Compiling Aseprite on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Recently, I compiled the program Aseprite, which is incredibly useful for creating pixel art. However, the process can be somewhat tedious if you're not familiar with it. Here, I’ll share my solution.

1. Install Dependencies

First, we need to install the necessary dependencies, including cmake and ninja.

sudo apt-get install -y g++ clang libc++-dev libc++abi-dev cmake ninja-build libx11-dev libxcursor-dev libxi-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libfontconfig1-dev

2. Compiling the Program

Start by downloading the Aseprite and Skia resources. For this guide, I’ll use Aseprite version 1.3.7. I’ve encountered some issues compiling newer versions, but I’m working on resolving them.

• Aseprite
• Skia

After downloading, extract the archives and rename the folders to aseprite and skia respectively. Then move these folder aseprite to your system's $HOME directory and skia into $HOME/deps/ (create directory deps).

Open a terminal inside the aseprite folder and run the following commands:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo \
  -DLAF_BACKEND=skia \
  -DSKIA_DIR=$HOME/deps/skia \
  -DSKIA_LIBRARY_DIR=$HOME/deps/skia/out/Release-x64 \
  -DSKIA_LIBRARY=$HOME/deps/skia/out/Release-x64/libskia.a \
  -G Ninja \
  ..
ninja aseprite

After about 10 minutes of compilation, you will find the following structure inside $HOME/aseprite/build:

/aseprite
  /build
    data (dir)
    aseprite (bin)
    gen (bin)

To verify the compilation, run the ./aseprite binary. If everything went well, Aseprite v1.3.7dev should open. Otherwise, retry the steps and consult the installation file in the repository for more details.

2026 Update: now there's a build.sh script much more friendly for the common user than running magic commands on the terminal, for this just clone the repository and execute the bash script (also available for windows).

3. Exposing the Binary Files to the System

First, move the binary files (aseprite and gen) and the data directory to /usr/local/bin:

sudo mv $HOME/aseprite/build/bin/* /usr/local/bin

Next, create a .desktop file so the system can recognize the program:

sudo nano /usr/share/applications/aseprite.desktop

Inside this file, write the following:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Aseprite
Exec=/usr/local/bin/aseprite
Icon=/usr/local/bin/aseprite-icon.png (preferred icon image path)
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Categories=Utility;

In nano, use Ctrl-O to save and Ctrl-X to exit. Or even better, use neovim please ;)

For the icon, move the image to the correct location using the following command:

sudo cp $HOME/Downloads/aseprite-icon.png /usr/local/bin

Finally, execute the following commands in the terminal:

sudo update-desktop-database   
gtk-launch aseprite                                                                                       

Aseprite should now launch successfully! 🎉