Bitbead
My beads

Pixel Art Generator

Upload an image or photo and get pixel art in seconds. You choose the grid size and the number of colours, or snap everything to a retro palette such as PICO-8, Game Boy or NES. Fix it pixel by pixel, then download a clean PNG.

How it works

  1. 01

    Upload an image

    A photo, avatar, illustration or screenshot. JPG, PNG and WebP all work.

  2. 02

    Pick a size and a palette

    Set the width anywhere from 16 to 64 pixels. "Auto" keeps the colours of your image; a retro palette gives it one consistent style.

  3. 03

    Edit and download

    Touch up single pixels with the brush, fill and replace-colour tools, then download an upscaled PNG, the 1:1 original, or a chart with a grid and coordinates.

What you get

  • A true pixel look

    Each cell is one flat colour, sampled so edges stay crisp instead of melting into gradients.

  • Retro palettes

    Snap your picture to PICO-8, Sweetie 16, Game Boy or NES colours — or let Auto pick the colours the image needs.

  • Your grid, your call

    Anywhere from 16 to 64 pixels wide for free. Small grids read as classic sprites; bigger ones keep a face recognisable.

  • Edit pixel by pixel

    Brush, eraser, fill, colour replace and undo let you tidy the result into proper pixel art.

  • Clean exports

    An upscaled PNG with hard edges, a 1:1 original for games and sprite sheets, or a chart with grid and colour numbers.

  • Keep and share

    Save drawings to your projects and publish the ones you like to the public library.

From photo to pixel art

Pick the grid for the subject

Pixel art is mostly deciding what to leave out. At 16 × 16 there is room for an icon; 32 wide fits a character or a pet; 48–64 keeps a face recognisable. Start small — a picture that still reads at low resolution is better pixel art than a big one that looks like a blurry photo.

Limit the palette

Old hardware had a handful of colours, and that limit is most of the style. PICO-8 and Sweetie 16 are balanced 16-colour palettes; Game Boy is four greens; NES is warmer and wider. Auto derives the colours from your picture when you want to keep its mood.

Clean up, then use it anywhere

Photos leave stray single pixels and noisy edges; remove them with the eraser and colour replace, then export at a whole-number scale so every pixel stays square. The same grid can become a fuse bead pattern, a cross stitch chart or a diamond painting — or draw from nothing in the pixel art maker.

Palettes at a glance

The fixed palettes the converter can snap to.

PaletteColoursSwatchesGood for
PICO-816Bright, readable sprites
Sweetie 1616Balanced all-round art
Game Boy4The four-shade handheld look
NES55Warm 8-bit scenes

Questions

How do you turn an image into pixel art?
The tool shrinks your image to the grid you chose, then merges every cell into a small set of colours. Those are the two ingredients of pixel art: low resolution and a limited palette. Fewer cells and fewer colours give a stronger pixel look.
What size should pixel art be?
16×16 or 32×32 is plenty for icons and emotes, 32 to 48 pixels suits avatars and characters, and 64 keeps more detail for scenes. Start small: it usually looks more like pixel art, not less.
Can I turn pixel art into a fuse bead pattern?
Yes. Pixel art and a bead chart are the same kind of grid. Open the same image in the bead pattern generator and it is matched to real Perler, Hama or MARD colour codes, with a bead count for every colour.
Is my image uploaded?
Conversions up to 64 pixels wide run entirely in your browser, so the image never leaves your device. Only the extra-large canvases for members are processed on the server, where the image is cached briefly to speed up re-generation and is never published.
What is a pixel art palette?
A small, fixed set of colours every pixel must come from. Consoles had them by necessity; artists keep them because they make a picture look coherent. Pick one here, or use Auto to derive a palette from your image.
Can I use the result in a game?
Yes — export the 1:1 PNG: one image pixel per grid cell, transparent where the grid is empty, ready for a sprite sheet. PICO-8 users can choose the PICO-8 palette so the colours match exactly.
Why does my pixel art look noisy?
Too many colours for the grid size, or a busy photo. Use fewer colours or a smaller grid, and remove single stray pixels with the eraser — clean clusters read much better than scattered dots.
Is it free?
Grids up to 64 pixels wide with up to 48 colours are free, including PNG export and saving. Members get grids up to 232 wide, 96 colours and PDF export — see plans.

Learn more

Background reading from outside Bitbead.

More tools

Pixel art makerFuse bead pattern generatorCross stitch pattern makerDiamond painting pattern makerPublic pattern library