One photo in · Retro sprite out · Nothing to install
Pixel Art Converter
Convert a picture to pixel art in one pass. Your own photo, redrawn as a 16-bit sprite instead of blurred into big squares.
One photo, one sprite
A real sprite conversion from this page’s model. Drag the divider: the same tabby cat, the same upright pose, the same pale-blue background — now drawn on a coarse grid with flat colour blocks and hard aliased edges. Look at the whiskers and the eyes: they survive as deliberate single-pixel lines, which is exactly what a pixelate filter would have destroyed. Every output is AI-generated, so your own result varies with the photo you upload — read this as a guide to what the tool does, not a fixed result you will get back.
Drag to compare before and after
What does a pixel art converter actually do?
It rebuilds your photograph in the visual language of a retro video game: a coarse grid of large square pixels, a deliberately small palette of flat colours, hard aliased edges and stair-stepped diagonals, with no gradients or soft blur anywhere. The subject stays recognisable — your cat is still your cat — but every surface is now made of discrete blocks of colour.
This is not the same as pixelating an image, and the difference is the whole reason the tool exists. Pixelating averages the pixels you already have into bigger squares, which destroys information: faces turn to mush and thin features vanish. Converting redraws the subject for the low-resolution grid, deciding which shapes survive and which get simplified, the way a sprite artist would.
That is why the eyes, whiskers and stripes in the example below are still legible at a size where an averaged version would be a coloured smear. It works in the browser with free credits — no sprite editor, no palette setup, no grid maths.
Creative engine
How the conversion works
Upload a photo, describe the sprite look you want, pick the format, and the credit estimate updates before you generate.
Coarse grid redraw
The subject is redrawn for a coarse grid instead of your pixels being averaged into larger squares. Every decision a sprite artist makes — which line survives, which curve becomes a staircase — has to be made somewhere, and this is where.
Hard-edged sprites
Flat 2D sprite art with hard edges and a limited palette: no gradients, no blur, no anti-aliased halo around the subject. If the result has soft edges it is a pixelate, not a conversion, and it will not sit next to real sprite work.
Works in the browser with free credits — no sprite editor, no palette setup, no grid maths. Pixel art is flat by definition — the Minecraft photo generator rebuilds the same picture from cubes with real depth, and the parkour video generator puts that blocky look in motion.
Convert a picture in three steps
From one photograph to a finished sprite, with the cost shown before you commit.
Pick a high-contrast photo
One clear subject that separates cleanly from its background. The coarse grid has very few pixels to spend, so contrast does the work detail cannot.
Name the look you want
Say which era or resolution — a chunky 8-bit sprite, a 16-bit game character, a fine modern pixel illustration — and mention the palette if the colours matter.
Check credits and generate
Generate, then export the sprite at the size your project needs. A failed run is refunded (unless it broke the content policy), so you only spend credits on the sprites that actually come back.
What people convert
Game jams, itch.io pages, avatars that should look 16-bit.
Avatars and profile pictures
A sprite version of your own photo reads well at small sizes and stays distinctive where a cropped photo turns into a blur.
Game mockups and jam assets
Turn reference photos into placeholder sprites fast when you are prototyping and do not have an artist yet.
Craft patterns and prints
A flat, limited-palette grid is the starting point for perler beads, cross-stitch and pixel posters — the art step, before any charting tool.
Sprite conversion FAQ
Common questions about turning a photograph into flat retro sprite art with Kavel.
A pixelate filter averages the pixels you already have into bigger squares, so information is destroyed: faces smear, thin features disappear, and the result looks censored rather than drawn. This redraws the subject for the coarse grid, choosing which shapes to keep and which to simplify. That is why fine features like whiskers or the line of an eye can survive here as deliberate single-pixel marks, and cannot survive a blur.
You describe both in words rather than setting them numerically. Ask for a chunky 8-bit look, a 16-bit sprite, or a fine modern pixel illustration, and name a palette if the colours matter — muted earth tones, a Game Boy green, four colours only. Treat it as art direction rather than an exact pixel count; if you need a literal 32×32 grid, do the conversion here and resize afterwards.
No. This is flat 2D sprite art on a grid. A Minecraft-style rebuild makes the scene out of cubes that have volume and cast shadows, which is a 3D look — we have a separate tool for that. Pick this one for avatars, sprites and craft patterns; pick the block one for anything meant to look like the game.
Yes, and a portrait is one of the better subjects because the composition is simple. Expect the likeness to be suggestive rather than exact: a coarse grid has too few pixels for a face to stay literally identical, so what carries over is hair colour, glasses, the shape of the head and the expression. That is the medium doing its job, not a failure of the conversion.
Busy scenes with several competing subjects, low-contrast pictures where the subject and background are similar in tone, and images that rely on fine texture — fur detail, lace, foliage. All three ask the grid to represent more than it can hold. Crop tighter, or pick a frame with a cleaner silhouette.
The terms of service set out what you can do with images you generate — read those before shipping the result in a product or a store listing. Also remember that the input matters: converting someone else's photograph or a copyrighted character does not make the result yours to sell.
The estimate shifts with the format and resolution you select, so the cost is visible first. Failed runs are refunded automatically (unless it broke the content policy), and new accounts start with free credits — enough to try a couple of looks before spending anything.
Not directly. This produces the artwork, not a chart with a colour key and a stitch count. It is the step before that: convert the photo here, then feed the flat image into whichever charting tool your craft uses, which is far easier than charting straight from a photograph.
Kavel pricing — you pay per generation, never per seat
Credits are shared across everything Kavel runs. You see the cost before each run, and a failed job is never charged.
Free
What's included
- 15 credits before you sign up
- +40 when you create an account
- +100 a week from daily check-ins
- = 488 a month — 97 images or 12 videos
- No card, no account
- Free engine every day Grok Imagine
- Photo editing Nano Banana 2 Lite
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.
Starter
What's included
- 3,150 credits per month
- Up to 630 images or 78 videos Grok Imagine Nano Banana
- Clean downloads, no watermark
- Every model unlocked Veo 3.1 Seedance Nano Banana
- Cost shown before you generate
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.
Creator
What's included
- 7,200 credits per month
- Up to 1,440 images or 180 videos Grok Imagine Nano Banana
- Clean downloads, no watermark
- Every model unlocked Veo 3.1 Seedance 2 Nano Banana 2
- No shared queue
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.
Studio
What's included
- 13,200 credits per month
- Up to 2,640 images or 330 videos Grok Imagine Nano Banana
- Clean downloads, no watermark
- Every model unlocked Seedance 2.5 Kling 3.0 Veo 3.1
- No shared queue
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers.
Pay safely and securely with
Payments are processed by Stripe over an encrypted checkout. Your card details are handled by Stripe and are never stored by Kavel.
Charges appear as “KAVEL AI” on your card statement. You can cancel any time from Settings → Billing; cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you already paid for. Operator details, the full model list, and the refund window are on the about page.
Other retro and blocky looks
Other ways to restyle a photo you already have, and the model behind the edit.
Turn your photo into a sprite
A real sprite, not a photo blurred into big squares. Name the palette if the first pass reads too modern.