Guides › Explainer · 5 min read

Pixel Size Explained

The pixel-size slider is the most important control in the whole tool, and the one people fiddle with the most. Once you know what it's really doing, picking a setting for any photo takes about two seconds.

What the slider does

Turn the pixel size up and the tool carves your image into bigger square blocks, giving each block a single averaged colour. A pixel size of 10 means every 10×10 patch of the original becomes one big pixel. So a bigger number gives you fewer, larger pixels and a chunkier, lower-resolution look. A smaller number gives more, smaller pixels and finer detail. You're basically setting the resolution of your finished pixel art.

The trade-off

Every step up throws away a bit more detail in exchange for a stronger retro effect. That's the whole balancing act. Too little and it barely looks like pixel art. Too much and the subject disappears. The sweet spot is the biggest pixel size where your subject is still clearly readable. Past that point you're just losing information for nothing.

Match it to your subject

• Faces and portraits: go smaller. Faces live or die on the fine relationship between the eyes, nose and mouth, and that vanishes fast as the blocks grow.
• Logos and simple shapes: medium to large is fine, because bold shapes hold up even when you simplify them hard.
• Busy scenes and landscapes: keep it low, or the detail collapses into a mess.
• Abstract or decorative stuff: go wild. If recognisability doesn't matter, big chunky pixels look fantastic.

Your source size matters too

Pixel size works together with how big your original photo is. A large, high-res image can take a bigger pixel size and still have plenty of blocks left to describe the subject. A small image is already short on detail, so even a modest pixel size can wipe it out. If your results keep coming out too rough, try starting from a bigger source photo before you push the pixelation.

The way I actually do it

1. Start with the slider around the middle.
2. Push the pixel size up until the retro effect looks strong.
3. Back off a step or two until the subject is comfortably recognisable again.
4. If it's headed for somewhere small like an avatar, imagine it shrunk and lean toward the smaller setting.

Because it all updates in real time, this takes seconds, and there's no single correct number. The right pixel size is simply the one that gives you the balance of retro feel and clarity you're after.