Pencil2D Animation (64-bit)

Pencil2D Animation 64bit is a lightweight but incredibly effective cross-platform 2D animation app built in an open-source environment under the Qt framework.

After more than a decade on the market, this app has managed to emerge as one of the most capable drawing software solutions for animating cartoons using not only traditional techniques but also utilizing new tools for managing bitmap and vector drawings.



This and many more features are packed in an archive of less than 50MB in size, enabling everyone to easily install this popular static and animated drawing tool on their desktop or laptop PC.

The history of Pencil 2D Animation 64-bit development is long and turbulent. The app was originally unveiled as “Pencil” in 2006 but was abandoned by its developers in 2009 and became supported by the open-source community in 2013 when it was renamed to its current name.

Since that moment, the app has very quickly advanced to its current stage, incorporating numerous advancements in the 2D drawing and animation world, with numerous changes to the UI, bug fixes, and stability fixes, transforming the app into a competent and reliable animation tool.

Pencil2D Animation features a minimal but tightly packed design that allows users to very quickly reach all the tools needed for tight management of both drawing layers and animation frames.



The layout is additionally enhanced with the presence of advanced tools, such as the ability to load the video behind the canvas to more easily animate your 2D art.

This makes the app perfect for all types of work, from training and experimentation to finalizing school projects, designing web art, and professional projects.

Testing and experimentation are helped with the presence of bitmap layers, with a seamless tool for switching to vector art that is used for final animation.

Finished single stills or animations can be exported to a wide variety of supported formats, including XML, SVG, GIF, AVI, MOV, and WMV for animation and BMP and PNG for still images.



FAQ

What is Pencil2D, and who is it made for?
Pencil2D is a free, open-source 2D animation application available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD that enables traditional hand-drawn frame‑by‑frame animation using both raster and vector workflows, ideal for beginners, students, and hobbyists who want to create clean animations without needing expensive software. 

What key features does Pencil2D offer?
Pencil2D features a minimal and intuitive interface with support for onion skinning, layer/keyframe opacity control, adjustable raster/vector brushes, timeline dragging, a redesigned camera system, and export options including PNG, JPEG, GIF, AVI, MP4, WebM, or APNG. 

Is Pencil2D easy to use for beginners, and is it stable?
Yes, Pencil2D is highly beginner-friendly with its clean UI and traditional animation workflow, and while it may lack advanced features like tweening, many users praise its stability and usability, calling it “the most stable and usable freeware software” for basic animations. 

Is Pencil2D completely free and open-source?
Pencil2D is released under the GNU GPL-2.0 license, is fully open-source, and can be used free of charge for personal or commercial projects, with no restrictions or hidden costs.

What are its limitations compared to other animation tools?
Pencil2D lacks features like automatic tweening, a robust text tool, and extensive brush variety, and suffers from occasional bugs or missing features in camera control or selection handling, making it less suitable for complex or professional production, though the developers continue incremental updates like the 0.7.0 release with key improvements.

What`s New

• Implemented Crash Recovery System: If the app crashes, upon reopening, a dialog will prompt you to recover any work from the previous session (Note: unsaved work won't be recovered).
• Timecode Display: Now includes SMPTE Timecode, absolute frame counter, and a hybrid seconds:frames display.
• Automatic Project Opening: Pencil2D now starts with the last project you worked on.
• Improved Navigation: Pan and Zoom functionalities are now smoother, with Zoom centered around the mouse cursor.
• Translated Tooltips: Tooltips are displayed in the selected interface language if translations are available.
• Frame Cache Size Management Refactor: Frame cache size can now be adjusted based on image data size, up to 16GB of RAM, rather than just frame count.
• Enhanced Reset & Lock Windows features.
• Dark Mode Support: Dark mode support for the timeline has been improved, although it depends on platform support. Dark theme support for Windows is still in progress.
• Eyedropper now samples color from within the pixel boundary instead of just the center.
• The color preview thumbnail is now visible over all background colors.
• Color preview is now premultiplied, reflecting the sampled pixel's color on the active layer with opacity changes.
• Separate Translation and Rotation Options: Implemented options to reset translation (pan) and rotation (tilt) actions separately. Note: Zoom factor (%) can already be restored to default via the scaling presets in the view menu since v0.6.5.
• Improved Cross-Hair Cursor Icon.

PROS

• Lightweight, cross-platform 2D animation software.
• Open-source, Qt framework, supports bitmap and vector drawings.
• Minimal design, easy access to tools for drawing and animation.
• Wide range of export formats, including XML, GIF, AVI, and PNG.

CONS

• Lack of official support and updates.
• Turbulent development history.
• Dark mode support varies by platform.
• Eyedropper functionality is limited to the pixel boundary.
• May lack some advanced features found in premium software.

Pencil2D Animation is 100% FREE, receives regular updates from its motivated open-source developer community, and can be used in both personal and commercial projects. The app is optimized for all modern versions of Windows OS (Windows XP and newer).

Also Available: Pencil2D Animation (32-bit) and Pencil2D Animation for Mac