About the Pixelate Image tool
Turn photos into chunky retro pixel art or obscure sensitive details. The pixel-size slider goes from a light mosaic to full 8-bit abstraction.
Pixelation runs locally in your browser. Since this tool is normally used to censor sensitive detail, the original never reaching a server is the whole point.
How to use it
- Add your image.
- Adjust the settings and watch the live preview.
- Download the result.
About the pixelation effect
This applies a mosaic effect that replaces detail with colored blocks.
Worth knowing
Pixelation is the classic way to censor faces and text, and it is weaker than most people assume. Small block sizes on regular content such as printed digits can sometimes be reversed by software.
If the information genuinely matters — a document number, a home address, a card — use very large blocks, a heavy blur, or simply draw a solid rectangle over it.
Why pixelation is weaker than it looks
Pixelation replaces each block of pixels with their average color. That average still carries information about what was underneath, and because the process is deterministic, software can sometimes work backwards — particularly with regular, predictable content such as printed digits, where there are only ten possible characters to test against each block.
The risk rises when the block size is small relative to the feature. Six-pixel blocks over 40-pixel-tall text leave a great deal of recoverable structure. Blocks large enough that a whole character falls inside one leave almost none.
For faces the calculus is different, since recovery would require a reference image of the same person, but the principle holds: bigger blocks are safer. And for anything you would genuinely regret exposing — account numbers, addresses, medical details — a solid rectangle remains the only approach with no theoretical weakness at all.
Common mistakes
- Using small pixel blocks on text or numbers, which can sometimes be recovered.
- Pixelating a face while leaving other identifying detail visible in the frame.
- Assuming pixelation is irreversible. It is obfuscation, not encryption.
Questions people ask
Is pixelation secure?
Not reliably. Large blocks are much safer than small ones, and a solid block is safest of all.
What block size should I use?
Large enough that no structure remains recognizable — for a face, that usually means blocks covering a substantial part of it.
Is there a better way to redact?
Yes. Cover the area with a solid shape, which removes the underlying data entirely.