| id |
normalpainter |
| name |
NormalPainter |
| url |
https://winteralexander.itch.io/normalpainter |
| category |
tools |
| subcategories |
|
| license |
MIT |
| license_spdx |
MIT |
| commercial |
true |
| attribution_required |
false |
| formats |
|
| tags |
normals |
painting |
pixel-art |
2d |
java |
|
| added |
2026-09-30 |
| verified |
2026-09-30 |
| status |
active |
Small Java editor for hand painting normal maps for 2D sprites. Instead of picking a normal colour and then painting it, you steer the direction with the tilt of a tablet pen or a gamepad stick while you draw, and a built-in light tester shows the result. It is aimed at lit pixel art, where generated normal maps tend to look wrong. Downloads for Windows, macOS and Linux are name-your-own-price on itch.io, and the source is on GitHub.
- The MIT licence covers the editor. Normal maps you paint are your own work; the licence text travels only with copies of the program
- Needs Java 8 or later (Java 8 only on Linux, per the itch page). A tablet with tilt support gives the best results; joysticks work
- The author calls it "in early stages of development" and a side project. The last release is 1.6.1 (2023-10-12) and the last push to
WinterAlexander/NormalPainter was 2023-10-15 (read 2026-09-30). That is just under the three-year line for maintenance: inactive, which it crosses on 2026-10-15
- For generated rather than painted normal maps from photos or height, see materialize
- Live itch page (2026-09-30): "Code license MIT License"
- Live GitHub
LICENSE (2026-09-30): "MIT License", "Copyright (c) 2021 Alexander Winter"
- Live itch page (2026-09-30): "NormalPainter is open source: https://github.com/WinterAlexander/NormalPainter"