Image2Pixel | Image to Image

fal-ai/image2pixel

Turn images into pixel-perfect retro art

Inference

Commercial use

Schema

LLMs

Playground API

About

Convert To Pixel

1. Calling the API#

Install the client#

The client provides a convenient way to interact with the model API.

npm install --save @fal-ai/client

Migrate to @fal-ai/client

The @fal-ai/serverless-client package has been deprecated in favor of @fal-ai/client. Please check the migration guide for more information.

Setup your API Key#

Set FAL_KEY as an environment variable in your runtime.

export FAL_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Submit a request#

The client API handles the API submit protocol. It will handle the request status updates and return the result when the request is completed.

import { fal } from "@fal-ai/client";

const result = await fal.subscribe("fal-ai/image2pixel", {
  input: {
    image_url: "https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/example_inputs/image2pixel-input.jpg"
  },
  logs: true,
  onQueueUpdate: (update) => {
    if (update.status === "IN_PROGRESS") {
      update.logs.map((log) => log.message).forEach(console.log);
    }
  },
});
console.log(result.data);
console.log(result.requestId);

2. Authentication#

The API uses an API Key for authentication. It is recommended you set the FAL_KEY environment variable in your runtime when possible.

API Key#

In case your app is running in an environment where you cannot set environment variables, you can set the API Key manually as a client configuration.

import { fal } from "@fal-ai/client";

fal.config({
  credentials: "YOUR_FAL_KEY"
});

Protect your API Key

When running code on the client-side (e.g. in a browser, mobile app or GUI applications), make sure to not expose your FAL_KEY. Instead, use a server-side proxy to make requests to the API. For more information, check out our server-side integration guide.

3. Queue#

Long-running requests

For long-running requests, such as training jobs or models with slower inference times, it is recommended to check the Queue status and rely on Webhooks instead of blocking while waiting for the result.

Submit a request#

The client API provides a convenient way to submit requests to the model.

import { fal } from "@fal-ai/client";

const { request_id } = await fal.queue.submit("fal-ai/image2pixel", {
  input: {
    image_url: "https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/example_inputs/image2pixel-input.jpg"
  },
  webhookUrl: "https://optional.webhook.url/for/results",
});

Fetch request status#

You can fetch the status of a request to check if it is completed or still in progress.

import { fal } from "@fal-ai/client";

const status = await fal.queue.status("fal-ai/image2pixel", {
  requestId: "764cabcf-b745-4b3e-ae38-1200304cf45b",
  logs: true,
});

Get the result#

Once the request is completed, you can fetch the result. See the Output Schema for the expected result format.

import { fal } from "@fal-ai/client";

const result = await fal.queue.result("fal-ai/image2pixel", {
  requestId: "764cabcf-b745-4b3e-ae38-1200304cf45b"
});
console.log(result.data);
console.log(result.requestId);

4. Files#

Some attributes in the API accept file URLs as input. Whenever that's the case you can pass your own URL or a Base64 data URI.

Data URI (base64)#

You can pass a Base64 data URI as a file input. The API will handle the file decoding for you. Keep in mind that for large files, this alternative although convenient can impact the request performance.

Hosted files (URL)#

You can also pass your own URLs as long as they are publicly accessible. Be aware that some hosts might block cross-site requests, rate-limit, or consider the request as a bot.

Uploading files#

We provide a convenient file storage that allows you to upload files and use them in your requests. You can upload files using the client API and use the returned URL in your requests.

import { fal } from "@fal-ai/client";

const file = new File(["Hello, World!"], "hello.txt", { type: "text/plain" });
const url = await fal.storage.upload(file);

Auto uploads

The client will auto-upload the file for you if you pass a binary object (e.g. File, Data).

Read more about file handling in our file upload guide.

