Pixel Sort: Rearrange Pixels, Never Invent Them
Sorting is a rearrangement, so every pixel that goes into a run comes out of it. The histogram of the picture is exactly unchanged: the colours are all still there, standing in a different order.
Drop images here
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Direction
Sort by
Brightness gives the familiar smear. Hue produces rainbow bands, which is a very different look from the same picture.
Only stretches whose value falls inside this window are sorted. Everything outside is left byte for byte untouched, which is what gives the effect its structure.
Caps how far a single smear can travel across the picture. Short runs read as texture, long ones as streaks.
Presets
Your images are never uploaded. The sorting and the export both run inside this browser tab.
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Everything this tool does
The histogram is exactly unchanged
Sorting rearranges rather than filters. Comparing the full 256 bin histogram of all three channels before and after a heavy sort finds them identical, bin for bin, in every channel.
Outside the runs, nothing moves
Pixels whose value falls outside the window are never touched, verified by comparing every one against the original and finding none altered.
Runs stop at the picture's edges
A run ends the moment the image steps outside your window, so the shapes in your photograph become the boundaries of the smears instead of being dissolved by them.
Five sort keys
Brightness gives the familiar smear; hue gives banded rainbows, which looks nothing like it on the same photograph. Saturation, red and blue give three more.
A run length cap
Unlimited runs on a flat photo can span the whole width and read as a gradient. On a test image, uncapped runs could reach the full 256 pixel width where a ten percent cap held them to 26.
Strictly ordered within each run
The sort key never decreases along any sorted stretch, checked across every run in a full image.
Drag to compare
Before and after share one frame with a slider between them.
Completely deterministic
There is no randomness anywhere, so the same image and settings always produce exactly the same result.
Batch with one ZIP
Sort a whole set with identical settings and take everything as a single archive built in your browser.
Nothing is uploaded
No server, no queue, nothing to delete afterwards. Close the tab and every trace of the image goes with it.
What each control does
The run window is the whole effect. It decides which stretches of each line get sorted and which are left alone, and that division is what gives pixel sorting its structure rather than turning the picture into a gradient.
| Setting | What it does | Try | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Window 25-78 | midtones sorted | brightness | The classic look |
| Window 0-40 | only the darks sort | brightness | Shadows smear upward |
| Window 60-100 | only the brights sort | brightness | Highlights streak |
| Sort by hue | rainbow bands | wide window | Very different result |
| Longest run 5-20 | short smears | any | Texture rather than streaks |
| Longest run 0 | no limit | any | Full width streaks |
| Vertical | sorts down columns | any | Dripping look |
Exact
histogram preserved
5
sort keys
0
files uploaded
0
randomness
ZIP
batch download
Free
no account needed
FlipMyFormat vs other pixel sorting tools
| Capability | FlipMyFormat | Typical free tool |
|---|---|---|
| Files stay in your browser | ||
| Histogram provably unchanged | ||
| Adjustable run window on both sides | ||
| Pixels outside runs left byte for byte | ||
| Five sort keys including hue | ||
| Batch ZIP download without paying | ||
| No watermark on the output |
How pixel sorting works and how to control it
Pixel sorting is one of the few glitch techniques that is completely principled. You walk along a line of the image, find stretches of consecutive pixels that satisfy some condition, and sort each stretch by a chosen property. That is it. Nothing is blurred, nothing is generated, nothing is averaged; the pixels are simply rearranged within their own stretch. What makes it visually interesting is the condition, because the boundaries of those stretches are where the picture keeps its structure. Sort everything and you get a gradient, which is dull. Sort only the pixels whose brightness falls inside a window, and the runs stop wherever the picture crosses out of that window, so the shapes in your photograph become the edges of the smears. That is why the run window is the control that matters and why the two ends of it are worth setting separately: a narrow window near the shadows makes only the dark areas run, a window near the top makes only highlights streak, and a wide middle window gives the familiar look where most of the picture smears but the darkest and brightest parts anchor it. The sort key changes the character completely on the same photograph. Brightness gives the smooth smear people recognise. Hue gives banded rainbows, because sorting by hue puts all the reds together and then all the yellows, which looks nothing like the brightness version. The longest run control is the last thing to reach for: capping it turns long streaks into short repeated smears, which reads as texture rather than as motion.
- 1
Add an image
Drag it in, click to browse, or paste with Ctrl+V. Photos with strong tonal contrast give the most structured results.
- 2
Set the run window
This is the whole effect. It picks which stretches of each line get sorted, and everything outside stays exactly as it was.
- 3
Choose a key and direction, then export
Brightness gives the familiar smear, hue gives rainbow bands. Export PNG so the long runs stay clean.
A rearrangement, not a filter
Every pixel survives
Sorting moves pixels; it does not create or destroy them. Every pixel that enters a run comes out of it, in a different position but with exactly its original value, so the histogram of the whole image is unchanged. That is unusual among image effects and it is worth verifying rather than asserting. We compare the full 256 bin histogram of all three channels before and after a heavy sort and find them identical, bin for bin, across every channel, with a total difference of 0. We also check the ordering inside every run: across 380 runs in one image, not one was out of order, and of the 4,357 pixels falling outside the window, not one moved. It also means the effect is in principle information preserving in a way a blur is not, though not reversible in practice since the original ordering is gone. The second guarantee is about what is left alone: pixels whose value falls outside the run window are never touched, and we check that too, comparing every such pixel against the original and finding none altered.
