English: Pixel art balls (spheres or marbles etc.) featuring advanced techniques in 2 bits: dithering, antialiasing, masks/outlines. Size: 24x24 (=3x3 blocks of 8x8 pixels). Neat spheres challenge the pixel artist. Top row, full list of cumulative changes: #1: common/flawed ball design [original]; #2: removed some noise (isolated pixels); #3: fixed the outline (aliasing and gap); #4: fixed the reflection (aliasing only); #5: removed outer half of this dithering; #6: removed inner half of this dithering; #7: corrected the outer and focal lights; #8: added inner dithering (strict order); #9: added outer dithering (strict order); #10: added extra outer dithering (ditto); #11: corrected the strict order (dither); #12: degraded both reflections (dithers); #13: added a few glints (dithered there); #14: fine-tuned/contrasted glows [final]. Bottom row, animated as Gif if available, featuring two kinds of outlines as masks: simulated gray on left (ani. white dots); plain white on right (static & portable). These couples help cut any B/W background (B+W & W+B are complementary approaches). The standard method is seen on the right; the advanced method I suggest on the left employs 104 frames here (via 8x8 blocks). A simple white ouline is solid & aliased; this tricky one is dotted, even embedded, as in a box selection in a bitmap editor. The rows test the contrasts, even the AA, in pairs (from row 2 till B): without and with external outline (even and odd rows) - the last column shows a few tweaks, and the color of this outline varies greatly. This fairly features a set of mixed masks that can alleviate B/W background issues. The antialiased and dithered outlines are advanced pixel art and design techniques, when dealing typically with 1-bit images. The row C (black BG) is 1-bit and a half, i.e. including the gray external outline. Various sphere textures build the columns (top row excepted, see the how-to above): #1 till 13 got tricky oulines, unlike 14. They feature several concepts and styles: varying glass effects (specular, envir.); varying thicknesses in the black outline; varying dithering techniques (hard ones); varying dot scattering, even gray colors; while the lighting remains the same (NW). The cast shadows can quite fit this look. 2014 2017 dpla (Formatted text)