Pixel Art Converter

Convert an image to pixel art: each block of the picture becomes one pixel, the colours can be cut to an 8, 16 or 32 colour palette, and the result is enlarged with hard edges — all in your browser.

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Runs entirely in your browser. Files stay on your device — nothing is uploaded. Verify it yourself

How do you turn a picture into pixel art?

Average each square block of pixels into one colour, reduce the colours to a small palette, and enlarge the result with nearest-neighbour so each pixel stays a sharp square. Here the block size runs from 2 to 64 pixels and the palette can be 8, 16 or 32 colours chosen by median cut.

Cost: Free, no limits
Upload: None — runs on your device
Sign-up: Not required
Works offline: Yes, once loaded

How to convert an image to pixel art

Choose the image
Open a JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF or BMP. Simple subjects with clear shapes make the best pixel art.
Set the block size
Drag the slider from 2 to 64 pixels. The grid size under it shows how many cells across and down the art will be.
Pick the colours
8, 16 or 32 colours for a retro look, or keep all colours. The palette shows under the preview.
Choose the output size and download
Same size as the original, one pixel per block, or 4, 8 or 16 pixels per block, saved as PNG.

Examples

A 1600 × 1200 photo, block 8, 16 coloursA 200 × 150 grid in 16 colours, saved at 1600 × 1200
Each art pixel is an 8 × 8 square in the download.
A 512 × 512 transparent character, block 16, grid sizeA 32 × 32 PNG sprite with a transparent background
Ready to scale up in a game engine with filtering off.

Key features of the Pixel Art Converter

Block size from 2 to 64 pixels, with the resulting grid size shown
Palette of 8, 16 or 32 colours by median cut, or all colours kept
Deterministic: the same settings always give the same pixel art
Nearest-neighbour enlargement for crisp, unblurred pixels
Keeps transparency, with hard pixel edges
Palette swatches with their hex codes

Supported formats

Input

JPG
PNG
WebP
AVIF
GIF (first frame)
BMP

Output

Palettes

8 colours
16 colours
32 colours
All colours

When should you use this?

Making a retro pixel art version of a photo or portrait.
Creating a starting sprite for a game from a drawing or render.
Designing pixel avatars, emotes or cross-stitch and bead patterns.

Limitations

This is automatic averaging, not hand-drawn pixel art: it does not add outlines, clean up stray pixels or shade by hand.
The live preview is limited to 1,000,000 cells; for a very large image, choose a bigger block size.
Downloads are limited to 50 megapixels; a larger output size shows a message instead of downloading.

Troubleshooting

The pixel art looks muddy

Lower the number of colours, or start from an image with stronger contrast and a simpler background.

A warning says the grid is too large

The image is big for the block size. Raise the block size until the grid is under 1,000,000 cells.

Common mistakes to avoid

Using a tiny block size and wondering why it does not look like pixel art. Aim for a grid of under about 128 cells across.
Enlarging the downloaded art in another program with smoothing on, which blurs the pixels again.

Pro tips

Tips for better results

Cropping
Crop to the subject before converting
Crop to the subject before converting: every block spent on background is detail lost from the subject.
Palette
Start with 16 colours
Try 16 colours first; 8 is very stylised and 32 starts to look like a blurred photo.
Scaling
Keep smoothing off when you enlarge it elsewhere
When scaling the art up elsewhere, use nearest-neighbour or turn smoothing off so pixels stay square.

Concepts behind image files

The terms that decide what changes when an image is compressed, resized or converted.

