I want to document my experience with the Aseprite animation workflow specifically, because it's the tool I use for all my pixel art animation and it has specific workflows worth knowing.

Frame management: Aseprite uses a timeline with layers on the Y axis and frames on the X axis. This is different from most animation software and takes adjustment. Each frame can have a different layer setup, or layers can be marked as continuous across frames.

Onion skinning: the single most useful animation tool. It shows previous and next frames at reduced opacity while you work on the current frame, allowing you to track movement and check spacing. I keep onion skin always on.

The tag system: you can tag frame ranges in Aseprite (walk cycle, idle, attack). This lets you preview individual animation cycles in isolation. Essential for game character sprites with many animation states.

Exporting: Aseprite exports to sprite sheets, GIF, PNG sequences, and JSON with frame metadata. The sprite sheet export with JSON is the standard format for game engine integration and works directly with most 2D game frameworks.