Pixelate

Filter

Reduces an image to chunky pixel blocks with adjustable block size and nearest, average, or median sampling.

Pixelate divides the image into square blocks and replaces each block with a single color sampled from its contents. Nearest picks the top-left pixel, Average blends all pixels in the block, and Median picks the middle value for a cleaner result.

Match Input Size upscales the blocky result back to the original resolution using nearest-neighbor interpolation, so the output dimensions stay consistent with the rest of your pipeline. Disable it if you want the actual reduced-resolution image.

Parameters

Pins

↳ImageImage

InputRequired

↦ImageImage

Output

Pixelate

Pixel Size (px)Integer

Default: 8 Range: 2–64

Size of each pixel block. Higher values produce a more pixelated look

ModeChoice

Default: Nearest

Nearest: snap to single pixel per block (sharpest). Average: average each block (smoother). Median

• NearestUse the top-left pixel of each block — sharp, no blending.
• AverageAverage all pixels in each block — smooth, blended color.
• MedianUse the median pixel value — reduces impact of outliers and noise.

Output

Match Input SizeToggle

Default: true

When checked, output is upscaled back to the original resolution with nearest-neighbor filtering (hard pixel edges). When unchecked, output is at the smaller pixelated resolution

Usage Tips

• Use Average mode for the smoothest color representation per block.
• Median mode reduces the impact of outlier pixels and works well for noisy source images.
• Combine with Posterize or Quantize for a full retro pixel art aesthetic.
• Disable Match Input Size to get the actual low-resolution output for retro game assets.

Related Nodes

• Posterize
• Quantize
• Dither