How does the pixelation effect work technically?
The tool loads the image into a Canvas context, scales it down to a small fraction of its size (e.g. 5% width/height), and then scales it back up to fill the original canvas dimensions using imageSmoothingEnabled = false. This forces the browser to use a nearest-neighbor pixel interpolation algorithm, producing sharp, hard-edged blocks.
Will the exported image be blurry?
No! Unlike other editors that use bilinear scaling which blurs downsampled graphics, SimplyUtils explicitly disables image smoothing. This ensures that every individual pixel block has crisp, sharp borders, preserving the retro arcade look.
Can I adjust the size of the pixel blocks?
Yes, use the interactive Pixel Size slider in the tools dashboard to dynamically increase or decrease the block size anywhere from a tiny 2px grid up to an abstract 100px square block layout.
Can I pixelate only specific parts of an image?
This tool applies pixelation globally to the entire photo frame. If you only want to obscure a specific face or license plate, you can use our Image Redactor or Image Blur & Pixelate tools which allow drawing custom crop squares.
Pristine Data Isolation: Your privacy is guaranteed. The downsampling algorithm executes completely inside your local browser tab — no data or image uploads are ever processed by our servers.