Photo to Pixel Art Converter

This photo to pixel art converter shrinks your picture to a small grid, reduces it to a limited palette and can add dithering, all in your browser. Results appear at once; download a crisp PNG or a layered PSD. Free, no sign-up, nothing uploaded.

Photo to Pixel ArtFree · runs in your browser

No photo at hand? Try one:

  • Free, no sign-up, no watermark
  • Processed on your device
  • PNG and layered PSD
  • Auto or 10 preset palettes

How to Convert a Photo to Pixel Art in 3 Steps

Add a picture, set the look, download. Changes update live.

  1. 1

    Add a photo

    Drop, choose or paste a JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF up to 50 MB.

  2. 2

    Set size, palette and dithering

    Set the width (64 pixels by default), palette, edges and dithering. Drag the slider to compare.

  3. 3

    Download

    Save a crisp PNG at real size or scaled up, a layered PSD, or the palette.

Examples

Photo to Pixel Art Examples

Six original photos run through this photo to pixel art converter. Open one to get the same result.

Neon alley at nightBefore → After

Neon alley at night

96 × 128 px · 16 colors

96 pixels wide holds the signs, the lanterns and their reflections.

Bowl of ramenBefore → After

Bowl of ramen

64 × 64 px · 23 colors

The Endesga 32 palette with Sharp edges: crisp noodles, a bright yolk.

Instant cameraBefore → After

Instant camera

64 × 48 px · 8 colors

Only 8 colors and Sharp edges give a clean, icon-like product shot.

Portrait in the rainBefore → After

Portrait in the rain

64 × 85 px · 24 colors

24 automatic colors keep the skin tones apart from the neon.

Cat in sunglassesBefore → After

Cat in sunglasses

64 × 64 px · 16 colors

The default settings: 64 pixels wide, 16 colors from the photo.

Lighthouse at sunsetBefore → After

Lighthouse at sunset

96 × 72 px · 4 colors

A Game Boy style palette of 4 shades, with ordered dithering in the sky.

What Converts Well, and the Limits

Every pixel comes from your photo; nothing is redrawn.

Works well

  • Portraits, pets, food, products and buildings with a clear subject.
  • Logos, cartoons and screenshots, with Edges set to Sharp.
  • Transparent PNGs, with no half-transparent edge pixels.
  • Dark photos: Auto levels keeps the subject visible.

Limits

  • This pixel art converter does not redraw like AI; on a tiny grid, eyes and text get lost.
  • Still images only; an animated GIF gives its first frame.
  • No pixel-by-pixel editing; edit the PSD in Photoshop.
  • NES, Game Boy and C64 colors have no single standard; we use common versions.

Tip: start at 64 pixels wide and 16 colors; go smaller for icons.

Why Use This Pixel Art Converter

Good results by default, and files you can keep editing.

01

Looks right by default

64 pixels wide, 16 colors from your photo and Auto levels on: even dark photos stay recognizable.

02

Layered PSD, one layer per color

Layers named by hex code and pixel count, an outline layer, and the original hidden below.

03

Colors matched the way eyes see

The automatic palette is chosen in OKLab, a perceptual color space, closer to what eyes see than RGB.

04

Clean edges for sprites

Each pixel is fully transparent or solid, ready for game engines, with an optional 1-pixel outline.

05

Retro palettes and dithering

PICO-8, Game Boy, NES, CGA and C64 style palettes, Sweetie 16 and more, plus three dithering styles.

06

Free and private

No sign-up, no watermark, no usage limit. Your image is processed on your device and never uploaded.

Photo to Pixel Art Guide: Size, Colors and Dithering

How the conversion works and how to tune it.

How image to pixel art conversion works

Four steps run in your browser. The photo shrinks to a grid: Smooth takes each cell's average color, Sharp its most common one. Colors are reduced to a palette, matched in OKLab, with optional dithering. Then the image is scaled up by whole numbers with nearest neighbor, so every pixel stays a crisp square.

What size should pixel art be?

Width shapes the look most. 32 pixels wide gives a bold, icon-like result; 64, the default, keeps a face or pet readable; 96 to 128 hold a detailed scene. Sprites and icons are often 16×16, 32×32 or 64×64. The output size, such as 64 × 36, shows with the preview.

How many colors should pixel art have?

Fewer colors look more like pixel art. A Game Boy style palette has 4 shades; PICO-8 and C64 style palettes have 16. For photos, 8 to 16 automatic colors keep the subject and look hand-made; use 32 or more for skin and skies. Export the palette as .gpl, .hex or .aco.

Dithering: ordered, Floyd-Steinberg or Atkinson

Dithering mixes two palette colors in a pattern to suggest a missing shade. Off, the default, keeps areas flat and clean. Ordered uses a Bayer 4×4 pattern, the regular dots of classic pixel art. Floyd-Steinberg gives the smoothest photos and gradients; Atkinson, stronger contrast. Lower the strength if it looks noisy.

Save PNG, not JPEG, or a layered PSD

Save pixel art as PNG: it is lossless, so each block stays one exact color, while JPEG compression adds stray colors at block edges. Download real size for a game engine, or 2× to 32× for sharing, scaled with nearest neighbor. No Photoshop? Open the layered PSD in the free PSD viewer.

What People Make with Photo to Pixel Art

A few ways to use this pixel art converter.

  • Game sprites

    Reference photos become sprites with clean transparency, an outline and a reusable palette.

  • Avatars

    A retro portrait of you or your pet for Discord, Twitch or a game profile.

  • Prints and gifts

    A pet or favorite place as pixel art, scaled up sharply for print.

  • Design and social posts

    Retro visuals for posts and merch, with each color on its own PSD layer.

Photo to Pixel Art FAQ

Price, privacy, size, colors, formats and AI.

Convert Your Photo to Pixel Art Now

Drop a photo, pick a size and palette, and download a PNG or PSD. Free, nothing uploaded.