When comparing GRAVIT vs GrafX2, the Slant community recommends GrafX2 for most people. In the question“What are the best graphic design programs?” GrafX2 is ranked 5th while GRAVIT is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose GrafX2 is:
GrafX2 is scriptable using the Lua language, which can be used to automate tasks and add new functionality to it. The script library features advanced color reduction and enhancement tools, [palette analysis](http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=76519), and much more.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free
Gravit has a free version, but there is paid version with more features.
Pro Multi platform
Works on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Pro Actively developed
Pro Easy to export all assets
Gravit has a built in exporter to PDF, JPG, PNG and SVG.
Pro Clean and helpful UI
The panels in Gravit adjust to contain the information needed based on the type of element selected, preventing the clutter that Photoshop often experiences.
Pro Easy to design multiple pages
The ability to assign layers to specific pages, and view single or multiple pages at once makes it easy to design an entire website without getting lost in thousands of layers. Easy to view multiple pages at one time.
Pro Symbols and libraries
With Gravit you can re-use the same design for buttons, inputs, etc, in multiple places, with changes synced every where the element is used. It's also possible to set text to a shared style to sync text changes throughout the app.
Pro Able to open Sketch files
The ability to open Sketch files makes it easier for Linux/Windows users to collaborate with people who use Sketch, which is macOS specific.
Pro Scriptable using Lua
GrafX2 is scriptable using the Lua language, which can be used to automate tasks and add new functionality to it. The script library features advanced color reduction and enhancement tools, palette analysis, and much more.
Pro Supports many file formats
GrafX2 supports many file formats, including the popular gif and png, but also importing and exporting from deluxe paint, degas elite, and various other editors using custom formats.
Pro Very large number of tools and effects
Pro Free, open source, and cross-platform
GrafX2 is totally free to use, copy, and modify. It's available on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Haiku, AROS, MorphOS, SkyOS, Syllable, Mint, and a few more systems. Basically anything is supported by the SDL library.
Pro Palette color cycling
GraphX2 being based on older 256 bitmap software has inherited some tricks that modern pixel editors do not have . One of them being the ability to cycle color palette and produce animations and effects with it.
Pro Has a great palette tool
You can create gradients from one color to another, work in either RGB or HSL color space, save and load palettes, sort and organize palettes, and even work on "color cycling" images.
Pro Supports tileset addition and extraction
Pro Supports animations
The program has a basic support for animation using frames in newer versions. Graphics can be cloned and copied between frames and changed slightly.
See here how to animate with GrapfX2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnq6zBZOqoM
Pro Has a customizable UI with themes support
Theme UI style can easily be changed from settings including buttons and colors.
Pro Drawing constraint mode for vintage 8bits machine
The program is able to enforce the pixel constraints of old machines (C64, ZX Spectrum, Apple II, Game Boy Color, etc.)
For example, in ZX Spectrum mode, only 2 different colors can be used in a 8x8 pixel block.
Cons
Con Paid version
Expensive paid version that has many features you can find in free or cheaper applications.
Con This does not appear to be a Web-design tool
Gravit appears to be a vector-art tool, and nothing more. Their homepage doesn't even mention Web design as far as I can see.
Con Changing rapidly
The fast rate of growth/change for Gravit can be a pro in that in means plenty of new features.
However, it also makes the product fairly unpredictable.
For example: In the past year, Gravit was open sourced, then closed sourced again.
Con Dated look and feel
It looks like it was never supposed to be used in the modern world.
Con Lack of modern features
Some modern features that are necessary to do pixel art creation for game dev work are lacking.