Photo Pixel Art Filter
Give your photos a retro, 8-bit video game look with the Photo Pixel Art Filter. It shrinks the image to a tiny grid and scales it back up without smoothing, so every block keeps hard, crisp edges. Photographers and creators can choose a Pixel Size from 2 to 50 for fine or chunky pixels, and download a full-size PNG.
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- Faster editing time
- 96%
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- 90%
- Typical turnaround
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Reviews from those who know best.
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Michael AntonyMichael Antony Photography, USARated 5 out of 5
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Frequently asked questions
How does the Photo Pixel Art Filter work?
The filter divides the width and height of your photo by the Pixel Size value to get a small version, for example 600 by 400 pixels from a 6000 by 4000 image at size 10. The browser resamples the photo to that size, blending nearby colors, then scales it back to the original dimensions with smoothing turned off, so each sample becomes a sharp square block.
How do I make pixel art from a photo?
Click or drag a photo onto the upload area. Set Pixel Size (Lower is finer) with the slider; it starts at 10 and ranges from 2 to 50. Click Generate Pixel Art and your browser downloads the result as pixel-art.png. To try a different block size, move the slider and click Generate Pixel Art again.
What Pixel Size should I use?
It depends on your image resolution and the look you want. On a large camera file, values of 20 to 50 give a clear retro look, while 2 to 8 produce a subtle texture that is hard to see unless you zoom in. On a small web image, 6 to 12 is usually enough. Simple subjects with bold shapes and strong colors read best as pixel art.
Does it limit colors to a retro palette?
No. The filter reduces resolution, not the number of colors, so each block keeps the blended color of the area it represents. That gives a pixelated photo rather than strict 8-bit art with a fixed palette. For a more authentic game-style look, reduce the colors or posterize the result afterward in an editor.
Which formats are supported, and what size is the output?
You can load JPG, PNG, WebP and other images your browser supports. The output is a PNG at exactly the same pixel dimensions as your original, so it drops into layouts and posts at its intended size. PNG keeps block edges perfectly sharp; saving pixel art as a JPEG tends to blur those edges with compression artifacts.
Is the Photo Pixel Art Filter free, and are my photos uploaded?
Yes, it is free, and no, your photos are not uploaded. The Photo Pixel Art Filter adds no watermark and needs no software, and it runs entirely in your browser, so every image is processed on your own device. The only requirement is a one-time step: answer that you are a photographer and create or log into a free Imagen account, which unlocks all of the tools.
