You can use any digital art program that supports transparency (PNG format). Popular choices include: Great for line work. Photoshop: Excellent for batch editing. Krita / FireAlpaca: Free, high-quality alternatives. 2. Set Up the Canvas
Once your artwork is fully saved in the designated directory, launch the Shimeji program (usually by double-clicking the Shimeji.jar file or activating it via your preferred browser extension manager). shimeji template
Draw your character matching the exact positioning, height, and grounding line of the original sprite. This ensures your character doesn't wildly jump or shift positions between animation frames. You can use any digital art program that
If you have ever wanted a tiny, animated anime character or original creation running around your computer screen, you are looking for a Shimeji. Also known as desktop buddies, these interactive digital companions crawl up your windows, sit on your taskbar, and occasionally steal your browser tabs. Krita / FireAlpaca: Free, high-quality alternatives
For a character to perform these actions, a set of images (sprites) and an XML configuration file are required. That is what we call the Shimeji template.
XML files ( actions.xml and behaviors.xml ) that dictate how, when, and where the character moves.