Pixelate any image
Apply a blocky mosaic effect to any image. The most common use is censoring — obscuring faces, licence plates, addresses or on-screen text before you share a screenshot. It is also a quick way to create a retro pixel-art look.
How it works
The tool downsamples your image to a small grid, then scales it back to full size with smoothing turned off:
grid width = image width ÷ block size
grid height = image height ÷ block size
→ scaled back up with imageSmoothingEnabled = false (hard square pixels)
A larger block size means fewer, bigger blocks — heavier pixelation — while a small block size keeps more detail.
Choosing a block size for censoring
| Block size | Effect | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 4–8 px | Light mosaic | Stylised pixel effect |
| 16–32 px | Strong mosaic | Obscuring faces in a photo |
| 40–80 px | Heavy mosaic | Fully censoring text, plates, IDs |
For genuinely sensitive details, prefer a large block size so no readable detail survives.
Common uses
- Redacting faces, names and licence plates in photos before posting.
- Hiding personal data in screenshots (emails, account numbers, addresses).
- Creating a deliberate pixel-art or retro-game aesthetic.
It all runs on a local canvas, so your images are never uploaded.