How to pixelate or blur part of a picture
- Press Choose image and pick your photo. It appears with the effect ready to use.
- Leave Apply to on Areas I draw, then drag a rectangle over each face, plate or detail. The effect shows at once. Use Undo last area or Clear areas to correct mistakes.
- Choose Pixelate, Blur or Solid black box, and drag the slider until nothing can be read or recognised.
- Press Save image and download
photo-pixelated.jpg. Pick Whole image instead to pixelate everything for an artistic look.
You choose the areas: there is no face detection
This tool does not look for faces, number plates or text. It censors exactly the rectangles you draw. That keeps it simple and private, because no model is downloaded and nothing about your picture is analysed or sent anywhere. The trade-off is that you are responsible for covering everything: scan the whole picture, including reflections, background people, screens, street signs and name tags.
Pixelate, blur or black box: what is safe?
All three remove detail, but not equally. If the point is privacy, the choice matters.
| Effect | How it works | Safe for hiding? |
|---|---|---|
| Pixelate, large blocks | Each block becomes one average colour | Good for faces when blocks are large, so only a few remain across a face |
| Pixelate, small blocks | Same, with many tiny blocks | Weak: outlines and text can still be recognised |
| Blur, large radius | Each pixel is mixed with its neighbours | Reasonable for faces; check that features are gone |
| Blur, small radius | A light smear | Weak: text can stay readable and the effect can sometimes be partly reversed |
| Solid black box | Pixels replaced by black | Safest. Nothing of the original is left in that area |
Software can sometimes sharpen a lightly blurred or finely pixelated area and read what was underneath, especially text and digits. For anything that must stay secret, such as a card number, an ID number, a password on a screen or a house number, use the black box, or very large blocks. This tool makes the change permanent in the saved file: once you download the picture, the covered pixels are gone from that copy.
How the effects are made
Pixelate cuts the area into square blocks, starting at its top-left corner, and replaces each block with the average of its colours. The blur is a box blur run three times in each direction, which closely approximates the smooth Gaussian blur found in photo editors. It is calculated by this page's own code rather than a browser filter, so it looks the same in Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Areas on the edge only average the pixels inside the area, so no colour leaks in from outside.
Common uses
- Faces of bystanders or children before posting a photo.
- Licence plates and house numbers in listings, social posts and dashcam stills.
- Personal details in screenshots: names, email addresses, account numbers, tickets and QR codes.
- Spoilers and surprises. Pixelate the whole picture for a teaser.
Because the picture is redrawn when you save it, hidden metadata such as GPS location, camera model and time is also left out of the new file. That helps, but it does not hide anything visible, so look at the final picture before you share it. Remove the edges first with the crop tool, or reduce the file with the image resizer. iPhone HEIC photos are not supported yet: choose Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible to save JPGs.
Frequently asked questions
How do I pixelate part of an image?
Press Choose image, leave Apply to on Areas I draw, and drag a rectangle over the part you want to hide. Draw more rectangles if needed. Pick Pixelate, Blur or Solid black box and adjust the slider, then press Save image and download the result. Undo last area removes the most recent rectangle.
Does it find faces automatically?
No. There is no automatic face detection. You select each area yourself, which means nothing is guessed or sent anywhere, but also that a face you forget to mark stays visible. Look at the final picture carefully before you share it.
How do I blur a face in a photo?
Choose Blur or Pixelate in the Effect menu, drag a rectangle over each face, and raise the slider until the face can no longer be recognised. For people who should stay anonymous, use a large pixelate block size or the solid black box, which are safer than a light blur.
Is pixelating or blurring really safe for hiding information?
It depends on how strong it is. A light blur or small blocks can sometimes be partly reversed, or the text read by a person or program. Large blocks are much harder to undo, and the solid black box is the safest, because the original pixels are replaced entirely. For passwords, card numbers and ID numbers, use the black box.
Is it free, and is my photo uploaded?
It is free, with no sign-up or watermark. Your photo is never uploaded: the effect is applied by code running in your browser, and the picture stays on your device. You can switch off your internet connection after the page has loaded and it still works. This matters most for a tool that handles faces and private details.
What is the difference between pixelate and blur?
Pixelate splits the area into squares and fills each square with its average colour, giving a chunky mosaic. Blur mixes each pixel with its neighbours, giving a soft smear. Both lose detail, but the larger the blocks or radius, the less can be recovered. Black box removes everything.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Choose image opens your photo library, and you draw rectangles with your finger. While you can draw on the picture, the page does not scroll when you touch it, so scroll using the area around it. If drawing is awkward, open Add an area by numbers and type the position and size instead.
What file do I get, and is the location removed?
You get the same format as the original (JPG, PNG or WebP; GIF and BMP files are saved as PNG), named like photo-pixelated.jpg. The picture is redrawn on a canvas, so metadata such as GPS location, camera model and time is not copied into the new file. That helps when you share it, but the pixels outside your areas are unchanged.
Does the picture lose quality?
Only inside the areas you censor, apart from the usual small loss when a JPG or WebP is saved again (92% quality here). PNG stays lossless. Keep your original photo in case you need to redo the censoring.
Can I use an iPhone HEIC photo?
Not directly yet, because most browsers cannot decode HEIC. On iPhone, set Settings, Camera, Formats to Most Compatible so new photos are saved as JPG, or export the photo as JPG from the Photos app first.