Photo to Pixel Art Converter: what it does
Turn any photo into retro pixel art. Choose how many pixels wide the art should be (16 for a tiny icon, 64 for a classic sprite, 128 or more for a detailed scene) and a palette: 8, 16 or 32 colours picked from your photo, the PICO-8 fantasy console palette, or the four greens of the original Game Boy. Ordered dithering adds the checkerboard shading of old games. The download is scaled up with sharp, square pixels so it looks right everywhere, and it is made in your browser without uploading your photo.
How to use it
- Drop a photo into the box, paste it with Ctrl+V, or tap to choose one from your phone.
- See the effect straight away. The thumbnails show every other effect on your photo too.
- Adjust the settings, and hold “Hold to compare” to see the original.
- Download at full resolution as JPG, PNG or WebP.
Tips
- Crop the photo to the subject first (with the crop tool): pixel art has few pixels to spare.
- Fewer colours look more “retro”. Start with 16 colours from the photo, then try PICO-8.
- Always save pixel art as PNG. JPG smudges the hard pixel edges.
- For 1-bit black and white art like early Macs, use the dither effect.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn a photo into pixel art?
Add the photo, choose the number of pixels across and a palette, optionally turn on dithering, and download the PNG.
What size is the downloaded image?
Your pixel art scaled up by a whole number, so every art pixel is a sharp square, to about the width of your original photo. A 64-pixel-wide art from a 4000-pixel photo downloads at 3968 pixels wide (62 × 64).
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The pixel art is made in your browser on your own device.