Most image resizers smooth while they scale, which turns pixel art into mush. An integer nearest-neighbour upscale is the correct method: each art pixel becomes an exact N×N block, with no new colours and no blur. This tool does that for single images and batches, offers Scale2x/EPX and Scale3x when you want rounded diagonals, and can tell when an image was already upscaled, so you don't upscale a blurry copy twice.
How to use the Pixel Art Upscaler
- Drop one sprite or many.
- If the image is already upscaled, the tool shows its real size and restores it to 1× first. You can turn that off.
- Choose a factor from 2× to 16×, or enter any whole number up to 32.
- Pick Nearest for exact blocks, or Scale2x / Scale3x for smoother diagonals using only existing colours.
- Download the PNG, or a ZIP of every image at the same factor.
What you get
- Upscaled PNG at exactly N times the size, with the same colours and alpha.
- Batch ZIP with every file named
name@4x.pngand so on.
Which engines it fits
- For in-game use, prefer the 1× sprite plus nearest filtering in the engine. Upscaled files are for store pages, trailers, social posts, print and UI that cannot scale.
- Integer factors keep the pixel grid aligned. Avoid scaling by 1.5× or 2.5× anywhere in the pipeline.
Tips from making games with it
- Steam capsules, itch.io pages and social posts get re-compressed. A 4× or larger upscale survives that better than 1×.
- Scale2x can change the look of small details like eyes. Compare before using it for key art.
- Upload 1× art to sites that support image-rendering: pixelated, and let CSS do the scaling.
Use cases
- Store page screenshots, capsule art and trailers.
- Printing pixel art on posters, stickers or merch.
- Making emoji, avatars and profile pictures from small sprites.
- Restoring the real 1× pixels from an upscaled image found online.
FAQ
What is nearest-neighbour scaling?
Every output pixel takes the colour of the closest input pixel. At whole-number factors this turns each art pixel into an exact square block, so the image gets bigger without any blur or new colours.
What do Scale2x and Scale3x do?
They are pixel-art scaling algorithms (also called EPX and AdvMAME) that look at each pixel's neighbours and round off diagonal staircases, using only colours already in the image. Factors that are not a multiple of 2 or 3 get nearest scaling for the remainder.
How does it detect images that are already upscaled?
It measures where colour edges fall. In upscaled pixel art almost every edge lies on a regular grid. The tool finds the largest grid that explains the edges and samples the centre of each block to restore the original pixels.
Is there a size limit?
Output is capped at 64 megapixels per image to keep your browser responsive, for example a 512×512 sprite at 16× (8192×8192).
Are my images uploaded?
No. Scaling runs in your browser, and nothing is sent to a server.
Can it make blurry pixel art sharp again?
If the blur came from smooth scaling, upscaling will not fix it. Use the Image to Pixel Art tool with Sharp sampling at the intended size, then upscale the result here.