Pixel art converter

Turn any photo into pixel art: choose the size and colours, try a retro palette, and download a crisp PNG. Free, and your photo stays on this device.

Fit

Example images

Photos to pixels

48 × 48 pixels16 coloursFree colours
Cat, example image
48 × 60 pixels16 coloursFree colours
Dahlia, example image
48 × 60 pixels16 coloursFree colours
Front door, example image
48 × 60 pixels16 coloursFree colours
Portrait, example image

Close-up of a tabby cat looking at the camera

Settings that work

48 pixels, 16 colours

Faces want a little more width than you'd think: at 32 pixels the eyes are only two or three pixels across. Free colours keep the warm fur tones; a retro palette makes it bolder.

How to turn a photo into pixel art

Drop a photo on the canvas. It's shrunk to your width, each pixel taking the average colour of the photo under it, and the colours reduced to as few as you choose.

The width sets how chunky it looks: 32 pixels feels like an old game sprite, 128 feels like a mosaic. The number of colours sets how flat or smooth the shading is. Choose free colours to keep the photo's own tones, or a fixed palette for a retro look.

The download enlarges every pixel into a clean square, so it stays sharp on any screen. The 1-pixel version is for game engines and pixel editors like Aseprite or Piskel.

Pick

Choose a photo10 sec

Set the width in pixels10 sec

Choose free colours or a palette10 sec

Polish

Fix stray pixels with Edit1 min

Turn on the grid if you'll copy it5 sec

Keep

Download a crisp scaled PNG5 sec

Or the 1-pixel original for editing5 sec

You hold sharp pixel art at any size1 min

Sizes

Pixel art is measured in pixels across. The same art downloads at any size by making each pixel a bigger square. Open a size to see what it suits.

16 × 16: icons and favicons

Image sizes for 16-pixel art
Each pixel	Image size	Good for
1 px	16 × 16	game engines, editing
8 px	128 × 128	sharing, profile pictures
16 px	256 × 256	printing, posters

32 × 32: game sprites and emotes

Image sizes for 32-pixel art
Each pixel	Image size	Good for
1 px	32 × 32	game engines, editing
8 px	256 × 256	sharing, profile pictures
16 px	512 × 512	printing, posters

64 × 64: avatars and portraits

Image sizes for 64-pixel art
Each pixel	Image size	Good for
1 px	64 × 64	game engines, editing
8 px	512 × 512	sharing, profile pictures
16 px	1024 × 1024	printing, posters

128 × 128: scenes and wallpapers

Image sizes for 128-pixel art
Each pixel	Image size	Good for
1 px	128 × 128	game engines, editing
8 px	1024 × 1024	sharing, profile pictures
16 px	2048 × 2048	printing, posters

Building it in real life? The Minecraft generator counts blocks, and the cross stitch pattern maker turns it into a chart with threads.

Free colours or a retro palette

Free colours picks the best handful of colours for your photo, whatever they are. It gives the most faithful result.

A palette limits you to a fixed set, the way old consoles did. Your photo is matched to the closest colours in it, judged by eye rather than by numbers:

Palette	Colours	Looks like
Free colours	2–64, chosen for your photo	Your photo, simplified
PICO-8	16 fixed	Bright, cheerful fantasy-console games
8-bit console	55 fixed	Mid-1980s home console games
Handheld green	4 shades of green	The original pocket handheld screen

With a fixed palette, the "colours" slider sets the most it may use; a photo often needs fewer. Real 8-bit hardware could only show a few colours at once, so for an authentic look keep the count low.

Tips for photos that pixelate well

Bold shapes beat fine detail. Hair strands, text and patterns vanish at small sizes; faces, animals and objects survive.
Crop tight. Every pixel of background is a pixel the subject doesn't get.
Raise the contrast in More settings if the result looks muddy.
Leave the background empty for a sprite with a transparent background.

Keeping pixel art sharp

Pixel art blurs when an app enlarges it by blending neighbouring pixels. The scaled download avoids that by drawing each pixel as a solid square of exactly the size you choose. If you resize the 1-pixel image yourself, pick "nearest neighbour" (sometimes called "hard edges" or "point") scaling, and use whole-number sizes: 2×, 3×, 8×.

Dithering

With few colours, smooth gradients become visible stripes. Blend colours scatters pixels of two colours to suggest the shade between them, the technique old games used for skies and shadows. It's off by default because it makes the art busier; try it on gradients and leave it off on faces.

Questions

Is this pixel art converter free? Yes. No sign-up, no watermark and no limit on downloads.

Are my photos uploaded? No. Your photo is turned into pixel art inside your browser and never leaves your device.

What size should my pixel art be? 32 to 64 pixels across suits most photos. Smaller looks more like a classic sprite but loses detail; larger looks more like a mosaic.

How do I keep the pixels sharp when I make it bigger? Download the scaled image here, which enlarges each pixel into a crisp square. If you resize the small image in another app, choose "nearest neighbour" scaling, or it will blur.

Can I add a grid? Yes. "With grid" shows a grid on the preview, and "Grid lines in the image" draws one into the download, which helps when you copy it by hand into beads, stitches or blocks.

Can I edit single pixels? Yes. Press Edit above the image, pick a colour in the key and paint. Replace all swaps every pixel of one colour, and Undo steps back.

Can I use the pixel art in my game or shop? If the photo is yours, the pixel art is yours to use however you like. If someone else took the photo, ask them first.