Pixel Art Filter for Photos
Turn a photo into clean retro pixel art with real block averaging and locked palettes from the Game Boy, the NES and CGA. Every block comes out one flat colour.
Drop images here or click to choose
JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP and more. Add as many as you like.
How many real pixels make up one chunky art pixel. Bigger means blockier.
Palette
A palette locks the whole picture to those exact colours and nothing else.
People also use
Method
Block average, optional palette snap, then nearest neighbour upscale
Tested claim
Every block is exactly one flat colour, checked pixel by pixel
Palettes
True colour, Game Boy 4, NES 6, CGA 4 and 4 greys. Palettes never leak
Pixel size
2 to 48 real pixels per art pixel
Files uploaded
None. Everything happens in your browser
Price
Free, no account, no watermark
How to turn a photo into pixel art
- 1
Add a photo
Drop an image onto the box above. Close ups with a clear subject work far better than busy wide shots, because there are only so many blocks to work with.
- 2
Choose pixel size and palette
Drag the pixel size slider until the preview looks right, then try a palette. Game Boy gives the green handheld look, NES a bold six colour look, CGA the harsh cyan and magenta of early PC games.
- 3
Apply and save
Press Make pixel art to render at full resolution and save. The image keeps its original dimensions, so the blocks stay crisp when you share or print it.
How this compares
| What you get | FlipMyFormat | Photopea | PineTools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free without an account | |||
| Images stay on your device | |||
| Retro console palettes built in | |||
| Guaranteed flat blocks | Manual setup | ||
| Several images in one go | |||
| Live preview while you drag | Full editor | ||
| No watermark on the result |
What separates pixel art from a blur
The difference between pixel art and a plain blur is commitment. A blur mixes each pixel with its neighbours a little, leaving soft gradients everywhere. Pixel art divides the picture into a grid, decides one colour for each cell, and then refuses to shade within that cell at all. The hard boundary between cells is the whole aesthetic.
That is why the first step here is a genuine block average rather than a resize. Browser resizing uses smooth interpolation, and if you shrink and then enlarge you get a soft, washed out picture, not blocks. Averaging every source pixel inside a cell and writing that single value back across the cell keeps the maths honest and the edges sharp.
The second step is optional but it is what makes the result feel like an actual console screenshot. Old hardware could not display arbitrary colours, so the entire image had to live inside a tiny fixed set. The Game Boy had four shades of that famous olive green. CGA gave PC games their unmistakable cyan and magenta. Snapping each block to the nearest palette entry reproduces that constraint exactly, and because the snap happens after averaging rather than before, large flat areas stay coherent instead of dithering into noise.
Choosing pixel size is a judgement call about how much information you are willing to lose. Around 4 to 8 pixels reads as a stylised photo. Around 16 to 24 reads as a game sprite. Beyond that you are making an abstract mosaic, which can look great for avatars and backgrounds but will not keep a face recognisable.
All of it runs on your own device. The photo is decoded to a canvas, the filter runs in this page, and the file you download was created locally. Nothing is uploaded at any point.
Pixel art likes small, high contrast source images, so it is worth cropping first with Crop Image. If you only want to hide a face or a number plate, use Pixelate Image instead, and for a two colour retro look try Duotone.
Averaging, not shrinking
Each output block is the true average of all the source pixels underneath it, then that one colour is written across the whole block. That is why the result is flat and hard edged instead of soft. A test on an 8 pixel grid checked every pixel inside every block and found no variation at all.
Palettes that do not leak
When you pick a palette, each block colour is snapped to the nearest entry using perceptual weighting, which counts green more than red and red more than blue because that is how human vision works. The output then contains only palette colours. A four colour Game Boy palette produces exactly four colours, and a six colour NES palette exactly six.
Same size out as in
The blocks are drawn back at your original resolution rather than saved as a tiny image. That means the file shares and prints normally, and no viewer or messaging app will smooth your hard pixel edges by scaling them up for you.