Resolution: The pixel dimensions of the image or frame, such as 1920×1080. It sets the amount of real detail present. Enlarging afterwards interpolates between existing pixels and produces a softer picture — no amount of upscaling recovers detail that was never captured. Reference: CSS Values and Units Module Level 4, W3C
Colour depth: How many bits describe each pixel's colour. Most formats use 8 bits per channel, giving about 16.7 million colours. Indexed formats such as GIF store a palette of at most 256 instead, which is why photographs converted to them show visible banding. Reference: GIF89a Specification, CompuServe, hosted by W3C
Metadata: Information stored alongside the content itself — camera settings, GPS coordinates, artist and album tags, author names. Conversion frequently drops it, which is usually a privacy benefit and occasionally a loss if you relied on it.
Colour space: The rule that maps the numbers in a file to visible colours. sRGB is what browsers assume, Display P3 and Adobe RGB describe wider ranges used in photography, and CMYK describes ink rather than light. A file converted without its profile keeps its numbers and changes its colours. Reference: sRGB, the default colour space, ICC
DPI and PPI: Dots or pixels per inch: a number describing how large the picture is meant to print, stored as a tag beside the pixels. It changes nothing on a screen, which draws by pixel count alone, and nothing about the detail present — only the size a printer lays the same pixels down at. Reference: CSS Values and Units Module Level 4, W3C
EXIF data: The block cameras and phones write into a photograph: exposure, lens, orientation, the date, and on a phone usually the coordinates it was taken at. Converting writes a fresh file without it, which loses the shooting data and removes the location along with it. Reference: CIPA DC-008: Exchangeable image file format (Exif), CIPA
Pixel: One addressable square of a raster image, holding a single colour. A 1920×1080 picture is 1920 across and 1080 down, about 2.07 million in all, and that count is fixed when the file is written — which is why enlarging one later invents the pixels it does not have. Reference: PNG Specification, Third Edition, W3C

How the pixel grid is made

The block size sets how many original pixels become one pixel of art: at 8, each 8 × 8 square is averaged into a single colour, so a 1600 × 1200 photo becomes a 200 × 150 grid. Partial blocks at the right and bottom edges become cells too. Transparent pixels do not darken the average, and a block that is mostly transparent becomes fully transparent — pixel art has no half-transparent edges.

How the palette is chosen

With a colour limit, the palette is picked by median cut: all the grid’s colours start in one box, and the box with the widest spread of red, green or blue is split at its median until there are 8, 16 or 32 boxes. Each box’s average becomes a palette colour, and every cell takes the nearest one. The process has no random steps, so the same image and settings always give the same result.

Why nearest-neighbour enlargement

Normal resizing blends neighbouring pixels, which turns pixel art into a blur. This tool enlarges with nearest-neighbour, so every cell becomes a crisp square of one colour. You can download the art at the original size, at one pixel per block for use as a game sprite, or at 4, 8 or 16 pixels per block.

Privacy and file handling

The Pixel Art Converter runs entirely in your browser. Your file is read by the page, processed on your own device, and the result is handed straight back to you — no copy is sent anywhere, because none needs to be.

You can confirm this rather than take our word for it: open your browser’s developer tools, watch the Network tab, and use the tool. No request carries your file or your input. It also keeps working with the connection off.

Details are in the privacy policy.

What next?

Clear a plain background before turning a character into a sprite.

Make the background transparent

Pixel Art Converter — questions

How do I convert an image to pixel art?

Open the image, set the block size (8 to start with), choose 8, 16 or 32 colours and download the PNG. Bigger blocks give chunkier, more retro pixel art.

What block size should I use?

Aim for a grid of roughly 32 to 128 cells across. For a 1024-pixel-wide image, a block size of 16 gives 64 cells; 32 gives a very blocky 32.

Can I get the art at one pixel per block?

Yes. Choose Grid size under Output size. A 1600 × 1200 image with block size 8 then downloads as a 200 × 150 PNG, ready for a game engine or editor.

Is the colour palette the same as the NES or Game Boy?

No. The palette is chosen from your image’s own colours by median cut, not taken from a console palette.

Which pictures convert to pixel art best?

Simple subjects with clear shapes and strong contrast: a character, a logo, an object on a plain background. Busy photos break up into noise once the blocks get large.

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