PhotoToCartoon

Photo to
Mosaic

Photo to mosaic rebuilds one photo from small ceramic- or stone-like tiles with pale grout lines between them. Upload a portrait, a pet or a house with a clear subject. Faces and eyes get the smallest pieces, walls and floors larger ones, and the original colors carry into the glaze. From a distance you see the subject; up close you see every tile. You can explore the samples without paying, then sign in to tile your own photo with credits.

From 8 creditsJPG, PNG or WebP up to 10 MB

Mosaic style exampleMosaicSeedream 4 · 2K · 1:1
Loading…

Illustrative style preview · Your result will vary

11 credits / image · From $9.99 a month

/tools/photo-to-mosaic

Open full studio

How a photo becomes a mosaic

In the portrait with terracotta glasses, the wall breaks into big, irregular terracotta pieces while the face uses tiny ones and the teal T-shirt follows curved rows. The golden retriever’s coat is built from long gold and cream shards against a porch of blue square tiles. In the cottage and flower garden, the roof, path and sky each get their own kind of tile.

  • Portrait with terracotta glasses: the original photoORIGINALPortrait with terracotta glasses: photo turned into Mosaic styleMOSAIC
    Portrait with terracotta glasses01
  • Golden retriever on the porch: the original photoORIGINALGolden retriever on the porch: photo turned into Mosaic styleMOSAIC
    Golden retriever on the porch02
  • Cottage and flower garden: the original photoORIGINALCottage and flower garden: photo turned into Mosaic styleMOSAIC
    Cottage and flower garden03

Illustrative style preview · Your result will vary

What kind of mosaic does this make?

Mosaic is a picture made from many small pieces of stone, glass or ceramic, called tesserae, set close together with grout or mortar between them. Roman floors and the 6th-century church walls of Ravenna, Italy, are famous examples, and Antoni Gaudí's Park Güell in Barcelona is covered in broken-tile mosaic. Groups of pieces follow the shapes of the subject, and slight differences in size and color give the work a handmade feel.

This is a tile-art treatment of one photo. It does not arrange hundreds of your smaller photographs into a larger face, and it does not make a numbered tile-placement plan. You get a finished PNG image: a portrait to print, a picture for a card or a starting point when you are choosing colors for a craft project.

How to turn a photo into mosaic art

A clear subject and distinct color areas give the tiles something to follow.

  1. Cottage and flower garden: the original photo
    Cottage and flower garden

    STEP 01

    Pick your photo

    Upload any JPG, PNG or WebP up to 10 MB, or tile a sample photo first. Skip heavily filtered or very dim shots; each tile takes one glaze color, and muddy tones give it little to choose from.

  2. OriginalMosaic

    STEP 02

    Choose Mosaic

    Select Mosaic in the studio. Smaller tiles go around the eyes and face, larger ones fill walls and sky, and pale grout separates every piece.

  3. Cottage and flower garden: photo turned into Mosaic style

    STEP 03

    Generate and download

    Sign in to tile your photo, from 8 credits per completed image depending on the model. Download the mosaic as a PNG; it is also saved to your account history if you want to print it later.

Ways to use a mosaic picture

Bring the tiled texture into a picture you already care about.

  • Portrait printsA tiled portrait can add texture to a small wall print or framed photograph.
  • Pet keepsakesTurn a familiar face and coat pattern into a colorful mosaic picture.
  • Personal giftsUse a favorite portrait as the starting point for a card or printed keepsake.
  • Craft color ideasExplore a palette for a handmade project, then plan the real materials separately.
  • Cards and invitationsPut a tiled picture beside your own wording in a card layout.
  • Travel photo collectionsTry the same tile treatment on a favorite holiday portrait or scene.

Before you make your mosaic

How tile size, grout and glaze handle each part of your photo.

