Pixel art generator for Minecraft: pictures as block walls, floors and map art

Turn any picture into pixel art made of blocks: a wall, a floor or map art, with a block list, a schematic to paste and a PNG of the result.

Updated November 4, 2026

Pixel art is one of the oldest builds in the game: a picture where every block is one pixel. The hard part is choosing the right block for each color, and this generator does that for you. Give it a picture and a size, and it picks the closest block for every pixel from the blocks you allow, counts them, and writes a schematic you can paste.

How to use it

1. Add a picture with the button, by dropping it on the box, or by pasting it. Until you do, the tool shows a sample sunset. Your picture is read in this page and never leaves your device.
2. Choose how to build it. A wall stands upright and uses the side of each block. A floor lies flat and uses the top, which differs for logs, grass and a few others. Map art lies flat too, but uses the colors a map shows.
3. Set the width in blocks; the height follows the shape of the picture. For map art, choose how many maps across and down. Each map covers 128 × 128 blocks, and the picture is cropped to fill them.
4. Turn groups of blocks on or off. Wool, concrete and terracotta give the cleanest colors; planks, stone and natural blocks add browns, grays and greens. Ore and metal blocks start off because they are costly in survival.
5. Set the dithering. At zero, every block is the closest single color. Higher values mix nearby blocks in a fine pattern, which makes photos and gradients look smoother from a distance.
6. Check the preview, zoom in to see single blocks, and read the materials list. Then save the picture as a PNG or download the schematic.

Wall, floor or map art

A wall is the classic choice, seen from the ground. It faces south: stand on its south side to see the picture the right way around. The tool keeps pictures at most 320 blocks on the long side, which fits between the bottom and the top of a Java Edition world.

A floor is best seen from above, from a tower or while flying. Because it lies on the ground, blocks that fall, such as sand and gravel, can be used there.

Map art is made to be seen on a map. A map shows every block as one of a fixed set of map colors, and it draws a color darker or lighter when the block is lower or higher than the block just north of it. Flat map art keeps every block at the same height, so each color has one shade. Staircase map art steps blocks up and down to use three shades of each color: about three times as many colors and smoother pictures, but more blocks and a harder build.

Building it in Java Edition

• With WorldEdit or FastAsyncWorldEdit, put the .schem file in the plugin's schematics folder, then type //schem load and the file's name, and //paste. The build's lowest north-west corner goes where you stand.
• With Litematica, put the file in the schematics folder, load it and place it. Its own materials list and the one here should match.
• To turn a wall to face another way, use //rotate before //paste.
• For map art, find the map's area first. Maps line up on a grid of 128 blocks; the one around the middle of the world runs from −64 to 63 on both x and z. Paste so the row of cobblestone sits just north of the area and the picture fills it.
• Stand on the art, make a new map, and lock it in a cartography table with a glass pane so it never changes. Copy it there with empty maps, then put it in an item frame.

Building it in Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition has no WorldEdit, so build from the preview and the materials list: save the PNG, keep it open beside the game, and count along the rows. The darker lines every 16 blocks help when you zoom in. Map art works in Bedrock too, with the same idea of shades, though grass, leaves and water take the color of the biome there, so pick other blocks for greens if they come out wrong.

Tips

• Start small. A wall 64 blocks wide already takes a few thousand blocks; check the total above the preview before you start gathering.
• Pictures with bold shapes and few colors work best. Crop the picture close around the subject before you add it.
• Turn off any group you cannot get, and the tool picks the closest block from the rest.
• Point at the preview to see which block goes where and, for staircase map art, how high it sits.
• Copper blocks come out waxed, so they keep their color instead of turning green over time.
• Concrete has almost no texture, so it gives the flattest colors up close; wool looks softer.

Questions

Why does the map show my art in different colors?

A map never shows block textures, only map colors. Choose Map art, which matches those colors, and keep the cobblestone row north of the picture: without it, the first row can come out one shade off. Lock the map so building nearby does not redraw it.

What does dithering do?

When no block matches a color exactly, dithering places a mix of two or more blocks that average out to it from a distance, the way newspapers print shades with dots. It makes gradients and faces look smooth, but close up it looks speckled, and it uses more kinds of blocks.

How big can the pixel art be?

Walls and floors up to 320 blocks on the long side, and map art up to 4 × 4 maps, which is 512 × 512 blocks. A big build can take tens of thousands of blocks, so the counter is worth a look first.

Can I turn a photo into a skin instead?

Yes: Scan2Skin makes a skin from a photo of a person. For other builds, see the circle generator, the guides and all tools.

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