Grids and sizes
| Source | Block | Grid | Saved at source size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 × 1080 | 8 px | 240 × 135 cells | 1920 × 1080 |
| 1920 × 1080 | 16 px | 120 × 68 cells | 1920 × 1088 |
| 1200 × 1200 | 12 px | 100 × 100 cells | 1200 × 1200 |
| 800 × 600 | 4 px | 200 × 150 cells | 800 × 600 |
Limits
- No dithering: each cell takes the nearest palette colour, which keeps flat areas flat and can band gradients.
- Fine lines thinner than a cell average away; that is what a grid this coarse means.
Questions
How is this different from a pixelate filter?
A pixelate filter draws blocks over the picture at its own size. This is a rescale: the picture is area-averaged down to a real grid — each cell the mean of the pixels it covers — and that grid is the artwork. It can be saved one pixel per cell, or enlarged back by an exact whole number with nearest so every cell is a square.
What does the palette cap do?
It reduces the cells to 8, 16, 32 or 64 colours by a deterministic median cut: the colour box with the widest spread is split at its median until there are enough boxes, and each cell takes the nearest box's mean. The same picture always gives the same palette.
Block size or grid width?
Block size is how many source pixels become one cell (4 to 32). Grid width is how many cells across the artwork has (32 to 256), which is what game sprites and bead patterns are usually specified in. Either one sets the other.
Why are the edges of my result a little short of the original?
Because the grid has to be whole cells. A 1000 px wide picture at an 8 px block is 125 cells, which is 1000 px again; at 12 px it is 83 cells, which enlarges to 996 px. The panel prints the exact size before export.
Neighbouring measurements
Already pixel art and need it bigger? Scale it by a whole number with nearest and no colour is invented.
