Pixel Art Generator
Convert your photos into beautiful retro pixel art. Customize the downscaling resolution, select classic retro console palettes, and apply Floyd-Steinberg dithering.
Pixel Art Generator
Convert your photos into beautiful retro pixel art with custom resolutions, palettes, and dithering.
Drag and drop your image here, or browse
Supports PNG, JPEG, WebP (processed entirely in your browser)
Generator Options
How to use Pixel Art Generator
- Upload your photo.
- Adjust the resolution slider.
- Choose a color palette preset (e.g., Gameboy or PICO-8).
- Enable or disable Floyd-Steinberg dithering.
- Download the upscaled, crisp retro pixel art.
What is Pixel Art Generator?
A pixel art generator works by downscaling a source image to a low grid resolution (e.g. 32x32 or 64x64 pixels) using nearest-neighbor interpolation to prevent blurriness. It then quantizes colors to map each pixel to the closest matches in a selected palette. Our implementation includes retro presets (Nintendo Gameboy, PICO-8, CGA, NES) and computes custom palettes dynamically using a Median-Cut clustering algorithm. An optional Floyd-Steinberg error diffusion dithering step blends colors seamlessly to mimic classic 8-bit and 16-bit hardware limitations.
FAQ
- What is Floyd-Steinberg dithering?
- It is an algorithm that diffuses color quantization errors to neighboring pixels. This creates a dotted pattern that makes color gradients look smoother despite using a very limited color palette.
- Why is nearest-neighbor scaling important?
- Standard scaling blurs images. Nearest-neighbor preserves the sharp, clean square boundaries of individual pixels, which is essential for retro art aesthetics.
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