How to use the Pixel Inspector
- Drop or choose an image.
- Click on the image to choose the area to inspect.
- Use the arrow keys or click cells in the grid to move pixel by pixel; the values table updates live.
Pixel Inspector features
- Magnified 5 × 5, 7 × 7 or 9 × 9 pixel grid around any point
- Exact x/y coordinates and red, green, blue and alpha values
- HEX, RGBA and HSL with one-click copy
- Arrow-key navigation one pixel at a time
- Zoom up to 64× with a floating loupe
- Last image kept in your browser, never uploaded
Look at an image one pixel at a time
The pixel inspector is a magnifying glass for digital images. Click any point on your image and you see a grid of the surrounding pixels (5 × 5, 7 × 7 or 9 × 9), each filled with its exact color, plus a table with the selected pixel's coordinates and its red, green, blue and alpha values. Move around with the arrow keys or by clicking cells in the grid, and the values update instantly.
Where the Image Color Picker is about grabbing a color to use, the pixel inspector is about understanding what is really stored in the file, down to the last bit of transparency.
What you can see for each pixel
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Position | x counts pixels from the left edge and y from the top edge, both starting at 0, as in CSS, canvas and most image editors |
| Red, green, blue | Each channel from 0 to 255 |
| Alpha | Opacity from 0 (fully transparent) to 255 (fully opaque), also shown as a percentage |
| HEX | The color as an 8-digit hex code, where the last pair is the alpha value |
| RGBA and HSL | The same color in CSS notation, ready to copy |
Hover over the image to see the coordinates and color under your pointer in the status bar, and use the floating loupe to aim precisely before you click.
What the pixel inspector is useful for
- Pixel art and sprites. Check that every pixel has exactly the color from your palette, and find stray pixels that are almost, but not quite, the right shade.
- Transparent edges. See how anti-aliasing blends the edge of a logo or icon into transparency, and spot unwanted semi-transparent pixels or color fringes around cut-outs.
- Compression artifacts. Zoom into a JPEG to see the 8 × 8 blocks, color bleeding and noise that compression introduces, and compare quality settings from the Image Compressor.
- UI and design QA. Compare a screenshot of a rendered page with the design spec, pixel by pixel, to check borders, shadows and exact colors.
- Computer vision and data work. Check pixel values in masks, heat maps and test images before you feed them to a script or a model.
- Learning. See how gradients, dithering and sub-pixel text rendering are built from individual pixels.
Why neighbouring pixels differ
Even areas that look perfectly flat in a photo, such as a blue sky or a white wall, are made of pixels with slightly different values. Camera sensors add noise, JPEG compression rounds colors in blocks, and resizing blends neighbouring pixels together. Screenshots and graphics saved as PNG usually have exact, repeated values instead. If you need a single representative color from a noisy area, use the averaging option in the Image Color Picker or find the average color of the image.
Precise navigation
- Scroll or pinch to zoom up to 64×, and drag to pan around large images.
- Use the arrow keys to move the selection one pixel at a time.
- Click any cell in the grid to jump to that pixel.
- Switch between 5 × 5, 7 × 7 and 9 × 9 grids for more or less context. The smaller grids also print each pixel's hex code in its cell.
Your last image is kept in your browser on this device, so it is still here when you come back. It is never uploaded.
Related tools
See the brightness distribution of the whole image in the Image Histogram, or check its pixel dimensions with the Image Dimensions Checker.
Pixel Inspector: frequently asked questions
What do the coordinates mean?
x counts pixels from the left edge and y from the top edge, both starting at 0.
Why do neighbouring pixels in a photo have different values?
Real photos contain sensor noise and JPEG compression, so even flat-looking areas vary slightly. Use the averaging option in the Image Color Picker for a representative color.
How do I find the coordinates of a pixel in an image?
Click the pixel. Its x and y position appears at the top of the values table, and the status bar shows the coordinates under your pointer as you move.
Can I see the transparency of a pixel?
Yes. The alpha value is shown from 0 to 255 and as a percentage, and the 8-digit HEX code ends with the alpha pair.
Does the pixel inspector change my image?
No. It only reads the pixels. Your file is opened locally and is never modified or uploaded.