Lospec Palette Importer

Current Release: v1.3.1 - MIT LICENSE 

©2024 John Riggles

This Aseprite extension allows you to use and save color palettes from Lospec. Simply enter the name of the Lospec palette you want to import.

Requirements

    This extension has been tested on both Windows and Mac OS (specifically, Windows 11 and Mac OS Sonoma 14.3.1). Linux is not officially supported, but everything except the "Open In App..." feature should work.

It is intended to run on Aseprite version 1.3 or later and requires API version 1.3-rc5 or newer. As long as you have the latest stable version of Aseprite, you should be fine!

Permissions

    When you run this extension for the first time, you'll be asked to grant some permissions. This extension uses curl under the hood to get data from Lospec and will need your permission to execute that command. Additionally, this extension will need your permission to write files if you intend to save any imported palettes.

When prompted, select the "Give full trust to this script" checkbox and then click "Give Script Full Access" (you'll only need to do this once)

Features & Usage

    Once you've imported the palette you want, you can...

• Save it as a preset and use it immediately
• Use it without saving
• Save it as a preset for use later (doesn't override the current Aseprite palette)

    Palettes are saved in GIMP palette format (*.gpl) by default since this option allows for other info from Lospec to be included with the palette, such as the author's name and the Lospec palette list URL

Palettes can also be saved in *.aseprite format, but this option won't include any of the extra data from Lospec

    To use this plugin, just open the "Options" menu above the color palette and then select "Import Palette from Lospec"

You can also click on the "Open In App..." link from any palette's page on Lospec

https://lospec.com/palette-list/nostalgos-12

Any link to a valid palette name using the URI scheme lospec-palette:// will automatically launch Aseprite and bring up the Palette Importer - you can try the link to one of my palettes here:

 lospec-palette://nostalgos-12

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Latest Changes

• You can now click on the "Open In App..." button on Lospec and it will automatically bring up the Palette Preview dialog in Aseprite
  • The first time you open a lospec-palette://URI you'll probably see an alert from your browser something like this one:

  

  • Because of how Mac OS deals with URI handlers, Lospec Palette Importer relies on a small helper app (bundled with the extension) which you may need to grant automation permissions/access - just follow the on-screen prompts when your Mac asks (you can find the relevant toggle in "System Settings/Privacy & Security/Automation" under "Lospec Palette Importer")
  • On Windows, you may need to run the extension from within Aseprite once before the "Open In App..." links work because the extension needs to set an environment variable first
  • CAVEATS:
    • Clicking "Open In App..." will open a new instance of Aseprite every time; this seems like a limitation of the Aseprite CLI, but I'm looking for a workaround
    • "Open In App..." is not supported on Linux -  AFAICT, setting up custom URI handlers can vary subtly from distro to distro, and unfortunately there's no way for me to test them all :( thanks for understanding!
  • Also: some users expressed concern, so rest assured that you can still enter a name manually!
  • If "Open In App..." isn't working after you update the extension, try rebooting. The lospec-palette://URI handler needs to be registered with your OS, and a reboot usually takes care of that

• You can now click on "Get Daily Palette" on the import window to get the Lospec daily palette
• You can now click on "Get Random Palette" on the import window to get a random Lospec palette - go get inspired!

Thanks to Lospec Discord user @PureAsbestos for the idea / feature request

Patch 1.3.1 fixes an issue on Windows where the extension could sometimes fail to find Aseprite.exe, which it needs in order for the URI handler to work

Thanks to Lospec Discord user @Fabico for the inspiration behind this fix

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     If you find this extension useful, please consider donating to support further development! ♥

You can track development changes here:

https://github.com/JRiggles/Lospec-Palette-Importer