--- title: "Pixelate Image – Turn a Photo into Square Blocks" description: "Pixelate a whole photo into square blocks, from a light mosaic to chunky squares, with one slider. For a retro look, a guessing game or a censored picture." url: "https://imagecompressor.si/pixelate-image" lang: "en" --- # Pixelate an image Turn a whole picture into square blocks, from a fine mosaic to large chunky squares, and download it in any common format. ## How it works 1. **Add your images** Drag and drop, paste, or pick files. They upload over an encrypted connection. 2. **Pick a quality or a target size** Use the quality slider, or tell it exactly how many KB or MB you need. 3. **Download** Save each file, or grab them all at once as a ZIP. Pixelation breaks a picture into squares of a single colour each. Used lightly, it gives a mosaic look that is popular for posters and quiz images; used heavily, it reduces a photo to a few blocks that hint at what is there without showing it. Guessing games, teaser posts and retro designs all rely on it. Add your picture and it opens already pixelated. Move the pixelate slider to change the block size: at the low end the squares are a couple of pixels wide, at the top they are about a tenth of the picture's longer side. The setting is relative to the picture, so a phone photo and a small web image look the same at the same value. The rest of the adjustments sit in the same panel, so you can raise contrast or turn the picture black and white before the blocks are made. Download as JPEG, PNG or WebP. ## Pixelating only part of a picture This page pixelates the whole image. To hide just a face, a number plate or an address, use the pixelate face page, which finds faces on its own, or the redact page, where you draw boxes over the parts to cover and the rest stays sharp. Pixelation is not a safe way to hide sensitive text: heavily blurred or pixelated writing can sometimes be guessed. For documents, cover such parts with a solid box on the redact page. ## Picking a block size For a mosaic that still shows the subject, stay in the lower third of the slider. For a teaser where people should guess, go to the middle. The top end leaves only colour patches, which works as an abstract background. ## Several pictures Add a batch and each is pixelated with the same setting, so a set of quiz images or social posts match. Move the slider once and they all update. ## Privacy Your pictures are pixelated on our server and deleted from it once the results exist. ## Pixel art instead For the look of an old video game, where colours are reduced as well as blocks made, the pixel art maker combines pixelation with fewer tones. ## Animated pictures Animated GIFs keep their other edits but are not pixelated, because each frame would need its own pass. Use a still image for this effect. ## Quiz and reveal posts A common game is to post the same picture several times, each less pixelated than the last, until people guess what it is. Make the versions here by moving the slider down a step at a time and downloading each one; they all keep the same size and framing, so the series lines up. Number the files as you save them, from most to least pixelated, so the posts go out in the right order. ## Print and large screens Pixelated pictures print well at any size, because the blocks are meant to be seen. Save as PNG for the crispest square edges; JPEG can soften the borders between blocks slightly. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I make the blocks bigger? Move the pixelate slider to the right. ### Can I pixelate just a face? Yes, with the pixelate face page. ### Is pixelation safe for hiding text? Not always; use a solid box on the redact page for sensitive text. ### Does it work on many images? Yes. All of them get the same setting. ### Are my pictures stored? No. They are deleted from our server once the results are made. ### Which formats can I download? JPEG, PNG, WebP and the others offered in Advanced. ### Does it work on GIFs? Not on animations; use a still picture. ## Related tools - [Pixelate a face in a photo](https://imagecompressor.si/pixelate-face): The mosaic look from news footage, applied to every face found in your picture. - [Redact part of an image](https://imagecompressor.si/redact-image): Draw a box over what should not be seen, and download the picture with it covered for good. - [Turn a photo into pixel art](https://imagecompressor.si/pixel-art-maker): Make a picture look like an 8-bit game: chunky pixels, flat colours and crisp edges, saved as a PNG.