Honest about the limits
This is a filter, not a hand drawn sprite. Real pixel artists choose which pixels to keep, clean up outlines and shade deliberately. An automatic filter averages what is there, so a photo with fine detail such as thin hair or distant crowds will turn to mush at large pixel sizes. Crop tight and keep the subject simple.
What people use a pixel art filter for
Make a pixel avatar for a profile or a Discord server
Crop tight on a face first, then use a pixel size around 8 to 12 so features stay readable at small display sizes. Save as PNG, since chat platforms often recompress JPGs and soften the blocks.
Turn a photo into a Game Boy style picture
Pick the Game Boy palette and a medium pixel size. The four shades of olive green are the exact ones the original handheld used, so the result reads as that screen rather than as a generic green filter.
Build a retro background for a game or a stream
Landscapes and skylines hold up well at larger pixel sizes because their shapes are simple. Keep True colour if you want a modern indie look, or drop to NES for a strict six colour scene.
Design a sticker, T-shirt or print
Because the output stays at your original resolution, it prints at full size with hard edges rather than looking like a low quality upload. Use a moderate pixel size, since printing exaggerates how blocky the result feels.
Make a low colour poster or album art
The CGA palette in particular gives the harsh cyan and magenta of early PC graphics, which suits music and event artwork. Combine a small pixel size with a locked palette for a look that is stylised but still readable.
Convert a logo into a chunky retro mark
Logos with bold shapes survive this well, thin scripts do not. Try 4 greys first, since a monochrome pixel logo reproduces anywhere, then experiment with the colour palettes.
On your device
Windows
Drag images from File Explorer onto the drop box. The result is saved to your Downloads folder in the same format you supplied.
Mac
Drag from Finder or Photos. Preview will show the blocks crisply, though at very high zoom levels macOS may apply its own smoothing to the display, not to the file.
iPhone and iPad
Tap the box and choose from your Photo Library. Portraits taken close up work best. Save the result to Files if you want to post it without your phone recompressing it.
Android
Pick a photo from Gallery or Files. Note that some chat apps recompress images when you send them, which can soften pixel edges, so share as a file rather than as a photo when it matters.
Questions people ask
How is this different from pixelating an image?
Mechanically they are cousins, but the intent differs. Pixelation is meant to hide something, so you want the largest blocks that still look deliberate. This tool is meant to make art, so it adds retro palettes and is tuned for smaller blocks and a clean look.
Which palette should I pick?
Game Boy for a nostalgic handheld feel, NES for bold primary colour sprites, CGA for early PC harshness, 4 greys for a printable monochrome look, and True colour when you want blocks without changing the colours at all.
Does the image get smaller in pixels?
No. The output keeps your original width and height, with each art pixel drawn as a block. That keeps the edges hard when the picture is shared or printed.
Can I download the tiny version instead?
Not directly. If you need the true small size, save the result here and then resize it in any editor using nearest neighbour rather than smooth scaling, otherwise the blocks blur together.
Why does my photo look like mush?
There is too much fine detail for the pixel size you chose. Crop tighter around your subject, or drop the pixel size. Thin hair, tree branches and distant crowds are the usual culprits.
Is dithering supported?
Not at the moment. Each block gets one flat colour with no dither pattern, which gives a cleaner modern look. Dithering is a good candidate for a future option.
Will the palette be exact?
Yes. Once a palette is chosen, every output pixel is one of its entries and nothing else. A four colour palette produces four colours in the file, which was checked by counting the distinct colours in the output.
Are my photos uploaded?
No. The image is decoded and filtered in this page by your browser, and the file you save is created on your own device.
Can I do several photos at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like, set the pixel size and palette once, and press the button. Each is processed in turn and a Save all button appears when more than one is ready.
Which file format do I get?
The same as the input. For pixel art PNG is much better than JPG, because JPG compression smears hard colour boundaries and adds faint fringes around every block.
Is there a watermark?
No watermark, no account and no limit on how many images you make.
The picture is turned into pixel art inside this page using your own browser. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored anywhere.
Last updated September 2026 · maintained by the FlipMyFormat team.