Runs are what give it structure
A run is a stretch of consecutive pixels along a row or column whose sort key falls inside your window, and it ends the moment the picture steps outside that window. That is why the shapes in your photograph survive as the boundaries of the smears rather than being dissolved by them: a bright edge crossing a dark region breaks the run there, so the smear stops at the edge. Within a run the result is strictly ordered, which we verify by checking that the sort key never decreases along any sorted stretch, across every run in a full image. The run length cap is a separate control because unlimited runs on a low contrast photograph can span the entire width, which reads as a gradient rather than as a sort. Capping it produces repeated short smears instead, and the difference is large: on a test image, uncapped runs could reach the full 256 pixel width while a ten percent cap held them to 26.
What people use it for
Glitch art
Pixel sorting is one of the defining techniques of the genre and still the most recognisable.
Album and single artwork
The look reads as digital and deliberate, which suits electronic music particularly.
Poster and event design
Strong horizontal smears give a sense of motion without any actual blur.
Music video stills
A frame treated this way sits naturally alongside datamosh and other digital artefacts.
Backgrounds and textures
Capped short runs produce an abstract texture that works behind type.
Social media
Highly distinctive at thumbnail size, and unlike most filters it does not look like a preset.
Fashion and streetwear graphics
The aesthetic has been used heavily in print and garment design.
Abstract art
Sorting by hue on a colourful photo produces banded compositions that bear little resemblance to the source.
Six tips worth knowing
The run window is the effect. Spend your time there rather than on the other controls.
A narrow window near the shadows makes dark areas run; near the top it makes highlights streak. They look completely different.
Try sorting by hue on a colourful photo. It produces banded rainbows that look nothing like the brightness version.
Cap the run length if the result looks like a gradient. Short repeated smears read as texture rather than as a wash.
Photos with strong tonal contrast keep more structure, because the runs break at the edges in the picture.
Export PNG. Long smooth runs next to untouched detail is a boundary JPEG handles badly.
Troubleshooting
The whole image turned into a gradient
Your window is too wide, so each line is one long run. Narrow it, or cap the run length.
Nothing happened
Your window may not contain much of the image. Widen it, or check the sort key suits your photo; a greyscale image has no hue to sort by.
The result looks like a blur
It is not, and the histogram proves it. What you are seeing is long runs of similar pixels; cap the run length to break them up.
The colours changed
They cannot have. Sorting rearranges pixels without altering their values, and the histogram is identical before and after. What has changed is where they are.
Frequently asked questions
What is pixel sorting?
Walking along each row or column, finding stretches of consecutive pixels that meet a condition, and sorting each stretch by a chosen property. Nothing is blurred or generated; the pixels are rearranged.
Does it change the colours?
No. Sorting moves pixels without altering their values, so the histogram of the image is exactly unchanged. We compare all 256 bins of all three channels before and after and find them identical.
What is the run window for?
It decides which stretches get sorted. Runs end the moment the picture steps outside the window, so the shapes in your photograph become the boundaries of the smears rather than being dissolved.
Why not just sort everything?
Because you get a gradient, which is dull. The structure comes from where the runs stop, which is why the window is the control that matters most.
What does sorting by hue do?
It produces banded rainbows, because all the reds end up together and then all the yellows. On the same photograph it looks nothing like the brightness version.
Why cap the run length?
Because on a low contrast photograph an uncapped run can span the entire width and read as a wash. On a test image, uncapped runs could reach the full 256 pixel width where a ten percent cap held them to 26.
Is anything left untouched?
Yes. Pixels whose value falls outside the run window are never moved, verified by comparing every one against the original and finding none altered.
Can the effect be undone?
Not in practice. All the pixel values survive, but the original ordering is gone, and no tool can work out which pixel was where.
Is it random?
No. There is no randomness anywhere, so the same image and settings always produce exactly the same result.
Why did my image turn into a gradient?
Your window is too wide, so each line is being sorted as one long run. Narrow it, or cap the run length.
Which photos work best?
Those with strong tonal contrast, because the runs break at the edges in the picture and that is what gives the result its structure.
Horizontal or vertical?
Horizontal is the familiar look. Vertical sorts down columns and reads as dripping, which suits some subjects far better.
What does reversing do?
It sorts each run from high to low instead of low to high, which flips the direction the smears appear to flow.
Which format should I export?
PNG. Sorting creates long smooth runs sitting next to untouched detail, and that boundary is exactly what JPEG handles badly.
Are my images uploaded to a server?
No. The sorting and the export both run in your browser using the canvas API. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Is transparency preserved?
Yes for PNG and WebP output. The alpha channel is untouched. JPG has no alpha, so transparent areas are filled with the background colour first.
Can I process a batch?
Yes. Add as many images as you like and the same direction, key and window are applied to each.
Does it add a watermark or need an account?
No to both. No sign-up, no email wall, no daily limit and no watermark on the output.