Blur or Pixelate Image guide
Apply an adjustable blur or block-pixel effect to an entire JPG, PNG, or WebP image without sending the file to a server.
What this tool does
The Blur or Pixelate Image tool offers two full-image effects. Blur uses the browser canvas blur filter with an adjustable radius. The source is drawn slightly beyond the canvas edges so the result avoids a transparent halo around its border. Pixelate first draws the image at a reduced resolution and then enlarges that small raster with smoothing disabled, creating visible square blocks. The selected strength controls either the blur radius or approximate block size in pixels.
The output keeps the decoded width and height. It follows the input format—JPG, PNG, or WebP—and uses a high-quality setting for lossy exports. PNG and WebP can retain transparency. Because both effects alter pixels, the exported result cannot reconstruct the original details. Keep the source file.
These effects can reduce legibility, but they are not reliable redaction. Strong blur can still preserve recognizable shapes, and pixelation may be partially inferred when an attacker knows the possible content. For passwords, identity documents, account numbers, faces, plates, or other sensitive information, remove or cover the region completely in a suitable editor and verify the exported pixels.
How to use it
- Select a supported image within the displayed limit.
- Choose Blur entire image or Pixelate entire image.
- Move the strength slider; larger values create a stronger effect.
- Apply the effect and download the resulting file.
- Inspect the image at its original size before sharing or replacing anything.
The effect covers the whole image. It does not provide region selection. Use an image editor when only one face, number, or area needs treatment while the rest must stay sharp.
Benefits
- Provides two genuinely different pixel transformations
- Offers a clear numeric strength control
- Preserves decoded pixel dimensions
- Supports common web formats and transparency where available
- Performs transformation and export locally
Blur, pixelation, and privacy
Blur is useful for backgrounds, stylistic softening, and reducing distracting detail. Pixelation is useful for an intentional low-resolution appearance. Neither should be described as permanent sanitization. Sensitive information may remain recoverable from context, thumbnails, cached originals, metadata, or other copies even when the current image looks obscured.
For privacy-critical publication, replace the sensitive region with solid opaque pixels, remove metadata, rename the file, and check that the platform did not retain an earlier version.