Pixelizer

Image glitcher

Pixelizer is a browser based utility that allows you to create glitchy images.

Pixelizer works by analyzing the pixel content of a source image and resorting the content according to a variety of algorithms. Depending on the input image and the tweaked properties, the output can satisfy those looking for some creative source material.

The majority of record covers on this site have been made using this process.

Iterating upon earlier contributors

Credit for the algorithm goes to Kim Asendorf, who wrote his program in Processing. Pixelizer was built upon the Python implementation by Satyarth Mishra Sharma.

As those implementations provided no GUI to preview the result (and required some knowledge of programming to use), Pixelizer was created to allow for quick iteration, without the need to install any additional software libraries.

Real time tweaking

Pixelizer allows the user to open any browser compatible image file and to preview the content on-screen.

Users can tweak the sorting algorithm and immediately see the result on-screen, allowing them to make subtle adjustments until the image appears as they like.

Pixelizer also has state history, allowing for easy undo/redo of individual steps while also supporting saving a state, enabling the user to stack different sorting algorithms.

Optimized for performance

Pixelizer uses Web Workers to render the images, offloading the main CPU to keep the application responsive while rendering.

The application also manage a priority queue allowing to cancel / update pending rendering request made during a running render operation, ensuring that the output always corresponds with the configured properties.