
Export writes the same icons.json and per-icon grids back out with every id, name, category, tag, and note preserved — only the pixels you changed change. Re-run the pack's generator and verifier to rebuild every PNG, SVG, tint, and preview from your edits.
- Source export ignores stroke, shadow, scale, and trim — it stays pure source.
- Run node tools/generate.mjs && node tools/verify.mjs after export.
- Prefer Aseprite? Its masters regenerate from these same grids pixel-for-pixel, so your edits carry across either way.
Wear OS Micro Icons
160 tiny, ambient-safe pixel icons for watch faces and wrist UI.