ASCII Magic
Open tool

/STYLE · MOSAIC

Image to Mosaic, Free Photo Mosaic & Mosaic Effect Generator

Image to mosaic in your browser. Turn any photo or video into a mosaic of colour tiles sampled from your image, the tile-style photo mosaic look (not photo-of-photos collage). Pick square, wide or tall tiles, layer palettes and an optional retro dither overlay, export at up to 4×. The fastest free photo mosaic generator, no upload, no signup, runs entirely in your browser.

Open the editor →

/SEE IT

From photo to mosaic in one click

Drop any photo into the editor and pick the Mosaic style. The engine divides your image into a grid and fills each tile with the average colour beneath it, turning a photo into a clean tiled mosaic, with optional dither texture layered on top.

Original colour photograph used as the input source, before the mosaic effect is applied
Original
The same photograph rebuilt as a mosaic of coloured tiles sampled from the image
Mosaic output

/MORE EXAMPLES

Square, wide & tall tiles, your call

A handful of photos, six mosaic setups, tile shape, tile size, blend mode and an optional Commodore-64 dither overlay. Every image below is a real ASCII Magic export, no AI, no upscaling, just real mosaic tiles.

Portrait rebuilt as a mosaic of square colour tiles with a Commodore 64 dither overlay
Square tiles · C64 dither
Portrait rendered as a mosaic of wide rectangular colour tiles
Wide tiles
A cosmic photo rebuilt as a wide-tile colour mosaic
Wide tiles · cosmic
A light burst rebuilt as a mosaic of tall rectangular tiles
Tall tiles
A mosaic with a color-dodge blend for a bright glowing look
Color-dodge glow
A sunset rebuilt as a fine-grained colour-tile mosaic
Fine tiles

Tile shape (square, wide, tall), tile size, blend mode and an optional C64 Bayer-dither overlay, every control previews in real time, on stills or video.

/HOW IT WORKS

Make a mosaic in four steps

  1. Drop your image

    Drag any JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or MP4 into the editor. No upload, your file stays in the browser.

  2. Pick the Mosaic style

    Switch the render mode to Mosaic, your photo instantly becomes a grid of colour tiles.

  3. Tune the tiles

    Choose square, wide or tall tiles, set the size, and layer a palette, blend mode or dither overlay.

  4. Export

    Save as PNG, JPG, animated GIF or MP4, at up to 4× source resolution. No watermark.

/WHY ASCII MAGIC

Built for mosaic tiles specifically

Square, wide & tall tiles

Three tile shapes plus full size control, from chunky stained-glass blocks to a fine, almost-pixel grain, one slider apart. For a fully pixel art generator look, switch styles and turn Font Size up.

Palettes + dither overlay

Layer retro palettes (Commodore 64, Game Boy, PICO-8…) and an optional Bayer-dither overlay on top of the tiles for a true retro mosaic.

Blend modes

Color-dodge, screen, overlay and more let the mosaic glow, darken or fuse with the source for very different looks.

Video + 4× exports

Tile every frame of a clip and export a looping MP4 or GIF; stills export up to 4× source resolution. No watermark.

/HISTORY

Mosaic, from Roman tile floors to Robert Silvers and Instagram

Mosaic is one of the oldest pictorial techniques on Earth, made from small tiles (Latin tessera) of stone, glass or ceramic arranged to form a larger image. Roman and Byzantine floor mosaics from the 2nd to 6th centuries CE survive today across the Mediterranean. The technique resurfaced in 16th-century Italy with Vatican workshops, and again in 20th-century Mexican and Spanish public art. Then in 1995 MIT Media Lab researcher Robert Silvers invented photomosaic: a digital portrait built from thousands of small tile-photos, each chosen to match the average colour of its position in the source. Silvers's portraits of Princess Diana, Lincoln and Elvis went on book covers and gallery walls. ASCII Magic's Mosaic mode does the modern in-browser version: drop a source, pick a tile shape (square, hex, triangle), set tile size, and your image is rebuilt at the tile grid as a stylised mosaic. With the right post-effects (Color Overlay, Film Grain) you can land anywhere from Byzantine sacred-art to Silvers-style photomosaic to TikTok lo-fi.

Tile shapes and when to use each

Pair with tile-size to control detail vs graphic feel: small tiles preserve more of the source, big tiles push the abstraction.

Best uses for the Mosaic mode

/FAQS

Common questions about the mosaic effect

What is a mosaic effect?
A mosaic effect rebuilds a photo out of small coloured tiles, where each tile is filled with the average colour of the area beneath it, like a tiled or stained-glass version of your image. ASCII Magic's Mosaic style applies this to any photo or video automatically, with square, wide or tall tiles.
How do I turn a photo into a mosaic for free?
Open ASCII Magic in your browser, drop your photo in, and pick the Mosaic style. Choose a tile shape (square, wide or tall) and size, optionally add a palette and a dither overlay, then export as PNG, JPG, GIF or MP4. No signup, nothing leaves your browser.
What's the difference between a photo mosaic and a mosaic effect?
A "photo mosaic" usually means a large picture built from many smaller, different photos. ASCII Magic's Mosaic effect rebuilds a single image out of colour tiles sampled from that same image, a tiled, pixel-mosaic look rather than a collage. It's the fastest way to get an image-to-mosaic tile effect from one photo.
Can I change the tile shape and size?
Yes. Pick square, wide or tall tiles and set the tile size from fine to chunky. You can also layer blend modes (like color-dodge or screen) and an optional Commodore-64 Bayer dither overlay for a retro texture on top of the tiles.
Can I make a mosaic from a video?
Yes. Drop an MP4, MOV or WebM into ASCII Magic, pick the Mosaic style, and every frame is rebuilt as tiles with the same settings. Export as an MP4 (H.264) or animated GIF.
Does ASCII Magic upload my photos to a server?
No. Every conversion runs locally in your browser using HTML5 Canvas. Your image or video never leaves your device, no upload, no cloud processing. Safe for sensitive or unreleased work.
Can I use the mosaic output commercially?
Yes. Output is yours, use it in client work, social posts, prints, music videos, commercial websites, anything. The only rights you need are whatever applies to the source image you uploaded.
What is the history of mosaic art?
Mosaic dates to ancient Sumeria and Greece, peaked in Roman and Byzantine floor and wall art (2nd-6th century CE), and was revived in Renaissance Vatican workshops. In 1995 MIT's Robert Silvers digitised it with photomosaic, portraits built from thousands of tile-photos chosen to match each region's average colour.
What tile shapes does ASCII Magic offer?
Three: square (Roman opus tessellatum / digital pixel feel), hexagonal (denser packing, smoother transitions), and triangular (very graphic, low-poly aesthetic). Pick by intent: square for portraits, hex for landscapes, triangle for posters.
Mosaic vs Pixel Art vs LEGO, what's the difference?
All three quantise an image onto a grid. Pixel Art is flat coloured squares. LEGO adds a stud pattern. Mosaic uses larger geometric tiles (square / hex / triangle) for a hand-made, gallery-art feel.

/CREATE ART IN SECONDS

Photos and videos into mosaic art, in your browser.

Square, wide or tall tiles, palettes and dither overlays, every change previews instantly, export at up to 4× resolution. Free forever.

Try it out now

/RELATED STYLES

Or try a different art style

ASCII Art → Pixel Art → Dither → Voxel →

Each opens the editor with that style ready. Explore the full styles index.