Lospec Palette Importer
A downloadable Aseprite extension for Windows and macOS
Current Release: v1.4.4 - MIT LICENSE
©2024-25 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.
Features & Usage
To use this plugin, just open the "Options" (≡) menu above the color palette and then select "Import Palette from Lospec"
This will open the Import Window:
From here, you can enter the name of the palette you'd like to import, and then simply click "Import", then you'll be able to see a preview of the palette.
If you're looking for some inspiration, you can try the Lospec daily palette or grab a random palette!
By default, palettes are saved in *.gpl (GIMP palette) format because this allows extra info (like the creator's name, the color count, and the Lospec URL) to be saved alongside the palette and show up in Aseprite's palette menu. You can alternatively choose to save palettes in *.aseprite format, but palettes saved this way won't include the extra info.
Open In App...
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 by copying and pasting it into your browser's address bar:
Your browser may prompt you to allow the website (Lospec.com) to open Lospec Palette Importer.
Requirements
This extension has been tested on both Windows and Mac OS (specifically, Windows 11 and Mac OS Sequoia 15.3.2). Linux is not officially supported, but everything except the "Open In App..." feature should work.
It is intended to run on Aseprite version 1.3.7 (API version 28) 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)
Latest Changes
If you find this extension useful, please consider donating to support further development! ♥
You can track development changes here:
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Lospec Palette Importer v1.4.429 days ago
- Lospec Palette Importer - v1.4.363 days ago
- v1.4.2 is here81 days ago
- Lospec Palette Importer v1.4.1 is now available!85 days ago
- Lospec Performance Issues Resolved86 days ago
- Performance Anxiety88 days ago
- Lospec Palette Importer v1.4.0Mar 20, 2025
- Patch 1.3.1 - Fixing the Windows...Apr 20, 2024
Comments
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Hi, I already try this extension before in my windows 10 and it worked flawlessly, the thing is now I'm an Arch Linux user, also, the aseprite version is from steam.
When I'm trying to import a random palette or any palette from the URL or the exact name, I'm getting this error:
lospec-palette-importer.lua:344: unexpected end of input
And if I try a daily palette, a pop up appears saying the name of the daily palette is wrong.
Is there any solution to this? (plz I don't want to go back to windows ;-;)
Hi! Unfortunately the extension doesn’t officially support Linux because I don’t have a way to test against it / multiple distros. Sorry about that
I'm having problems with most of this plugin's features. I'm on Windows 10, using Aseprite v1.3.13.
When I try to import a palette from within Aseprite, it's able to get the palette, but "Save and use now" and "Save as preset" both result in the following error:
(filepath)\lospec-palette-importer.lua:143: Error writing to palette file!
The "Use now, don't save" option does work without an error and I'm able to save palettes manually that way, but it's inconvenient.
Also, hitting "Open in App" on Lospec opens the prompt "Open the lospec-palette link with URIHandler.cmd?", but hitting "Open Link" does nothing.
Hey there, sorry to hear you’re running into some issues! For now I suggest uninstalling and reinstalling the extension, and I’ll do some digging as soon as I have a moment.
Once you’ve reinstalled, close and open your browser. I’ve noticed that sometimes that can fix the issue with the Lospec URI handler. That window should say “Open in Aseprite” or something like that - the fact that it doesn’t means the handler for lospec-palette:// links isn’t quite registered right (or your browser just hasn’t picked up on it yet).
Also, to ask the software engineer’s favorite question: have you tried rebooting?
Thank you for the advice. After a reinstall and reboot, saving palettes in Aseprite has started working! However, importing from Lospec still isn't functioning, though what happens has changed slightly. There's no prompt anymore and when I click a link I see a command window open briefly, but the palette still doesn't open in Aseprite. I've tried in both Firefox and Chrome.
Glad to hear things are moving in the right direction! The issue you’re describing with the URI handler is a known issue that’s been affecting some Windows users. For now, if you haven’t already, try closing and reopening your browser. I’ll do a bit more digging tonight when I have the time.
Do you happen to remember if you ran the extension in Aseprite before or after tying the “Open in App…” link? I ask because the URI handler relies on a value that gets set by the extension when you run it in Aseprite, so you’ll need to do that at least once first.
Does this extension work with Windows 11? I don't exactly know if that'd change anything but nothing about the extension seems to be working. It just gives the same error of "curl error: could not close connection" I've been trying everything I've seen such as going over that convo w/ giselle, reinstalling the extension, and reopening aseprite.
