Getting started

1. Click Browse image or drag and drop a file onto the canvas to load a photo.
2. Use the scroll wheel to zoom, left click or middle mouse click to pan.
3. Set the Angle to control sort direction — drag the scroll wheel left/right, or drag the arrow on the dial. 0° and 90° are the fastest angles; diagonal angles take a bit longer.
4. Adjust Threshold to control how much of the image gets sorted. Lower values = fewer, longer streaks. Higher = more broken-up segments.
5. Toggle Invert sort order to flip whether pixels sort light-to-dark or dark-to-light.
6. Click ▶ Sort to apply the effect. You can change settings and sort again as many times as you like.
7. Click Download PNG to save the result.

Using the mask

The mask lets you limit pixel sorting to a specific area of the image.

1. In the Mask section of the sidebar, click Draw to enter draw mode. The purple mask overlay will appear on the canvas.
2. Left-click and drag on the image to paint the mask. Right-click and drag to erase (works in both Draw and Erase modes).
3. Click Erase to switch to erase mode — left-click will erase instead.
4. Use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out (centered on your cursor). Middle-click and drag to pan around the zoomed image.
5. Adjust Brush size with the slider or type a value. Undo and Redo step through your brush strokes (up to 20 steps). Clear removes the entire mask (also undoable).
6. Click the active tool button again to exit mask mode — the overlay hides but your mask is preserved.
7. Toggle Extend to border to stretch the mask outward in the sort direction (set by Angle) all the way to the image edge.
8. When Extend is on, toggle Fade to blend the extended area back into the original image. Adjust Fade length to control how far the fade travels — higher values = longer, softer transition.
9. Click ▶ Sort — the effect will only apply within your masked area.

Creative Pixel Sorter is a glitch art tool by ericcharl.es. All processing is done locally in your browser — no images are sent to any servers.

Mobile app

Want Creative Pixel Sorter on your phone? Download the mobile app from the Play Store for a more mobile-friendly experience. Only available on Android.

Version

1.0.1