Build Aseprite in 2025 for free
Aseprite is the best pixel art tool out there. You have the option to either download it or compile it yourself. I show you how to compile it yourself for free.
LINKS:
Download
⦁ Aseprite v1.3.15 Source Code https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/...
⦁ CMake v4.2.0 https://cmake.org/download/
⦁ Skia-m124 https://github.com/aseprite/skia/rele...
⦁ Ninja v1.13.2 https://github.com/ninja-build/ninja/...
⦁ Visual Studio Community 2026 https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/do...
Commands to run
1) paste in build folder cmd if using Visual Studio Community 2022:
call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat" -arch=x64
1) If using Visual Studio Community 2026:
call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat" -arch=x64
2) then:
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -DLAF_BACKEND=skia -DSKIA_DIR=C:\deps\skia -DSKIA_LIBRARY_DIR=C:\deps\skia\out\Release-x64 -DSKIA_LIBRARY=C:\deps\skia\out\Release-x64\skia.lib -G Ninja ..
3) then:
ninja aseprite
Instructions
https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/...
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Following official guide
00:22 Download Aseprite source code
00:41 Download CMake
01:00 Download ninja
01:18 Download Skia
01:47 Set up environment variables
02:07 Download visual studio community
02:54 Compile exe
03:38 If there is an error what to do