It should work on Windows 11. I remember an older post where another user was running into that message from curl and I believe they found it was their antivirus software.
Which version of Aseprite are you using?
Thanks for the response! I'm currently using the 1.3.13 version of Aseprite on Steam.
Thanks for the info - looking into it now!
Hi again! I forgot to let you know the this bug should be fixed in the latest update! Thanks for your support.
Thank you so much!
Hi there, thank you so much for this tool, it's great!
However i seem to be having some issues:
Hi Giselle,
Thanks for your support! Sorry to hear you’re running into some issues.
Could you tell me:
Just a heads up: If you’re on Windows, you’ll need to have run the extension at least once from inside Aseprite for the “Open In App” feature to work!
And FWIW, I’ve also noticed a slowdown with the URL call in the latest version of Aseprite - thank you for confirming my suspicions. I’ll see what I can do to fix that (if anything) and I’ll dig into the other issues you’ve mentioned.
I'm on Windows 10 and using the latest Steam version (v1.3.10 i believe), also i have run the extension and imported a few palettes and made sure to restart aseprite (and my pc just to be sure) but the Open In App feature still seems to not do anything.
Thank you for the quick response, keep up the great work!
Thanks for the info! I already tracked down a rogue
printstatement which explains the message you’re seeing (it might also be related to the issues saving palettes - TBD!). I’m digging into the other issues right now - I hope to have a patch put together and tested in the next few days.Hi again Giselle. I think I’ve addressed most of the issues you’ve mentioned, and maybe one you didn’t! I’m testing the latest extension on my Mac and then I’ll move it over to Windows for further poking. Should have a fresh patch out in a few days once I’ve had time to nail everything down.
Sadly, it seems like the slow response time is due to Lospec being intermittently overloaded. I’ve confirmed this with Skeddles (the guy who runs Lospec), so this is at least an explanation but alas not a fix.
Hey, sorry for all the replies but could you do one last thing for me? If you don’t mind, could you open a command prompt and enter
echo %ASEPRITE_EXECUTABLE%
and then let me know what it says when you hit Enter? It should print out the path to your Aseprite install (you can just tell me “It worked!” if you don’t want to put the path here for all to see). Thanks again!
Hmm, that may be the issue, it just prints %ASEPRITE_EXECUTABLE%
Hmm, okay. That would explain why the open-in-app handler isn’t working. That variable is how Windows knows where your Aseprite executable is. Thanks for the info
Hi again Giselle! Just wanted to let you know that the latest version is now up for grabs. I was able to fix the issues you were running into and improve a few other things along the way. Let me know if you’re still having trouble with the Open In App… feature, as I might be able to walk you through troubleshooting on your specific machine.
Hello, the new version works great and addressed most issues, however the Open in App handler is still not working and "echo %ASEPRITE_EXECUTABLE%" still doesn't show the path to the .exe
Can you try setting the environment variable manually by running: setx ASEPRITE_EXECUTABLE “<path to wherever Aseprite is on your PC>”? I’ve noticed some inconsistency lately with how env vars are behaving in Windows…
The variable seems to have changed when i check with echo but the Open in App still does nothing
Lovely. Windows environment variables are a pain ~_~ thank you for bearing with me. Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the extension? I’ll try that on my PC tonight to make sure it gets completely reset.
I downloaded, and installed in aesprite but how do I actually run the program?
Hi BrandoIRL, to use the extension you can either click on the menu button above the color palette sidebar and select “Import Palette from Lospec…” -or- click on the “Open in software” link on a palette’s page if you’re on Lospec.com. You can find out more by reading the “Features and Usage” section here.
I just installed v1.3.1. Using latest Aseprite version (v1.3.10.1) via Steam + Arch Linux.
When trying Random Palette, I’m getting:
../lospec-palette-importer.lua:278: unexpected end of inputerrors.When trying Daily Palette, I’m getting:
Invalid Palette Nameerrors.Hi James, sorry to hear you’re having trouble with the extension. Unfortunately Linux isn’t officially supported because I don’t have a way to reliably test the extension in multiple distros. Typically the “unexpected end of input” error is thrown by Aseprite itself when it runs into an issue parsing JSON.
As for the “invalid palette name”, that’s tricker because the daily palette is parsed directly from here: https://lospec.com/palette-list/current-daily-palette.txt and should (barring an issue with Lospec itself) always be valid.
If you paid for the extension, please let me know so I can see about issuing a refund.
