Pixel Art Converter - Turn a Photo Into 8-Bit Pixels
Set a block size and the photo is downsampled into chunky, uniform pixels for a retro game look. Larger blocks mean fewer, bigger pixels. Runs in your browser with no upload.
Pixelation versus real pixel art
What this tool does is downsample: it divides the image into a grid of squares, averages the colour inside each one, and paints the whole square that single colour. The result is a picture built from large uniform blocks, which is the visual grammar of 8-bit and 16-bit era graphics, when hardware genuinely could not address more pixels than that.
Worth being clear about the distinction: hand-drawn pixel art is placed pixel by pixel by an artist making deliberate choices about every block. Converting a photograph is a different activity, closer to sampling than to drawing. It gets you the aesthetic quickly, and it is genuinely useful for avatars, profile pictures, retro-styled thumbnails, game mockups, social graphics and placeholder art, but it will not match what a pixel artist produces by hand.
Block size is the whole control. Small values, roughly 4 to 8 pixels, keep enough structure that faces and objects stay readable while looking clearly stylised. Larger values, 16 and up, push toward genuine abstraction where only broad shapes and colour masses survive. The right setting depends heavily on how large the subject sits in the frame.
Two things sharpen the result. Crop tight first so the subject occupies most of the frame, because a face that spans only a fifth of the image will vanish into a handful of blocks. And boost saturation beforehand, since averaging colours within each block tends to mute them, and the retro look depends on strong flat colour. Save as PNG so the block edges stay hard.
How to turn a photo into pixel art
- Crop tight first. Use the image cropper so the subject fills the frame. This matters more than any other step.
- Upload the image. Any common format works.
- Set the pixel size. Start around 6 to 8 and adjust. Smaller keeps detail, larger pushes toward abstraction.
- Check it at the size it will be shown. Pixel art that reads well as an avatar often looks odd at full width, and vice versa.
- Download as PNG. Lossless output keeps the block edges hard.
Raising saturation with the filters tool before converting compensates for the muting that block-averaging causes. For a dotted, printed retro look instead of blocks, the dither tool gives a different and equally period-accurate effect.
Frequently asked questions
What pixel size should I use?
Around 4 to 8 keeps faces and objects readable while looking clearly stylised. 16 and above pushes into abstraction where only broad shapes survive. It depends on how large your subject sits in the frame.
Why does my pixelated photo look like mush?
Usually the subject is too small in the frame, so it collapses into a few blocks. Crop tight before converting so the subject fills most of the image.
Why do the colours look washed out?
Averaging the colours inside each block mutes them. Raising saturation beforehand with the filters tool restores the strong flat colour the retro look depends on.
Is this the same as hand-drawn pixel art?
No. Hand-drawn pixel art is placed block by block by an artist. This downsamples a photograph, which gets you the aesthetic quickly and suits avatars, thumbnails and mockups.
Which format should I save in?
PNG. JPEG compression softens the hard block edges and adds artefacts around them, which defeats the effect.
Are my images uploaded?
No. Conversion runs on a canvas in your browser.
🔎 Verify it yourself: nothing uploads
Don’t take our word for it. Open your browser’s DevTools (F12 → Network tab), then run this tool on any image. You’ll see no upload request at all — your file never leaves this tab. You can even turn off Wi‑Fi once the page has loaded and keep working. Every tool on this site works the same way — all processing happens on your device.