FacesThe smallest tiles around eyes, nose and mouth; glasses frames can stay smoothUse a close portrait so the face gets plenty of tilesFreckles, eye color and fine lines can merge into a single tile
Hair and furLong, narrow shards that follow waves or the direction of a coatKeep hair and fur sharp so the shards have a direction to followFlyaway strands and whiskers disappear into the grout
BackgroundsLarger pieces on walls, porches and sky, with tile shapes that change by surfaceA plain wall becomes a calm tile field; a garden becomes a dense oneSurfaces can turn into literal tiling, like a porch laid in blue squares
ColorsGlazed colors close to the photo: terracotta, teal, gold and blue in the samplesPhotos with a few clear color areas tile more cleanly than muted onesSmooth gradients become steps of separate tiles, so soft skies look patchy up close

Tips for a recognizable mosaic

Think in clear shapes and groups of color.

  1. Bring the subject closer

    A face that fills more of the frame has more room for useful tiles. A distant person can become a handful of colored patches.

  2. Choose clear color differences

    Dark hair against a light wall, or a pet with bold markings, gives the pieces boundaries to follow.

  3. Keep the background simple

    Leaves, crowds and tiny objects can compete with the subject once everything becomes tiled. A calm background keeps attention on the face.

  4. Check the whole picture and the details

    View the result small to judge likeness, then zoom in to inspect the tiles. Before printing, check the file dimensions at the size you want.

Questions about photo to mosaic

What tile art can and cannot do with one photo, with sign-in, credit and data privacy questions answered in the site-wide FAQ.

Is this a mosaic made from lots of smaller photos?
No. It gives one photo the appearance of ceramic or stone tile art. It does not use a collection of your photos as individual tiles, the kind of photo mosaic some print shops sell. Every piece in the result is a plain colored tile with grout around it.
Will I get a pattern for making a real mosaic?
You get a PNG picture, not a numbered tile plan, material list or exact cutting guide. You can use the picture as visual inspiration for colors and layout, but a physical project needs its own measurements, tile sizes and planning.
Will the person still be recognizable?
The result keeps the main face shape, hair, pose and colors, as the portrait with terracotta glasses shows, while simplifying them into tiles. Faces get the smallest pieces, which helps. Small details can still change. A well-lit close portrait is easier to recognize than a distant face in a busy scene, and the effect reads best from a step back.
Why are some areas tiled differently from others?
The style changes tile shape by surface. In the samples, the wall becomes large irregular pieces, the T-shirt follows curved rows, the porch turns into neat squares and the sky over the cottage breaks into blue and white chunks. That variety is part of what makes it read as handmade rather than a grid filter.
Does it work for houses and gardens?
The cottage and flower garden sample shows that it does. Roof tiles, the stone path and the dry stone wall translate naturally into pieces, while flower beds become clusters of small pink, lavender and white tiles. Wide plain areas such as a lawn need more care, since one flat color becomes a large field of similar tiles.
How is mosaic different from stained glass?
Mosaic uses many small, solid-looking pieces separated by pale grout. Stained glass uses larger colored glass shapes with dark joining lines and light passing through. Mosaic is the better choice when you want a tiled surface, like a floor or a wall, rather than a glowing window.
Can I use a pet photo or a family picture?
Pets work well: in the golden retriever sample, the coat turns into gold and cream shards that follow the fur. The samples on this page do not include a group. With families, choose a small group with clear, separated faces, since each face in a wide shot gets only a few tiles and fine features disappear.
Can I print the mosaic?
You can. With Seedream 4, the default model, the PNG is 2048 px; pick Nano Banana Pro or GPT Image and it can reach 4096 px (4K). Tile edges and grout look best when the print is large enough to see them, so for bigger prints choose a 4K model or run the upscaler for 3 credits.
Why are the tiles different every time?
Each run lays the tiles again. Their size, shape and direction change, and so does how far the tiling spreads into the background: one version may give a porch neat square tiles, another loose shards. Generating again uses credits, so compare a couple of versions before printing.
Can I use it in a client project?
The Creator plan ($29.99 a month) includes a commercial license. Other plans can be used for personal pictures and gifts. The license does not provide rights to third-party photographs, brands or other content you upload, so check that you are allowed to use the original photo for the client.

FAQPrivacy policy

Try a different material or shape

All 57

Give your photo a tiled finish

Compare the three mosaic samples, then try a clear portrait or pet photo of your own. Looking is free; making a mosaic takes a sign-in and credits, with plans from $9.99 a month. The studio shows the cost before you generate.

Make my mosaicSee all styles
Try Mosaic on your photo