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Pixelate

Node icon
Filter

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

The Pixelate node applied to a source image — original (left) and result (right).
Side-by-side comparison: the original image on the left and the same image after the Pixelate node on the right.

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

Section titled “Parameters”

Pins

ImagePixels
InputRequired
ImagePixels
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
  • NearestUse the top-left pixel of each block: sharp, with no blending.
  • AverageAverage all pixels in each block for smooth, blended color.
  • MedianUse the median pixel value, reducing the impact of outliers and noise.

Output

Match Input SizeToggle
Default: true

Where the output lands after the blocks are built.

  • On: upscaled back to the original resolution with nearest-neighbor filtering (hard pixel edges).
  • Off: left at the smaller pixelated resolution.

Usage Tips

Section titled “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.
Section titled “Related Nodes”