Naive pixelation just blurs an image down and scales it back up — the result looks like a low-resolution photo, not pixel art. Real image to pixel art conversion needs two separate decisions made well:
- Grid size. Each cell of the grid becomes one pixel. This tool lets you sweep from 2px (subtle) to 48px (chunky sprite) and re-renders live, so you can stop exactly where the image still reads.
- Color discipline. Pixel art uses few colors on purpose. The Auto mode runs median-cut quantization over your image's own colors; the retro modes snap every pixel to a real console palette.
Because the output uses nearest-neighbor sampling, every block stays a perfect square at any export size — no anti-aliasing halos, no smudged edges.
Supported image formats
PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF (first frame), BMP and AVIF all work — anything your browser can decode becomes pixel art. The download is always a clean PNG.
Related tools
Working from a camera shot? See photo to pixel art for portrait-specific tips. Want the handheld look? Jump to Game Boy pixel art.