Pixelation
Also known as: pixelate image, mosaic blur, pixelate face
Pixelation obscures part of an image by averaging it into large blocky squares, hiding faces, plates, or text behind a mosaic. It is a quick way to censor a region — but for truly sensitive data a solid block is safer, since heavy pixelation of text can sometimes be reversed.
- Averages a region into large blocky squares
- Larger blocks hide more detail
- For text and IDs, a solid black box is safer
How pixelation works
The tool divides the selected area into a grid and replaces each cell with a single averaged color, producing the familiar blocky mosaic. A larger block size hides more; a smaller one keeps the shape vaguely recognizable. Once you flatten and save the image, the pixelated region’s original detail is gone.
It is popular for blurring bystanders’ faces, license plates, and house numbers in photos you share publicly.
When to use a black box instead
Pixelation is fine for general anonymization, but it is not bulletproof for structured data like printed text or numbers — patterns can sometimes be reconstructed. For passwords, account numbers, and IDs, a solid block (redaction) removes the information entirely and leaves nothing to recover.