How to Design a Pixel Art Font for Divoom Displays

What Makes a Pixel Font Different

A pixel font is a typeface built entirely on a fixed grid, where each unit represents one visible pixel. Unlike vector fonts that scale smoothly to any size, pixel fonts embrace their blocky nature — every curve is approximated with discrete squares. On a Divoom LED display, this isn't a limitation; it's the whole point. Each LED on the panel is a real, physical pixel, so your font design maps one-to-one to the hardware.

A few typography concepts carry over directly to pixel grids, and knowing them helps you make deliberate design choices instead of guessing:

• Baseline — the horizontal row where most of your letters sit. In a 5×7 grid, the baseline is usually row 6 (second from the bottom).
• X-height — the height of lowercase letters like a, c, e, and x. Typically 3–4 pixels in a small font, 4–5 in a medium one.
• Cap height — the top of your capital letters, usually aligned with the top of the grid or one row below.
• Ascenders — parts of letters that reach above the x-height, like the tall stroke in b, d, h, k, or l.
• Descenders — parts that drop below the baseline, like the tail in g, j, p, q, or y.
• Character width — most pixel fonts use characters 3–5 pixels wide, with at least 1 pixel of spacing between each letter.

These terms come from traditional typography, but on a pixel grid they become concrete measurements you can count. The pixel art tradition of working within strict grid constraints goes back decades — from early computer displays to arcade game cabinets — and the same discipline applies when designing for LED panels today.

Pixel Overload walks through typography vocabulary and two practical methods for designing pixel fonts on a grid.

Choosing Your Canvas Size

The pixel grid of your Divoom display determines how detailed your font can be. A larger grid gives you more room for letterforms with ascenders, descenders, and decorative touches. A smaller grid forces simpler, bolder designs that still read clearly at a distance.

Display	Pixoo-64 64×64 LED panel	Times Gate 5× 128×128 LCD screens	Ditoo Pro 16×16 LED front panel
Grid size	64×64 pixels	128×128 per screen	16×16 pixels
Recommended font size	5×7 or 8×8	8×8 or 10×14	3×5 or 5×7
Best for	Detailed fonts, multi-line text, bold scrolling messages	High-detail fonts on dedicated screens, dashboard-style text	Simple scrolling names, short quotes, compact charm
Text display style	Static or scrolling animation	Static on one screen, scrolling on another	Scrolling animation (primary method)

If you're designing your first pixel font, start with a 5×7 grid. It's the sweet spot — enough room for clear lowercase letters with ascenders and descenders, but not so much space that beginners get overwhelmed by pixel choices.

Picking the Right Tool

You don't need to buy software to design a pixel font. Several free tools run directly in your browser and are built around the same grid-based thinking that pixel fonts require. Here's how the main options compare:

Aseprite — Best overall pixel art editor

Aseprite is the industry-standard tool for pixel art creation, and it handles font design well. It supports layers, animation frames, and sprite sheet export — which matters if you plan to create scrolling text animations later. The downside is cost: Aseprite is a paid tool (around $20), though you can compile it from source for free if you're technically inclined. Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Choose Aseprite if you plan to create both pixel art and fonts, or if you want animation support built into your workflow.

Piskel — Free browser-based pixel editor

Piskel runs entirely in your browser with no installation required. It offers a clean interface with grid snapping, animation timeline, and PNG or GIF export. It's simpler than Aseprite, but that simplicity is an advantage when you're learning. Design each letter on a separate frame, then export the set as individual PNGs or a sprite sheet.

Choose Piskel if you want zero setup cost and a tool you can open in any tab.

FontStruct — Purpose-built for grid font creation

FontStruct takes a different approach. Instead of drawing pixel art, you place "bricks" on a grid to construct each glyph — and the tool exports your design as an actual TrueType font file (.ttf) that you can install on any computer. It's free, browser-based, and purpose-built for exactly this kind of grid-constrained type design.

Choose FontStruct if you want a real installable font in addition to pixel art images, or if you prefer a drag-and-drop workflow over freehand drawing.

Divoom App — Built-in pixel editor

The free Divoom Smart App (available on iOS and Android) includes a basic pixel editor. You can draw simple text designs and push them directly to your device without any export or import steps. It's limited for designing a full alphabet, but great for quick one-off messages or testing how a font concept looks on your actual display.

Start with just your name or a short phrase before designing a full alphabet. A 5-letter word lets you test spacing, readability, and style without committing to 26 characters plus punctuation.