I’ve just re-read through some of the older comments from Steam/Linux users and one thing you might check is your antivirus. The extension uses
curlunder the hood to interact with Lospec’s API, so there’s a chance that’s being blocked by overzealous AV…worth a shot, anyway.I keep getting messages saying "An error occurs when registering the lospec.com URL handler" and “lua:122:curlerror - could not close connection” when trying to get a palette. Is there anything I can do to fix it?
I use window 10 and version 1.3.11 of aseprite
Hey there! I’ll look into it!
curlis the command used to make the URL request to Lospec’s API, so it’s possible something changed on their end. I’ll make sure it’s still working on my Mac, too.Okay, I’ve tested the extension on both Windows 11 and Mac OS Sequoia using the latest stable version of Aseprite, which at the moment is 1.3.10.1. It’s possible that since v1.3.11 is still in beta (not sure if you’re on -beta1 or -beta2) that not all of the API features have been implemented/are working correctly. For the time being I’d recommend rolling back to the stable version of Aseprite.
Thank you! I will try again with an older version
Awesome work! Thanks!
Thank you for your support!
Please tell me this works for libresprite
I’m afraid the short answer is no, or at the very least “I doubt it”.
The longer answer is: I don’t know what parts of Libresprite’s API are compatible with Aseprite’s API, if any. This extension also relies on Aseprite’s CLI to handle Lospec’s “Open In App” links, so that feature would almost certainly not work in Libresprite.
Never mind, I just got Aseprite lol. Getting the extension now
Thanks for your support!
No problem, it's very useful and I've already used it quite a few times even though I just downloaded it today. And the ability to just get random or daily palettes as well is going to be very helpful for me and I can see myself using it very often
I was getting the error
Error: /home/$USER/.config/aseprite/extensions/losepec-palette-importer/./lospec-palette-importer.lua:191: unexpected end of inputon the Steam version on Linux (Manjaro). I launched the programme from the command line directly from
/home/$USER/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Asepriteso I could see logs and potentially debug it a little more but when launching it this way instead of through Steam the script ran fine.Might be helpful as a workaround to anyone who needs it or the developer for figuring out what the problem is.
Thanks for the report. Based on the information from you and @PhoenixTamer, it seems like there’s something up with a file path somewhere when using the Steam version of Aseprite. This should give me a place to start looking.
That said, I don’t currently have a Linux machine (virtual or otherwise) set up for testing, so I can’t 100% guarantee Linux support with this extension, but I’ll do my best!
Hey again,
I just got another reply from user @PhoenixTamer who’s been running into the same issue on Windows and they found out that Avast was preventing the script from executing properly (likely because it relys on curl under the hood, but that’s a guess). I’m not sure if that’s what you’re up against, but it’s possible that your AV is being overzealous.
I was going to try and debug it a bit more today but today it has decided to work fine when launched through Steam too, so I have no idea what was happening.
Weird, but okay! Keep me posted if you run into anything else, and feel free to submit an issue to the GitHub repo if you hit any other snags. Thanks for keeping me in the loop.
question, how can i change the directory where the palettes should be saved? i have aseprite in drive D:
There’s a button for that on the Palette Preview window. Set the path you want and the extension will remember it.
thank
Funciona no windows 10, e no aseprite 1.3.5?
The extension is developed on Aseprite 1.3.5 and is working on Mac OS Sonoma and Windows 11. I don’t have a Windows 10 machine to test on, but if you’re seeing an error message please post it here.
Hey PhoenixTamer! Can you give me some more info when you get a second?
That’ll help me narrow down the issue. Thanks for the report!
Hi sudo, yeah I can
I can take a screen cap of the order of things if needed also?
Thank you, that helps! If it’s every name you try then I can assume it’s not just one palette with a weird JSON issue. I just hav a couple more questions if you don’t mind.
I'm using the steam version.
Fresh install results in the same issue even with fresh download as of writing.
Thanks for looking into this!
This seems like a path-related issue with the Steam version of Aseprite. Mind if I ask where your Aseprite executable is located? @Merrow’s Cowl is running into the same issue on Linux, so this is helping me narrow it down further.
Hmm…it could be that the extension is running into an issue writing to /tmp, which it needs to do in order to collect the output from curl. I’ll try to get a Linux test done this week to see if I can figure out what’s going on. Sorry you’re running into trouble!
Thanks for the quick response mate! If it helps I am using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and PopOs, good luck with the tests!
Epic
Thanks! Much appreciated
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