5. Schema#

Input#

image_url string* required

The image URL to process into improved pixel art

max_colors integer

Maximum number of colors in the output palette. Set None to disable limit. Default value: 32

auto_color_detect boolean

Enable automatic detection of optimal number of colors.

fixed_palette list<string>

Optional fixed color palette as hex strings (e.g., ['#000000', '#ffffff']).

detect_method DetectMethodEnum

Scale detection method to use. Default value: "auto"

Possible enum values: auto, runs, edge

scale integer

Force a specific pixel scale. If None, auto-detect.

downscale_method DownscaleMethodEnum

Downscaling method to produce the pixel-art output. Default value: "dominant"

Possible enum values: dominant, median, mode, mean, content-adaptive

trim_borders boolean

Trim borders of the image.

transparent_background boolean

Remove background of the image. This will check for contiguous color regions from the edges after correction and make them transparent.

cleanup_morph boolean

Apply morphological operations to remove noise.

cleanup_jaggy boolean

Remove isolated diagonal pixels (jaggy edge cleanup).

snap_grid boolean

Align output to the pixel grid. Default value: true

alpha_threshold integer

Alpha binarization threshold (0-255). Default value: 128

dominant_color_threshold float

Dominant color threshold (0.0-1.0). Default value: 0.05

background_tolerance integer

Background tolerance (0-255).

background_mode BackgroundModeEnum

Controls where to flood-fill from when removing the background. Default value: "corners"

Possible enum values: edges, corners, midpoints

sync_mode boolean

If True, the media will be returned as a data URI and the output data won't be available in the request history.

{
  "image_url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/example_inputs/image2pixel-input.jpg",
  "max_colors": 32,
  "detect_method": "auto",
  "downscale_method": "dominant",
  "snap_grid": true,
  "alpha_threshold": 128,
  "dominant_color_threshold": 0.05,
  "background_mode": "corners"
}

Output#

pixel_scale integer* required

The detected pixel scale of the input.

palette list<string>* required

The palette of the processed media.

num_colors integer* required

The number of colors in the processed media.

images list<ImageFile>* required

The processed pixel-art image (PNG) and the scaled image (PNG).

{
  "pixel_scale": 21,
  "palette": [
    "#000000",
    "#252524",
    "#282826",
    "#2b2b2a",
    "#323232",
    "#4c4c4c",
    "#d57322",
    "#dbdbdc",
    "#f6922b",
    "#fefefe"
  ],
  "num_colors": 10,
  "images": [
    {
      "height": 1008,
      "file_name": "image2pixel-output.png",
      "content_type": "image/png",
      "url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/example_outputs/image2pixel-output.png",
      "width": 1008
    },
    {
      "height": 48,
      "file_name": "image2pixel-output-scaled.png",
      "content_type": "image/png",
      "url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/example_outputs/image2pixel-output-scaled.png",
      "width": 48
    }
  ]
}

Other types#

ImageFile#

url string* required

The URL where the file can be downloaded from.

content_type string

The mime type of the file.

file_name string

The name of the file. It will be auto-generated if not provided.

file_size integer

The size of the file in bytes.

width integer

The width of the image

height integer

The height of the image

VideoFile#

url string* required

The URL where the file can be downloaded from.

content_type string

The mime type of the file.

file_name string

The name of the file. It will be auto-generated if not provided.

file_size integer

The size of the file in bytes.

width integer

The width of the video

height integer

The height of the video

fps float

The FPS of the video

duration float

The duration of the video

num_frames integer

The number of frames in the video

Image2Pixel Image to Image

Table of contents

1. Calling the API

2. Authentication

3. Queue

4. Files

5. Schema

About

1. Calling the API#

Install the client#

Migrate to @fal-ai/client

Setup your API Key#

Submit a request#

2. Authentication#

API Key#

Protect your API Key

3. Queue#

Long-running requests

Submit a request#

Fetch request status#

Get the result#

4. Files#

Data URI (base64)#

Hosted files (URL)#

Uploading files#

Auto uploads

5. Schema#

Input#

Output#

Other types#

ImageFile#

VideoFile#