Three Ways to Design Your First Letter

There are three common approaches to building letterforms on a pixel grid. Each produces a different visual character, and the best choice depends on your grid size and the style you're after.

Line method

Draw each character line-by-line on the grid, similar to handwriting but constrained to horizontal, vertical, and 45-degree strokes. This produces thin, clean letterforms that feel precise and modern. It works well at 5×7 size and above. The main consideration is that line-method fonts tend to look light — at very small sizes, thin strokes can become hard to read against a bright LED background.

Box method

Start with filled rectangular shapes for each letter, then carve out negative space to define the character. This produces bolder, heavier letterforms that remain readable even at 3×5 size. The box method is the most forgiving approach for beginners working with smaller grids like the Ditoo Pro's 16×16 panel, where every pixel carries visual weight.

Pixel-by-pixel

Place individual pixels one at a time, building each letter from scratch. This is the most precise approach but also the slowest. It shines at 8×8 and larger grids where you have enough room to add subtle details — a slight curve on an S, a pointed serif on a T, or a rounded bowl on a B. On a Pixoo-64 with its 64×64 grid, pixel-by-pixel gives you the room to refine every character.

Making Your Font Readable

A pixel font lives or dies by its readability. On an LED display, where pixels are physical points of light, small readability mistakes become more visible than on a monitor. A few rules that consistently improve legibility:

• Maintain 1-pixel minimum spacing between characters. Letters that touch become blobs, especially on LED panels where light bleeds slightly between adjacent pixels.
• Keep character widths consistent. If your A is 5 pixels wide, most of your other uppercase letters should be 4–5 pixels wide too. Wild variation makes text look uneven when scrolling.
• Test at actual display size early. Zoom out until each pixel is roughly the size of an LED on your device. If letters become indistinguishable, they need reworking.
• Watch out for confusable pairs. Capital I and lowercase l, capital O and zero, lowercase rn and the letter m — at small pixel sizes, these collapse into identical shapes unless you design deliberate differences.
• Skip serifs below 5×7. Serifs consume pixels that your letter body needs. At 3×5, a clean sans-serif design will always outperform a serifed one.

From Design to Your Divoom Display

Once your font is designed, the final step is getting it onto your device. The workflow differs depending on whether you want static text or animated scrolling.

Static text

1. In your design tool, compose the complete message using your custom font letters.
2. Export the result as a single PNG at the exact pixel dimensions of your display (e.g., 64×64 for Pixoo-64).
3. Open the Divoom App, select your device, and upload the PNG as custom pixel art.
4. Push it to your display and adjust brightness to your preference.

Scrolling or animated text

1. Design each letter as a separate tile or frame.
2. Create an animation sequence where your text shifts left by 1–2 pixels per frame.
3. Export the animation as a GIF — the Divoom App supports GIF upload and playback.
4. Upload the GIF through the app, set the loop speed, and choose display mode.

For scrolling text on Times Gate, you can dedicate one of the five screens to your custom animation while the other screens continue showing clocks, weather, or data widgets. This makes it possible to have personalized scrolling text alongside live information — a combination no template in the community gallery can replicate.

Which Divoom Display Shows Fonts Best

Each Divoom display brings something different to custom typography. The right choice depends on how detailed you want your fonts to be and where the display will live.

Pixoo-64 is the strongest canvas for font work. With 64×64 pixels, you can fit multiple lines of text, display larger single-line messages with room for decorative flourishes, or create animated scrolling banners with smooth motion. It's the natural pick if font design is a primary reason you're buying a pixel display. The dual-band WiFi connection also means your custom animations stay connected reliably for always-on display. Check out the Pixoo-64 product page for current pricing and availability.

Times Gate offers a unique advantage for text enthusiasts: five independent 128×128 screens. You can dedicate one screen to a custom font showcase, another to scrolling messages, and leave the remaining three for clocks, weather, and data widgets. The 128×128 resolution per screen supports the highest font detail in the Divoom lineup. If you want a desktop dashboard that includes custom typography as one element, Times Gate gives you the most flexibility.

Ditoo Pro takes a different approach. The 16×16 front panel is small, but that constraint can be a creative advantage. Simple scrolling names, short quotes, or minimal pixel messages have a particular charm on this retro-styled speaker. The mechanical keyboard keys and joystick add tactile interaction that the other displays don't offer. If you want a compact desk companion that plays music and shows your custom text, the Ditoo Pro makes it personal.

For device setup instructions and pairing details, the Divoom product manual page covers WiFi and Bluetooth connection steps for all three displays.

Frequently Asked Questions