SPECTRE PIXELATOR

Spectre Pixelator

Real-time PSX-style texture pixelation. Load 3D models or images, apply retro downscaling, palette mapping, dithering, and post-processing effects, then export as packed GLB/GLTF, PNG, GIF, normal maps, or sprite atlases.

Download Features
Available for Windows macOS Linux
C++17
Raylib 5.5
Dear ImGui (Docking)
Real-time preview
20+ palettes
GLB / GLTF export

Features

Pixelation
Configurable downscale (1x to 32x). Area-average down, nearest-neighbor up. Quick presets for PS1, SNES, NES, Game Boy, C64, Atari, and more.
Palette Mapping
Snap colors to any palette with adjustable impact. 20+ built-in retro palettes. Import .hex, .gpl, .ase, or paste hex codes directly.
Dithering
Floyd-Steinberg, ordered Bayer (2x2, 4x4, 8x8), and blue noise. Adjustable strength per texture.
Color Adjustments
Exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, blur, and tint. All applied before pixelation for maximum fidelity.
Posterize
Reduce color levels per channel (2-32) for a flat, retro look. Applied before pixelation for clean color stepping.
Outline / Edge Detection
Sobel edge detection, inner outline, and outer outline modes. Configurable color and threshold for pixel art border effects.
Color Replace
Swap any color in the final output with tolerance-based soft blending. Great for quick recolors and palette tweaks.
3D Preview
Load OBJ, GLTF, GLB, IQM, or VOX. Orbit, pan, zoom. Perspective and orthographic with cardinal and isometric presets.
Texture Preview
Before/after split view with draggable divider. Tile preview (2x2, 3x3, 4x4). Zoom, pan, and pixel grid overlay aligned to texture pixels.
Export
PNG (1x-8x upscale), OBJ + MTL, packed GLB/GLTF, animated GIF, normal maps, and sprite atlas with JSON metadata.
Presets + Undo
Save and load processing presets. Full undo/redo history. Per-texture settings with apply-to-all.
Histogram
Live RGB histogram with unique color count. See how palette mapping and adjustments affect distribution.
30+ Themes
Retro console themes (Game Boy, NES, PlayStation, N64), CRT monitor styles, and classic OS themes (Windows 95/XP/Vista/7, Mac OS 9/X/Modern).
Recent Files
Quick access to recently opened models and images. Persistent across sessions with full path tooltips.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Built-in shortcut reference panel. Ctrl+O open, Ctrl+S export, Ctrl+Z undo, and more.

Processing Pipeline

Each texture passes through a 7-stage deterministic chain. Adjustments first, then pixelation, then palette + dithering, then post-processing.

01
Color Adjustments
Exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, tint applied at full resolution before any downscaling.
02
Posterize
Reduce color levels per channel for flat, retro color stepping. 2 levels = extreme, 32 = subtle.
03
Pre-Pixelation Blur
Optional gaussian blur as a low-pass filter. Reduces aliasing, produces cleaner pixel blocks.
04
Pixelation
Area-average downscale to target resolution, nearest-neighbor upscale back. GPU renders with point filtering.
05
Outline / Edge Detection
Sobel edge detection, inner outline, or outer outline. Applied after pixelation for clean pixel-aligned edges.
06
Palette + Dithering
Colors mapped via weighted perceptual distance. Dithering applied during quantization. Impact slider blends original and mapped colors.
07
Color Replace
Targeted color swap with tolerance-based soft blending. Operates on the final output for precise control.
50ms debounce
Only dirty textures are reprocessed. GPU textures updated in-place for zero-allocation preview.

Built-in Palettes

Classic Hardware
  • Game Boy (4 colors)
  • NES (55 colors)
  • CGA (16 colors)
  • Commodore 64 (16 colors)
Modern Pixel Art
  • PICO-8 (16 colors)
  • Endesga 32
  • Sweetie 16
  • Resurrect 64
Thematic
  • Hollow, Oil 6, Slso8
  • 1-Bit Monitor Glow
  • Steam Lords, Ink
  • Japanese Woodblock
Import Your Own
  • .hex, .gpl, .ase files
  • Extract from PNG
  • Paste hex codes
  • Custom palette editor

Formats

Input

  • 3D: OBJ, GLTF, GLB, IQM, VOX
  • Images: PNG, JPG, BMP, TGA
  • Palettes: .hex, .gpl, .ase, PNG
  • Drag-and-drop everything

Output

  • Packed GLB with embedded textures
  • GLTF with separate .bin and PNGs
  • OBJ + MTL + processed textures
  • Single or batch PNG (1x-8x upscale)
  • Animated GIF export
  • Normal map generation (PNG)
  • Sprite atlas + JSON metadata

Download

Free for personal and commercial use. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Download Back to top
Windows
Windows 10/11, 64-bit. Extract the zip and run.
macOS
macOS 11+ (Big Sur). Universal binary — Apple Silicon and Intel.
Linux
x86_64. Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, Fedora 34+, Arch. Requires X11 and OpenGL.
System Requirements
OpenGL 3.3+ GPU. ~3MB disk. No installer, no dependencies. Extract and run.