tooloora

Pixelate Image — hide faces, plates & private details

Draw rectangles over anything private and pixelate or black them out — the marked pixels are truly replaced. Locally in your browser, no upload.

Runs locally — nothing is uploaded

Drop images here or click

JPG, PNG or WebP · one file · stays local

Runs locally in your browser – no upload.

Pixelate or black out areas — for real

Load an image, drag rectangles over faces, license plates or text, and choose pixelate or black out per marking. On export, the marked pixels are replaced inside the pixel buffer itself — not covered. Everything runs locally in your browser: a photo where something needs hiding is almost always a sensitive photo, and that is exactly why it is never uploaded here.

Why isn't a black bar in an image editor enough?

A bar on its own layer only covers the original — as long as the pixels underneath still exist in the file, it can be removed. The same goes for markup annotations in PDF viewers. This tool has no layers: whatever you mark is overwritten in the buffer on export. The downloaded file contains the original values nowhere — not in metadata, not in any history.

Pixelate or black out — which one for what?

  • Black out text and numbers: names, license plates, IBANs, addresses. Opaque black leaves no residual information at all.
  • Pixelate when it should stay visible that something is there — a face in a crowd, say, or a screen in the background.

You can mix both modes in the same image: every marking keeps the mode it was drawn with.

How coarse do the blocks need to be?

Coarser than you might think. In 2016, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Cornell Tech (McPherson, Shokri, Shmatikov, “Defeating Image Obfuscation with Deep Learning”) showed that neural networks re-identify finely pixelated faces from a known set of candidates in most cases. That is why the block size here scales with the size of the marked area instead of being a fixed pixel count — and if the blocks still come out too fine, the tool warns you before you export. When in doubt: raise the strength, or black the area out entirely.

Is the photo anonymous afterwards?

The marked areas are gone from the exported file, and because the image is re-encoded, the EXIF metadata including the GPS position disappears as a side effect. But visible context stays visible: street signs, reflections and distinctive clothing can still give away a person or a place. Check the picture as a whole, not just the marked spots. If you only want to get rid of metadata without touching the image, the EXIF tool on this site is the better choice — it works losslessly.

Honest limits

Only what you mark gets replaced — the tool does not detect faces on its own. The original on your device stays untouched; the areas are only gone for good in the exported file. Very large images above ~16.7 megapixels are scaled down to the safe canvas limit before processing; the tool points that out when it happens.

Frequently asked questions

Is my photo uploaded to pixelate it?

No — and here that matters most: a photo where something needs hiding is almost always a sensitive photo. All processing runs in your browser; the file never leaves your device.

Can pixelation be undone?

Not from the exported file: the marked areas are replaced inside the pixel buffer itself, the original values no longer exist anywhere in the file. But beware of blocks that are too fine: in 2016, researchers at the University of Texas and Cornell Tech (McPherson, Shokri, Shmatikov) showed that neural networks re-identify finely pixelated faces from a known set of candidates in most cases. Keep the blocks coarse — the tool warns you when they get too fine.

Pixelate or black out — which should I use?

Black out text and numbers (names, license plates, IBANs): opaque black leaves no residual information at all. Pixelate when it should stay visible THAT something is there — a face in a crowd, for example. Both modes truly replace the pixels.

Isn't a black bar in an image editor enough?

Only if it is really baked into the pixels on export. A bar on its own layer (or a markup annotation in a PDF viewer) can be removed as long as the original underneath still exists. There are no layers here: whatever you mark is overwritten in the buffer.

Is the pixelated photo anonymous now?

The marked areas are gone, and as a side effect the export also drops the EXIF metadata including the GPS position (the image is re-encoded). But visible context stays visible: street signs, reflections, distinctive clothing. And if you only want to get rid of metadata without touching the image, the EXIF tool is the better choice — it works losslessly.