$ or ! automatically sizes all character sheets to work.
Not true. Let me remind you that using ! in the filename will only get rid of the 4px difference at the bottom of a sprite. You'd still have to use the full character sheet size of 4x2 characters. It's only when used in conjunction with $ does the sheet get "resized" properly. All character sprites, unless they have a ! in their filename (ex. !Door.png) are all shifted 4px upwards, so when you hit a wall at the bottom of the screen, you can see some space between it and a character. If you put ! in the filename, that is ignored completely and WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get).
The $, however, will assure that your sprite sheet for single characters is read properly and the character are selected properly in the editor.
From the Help File (contains so much valuable info):
Note that RPG Maker VX Ace displays characters offset four pixels from tiles so as to more naturally portray them with buildings.
- Adding an exclamation point (!) to the beginning of a file name cancels the application of the four-pixel offset, and also turns off the translucent effect applied by the bush attribute. This is used mainly for object-type characters on maps, such as doors and treasure chests. It can also be used in combination with the dollar sign ($) special character.
- Adding a dollar sign ($) to the beginning of a file name allows you to treat one character as one file. In this case, the size of the character will be one-third of the width and one-fourth of the height of the file. It can also be used in combination with the exclamation point (!) special character.
Good luck!
and 
. However... the program wont select the characters properly.
