To make a Game Boy style photo, shrink the picture to a low resolution (around 90 to 130 pixels wide), map every pixel to the Game Boy’s four shades of green, and use dithering so gradients turn into dot patterns instead of flat bands. Those three steps are what the real Game Boy Camera did in 1998, and they’re why the look is instantly recognizable. The rest is picking a photo that survives having only four colors.
What makes a photo look like a Game Boy picture? #
Three things, in order of importance:
- Four shades, no more. The original Game Boy showed four shades of gray-green on a 160 x 144 LCD. Add a fifth color and the illusion breaks. The usual hex values are #0f380f, #306230, #8bac0f and #9bbc0f. Our Game Boy palette hex codes post lists those and the popular alternatives.
- Low resolution. According to Wikipedia’s Game Boy Camera article, Nintendo’s camera accessory took 128 x 112 pixel photos. That’s tiny by modern standards, and every pixel was visible.
- Dithering. The Game Boy Camera’s photos were dithered grayscale. With only four shades, patterns of dots are the only way to show a smooth cheek or sky. That speckled texture is as much a part of the look as the green.
Which photos work best? #
Four shades is a brutal limit. The photos that survive it have:
- A big, simple subject. A face, a pet or a single object filling most of the frame. Wide scenes with lots of small detail turn to static.
- Strong, directional light. Window light from one side is ideal. It gives each face a clear bright side and shadow side, which maps neatly onto four values.
- A plain background. A wall, the sky, or a background that’s already blurry. Busy backgrounds compete with the subject for the same four greens.
- Mid-range exposure. Very dark photos end up mostly #0f380f. Blown-out photos end up mostly #9bbc0f.
If you’re unsure, convert your photo to black and white and shrink it to a thumbnail. If you can still read it, it’ll work.
What settings should you use? #
| Setting | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Grid width | About 90 cells across | Close to the Game Boy Camera’s 128 px while staying chunky |
| Palette | Game Boy (four greens) | The whole look depends on it |
| Dithering | Atkinson or Floyd-Steinberg | Keeps faces readable with only four shades |
| Contrast | A small boost | Separates values so they land on different greens |
| Export | PNG, whole-number enlargement | Keeps the pixels hard-edged |
Go finer (up to about 180 cells across) if you want more detail and don’t mind a less authentic look. Go coarser if you want something closer to a game sprite than a camera photo.
How to make a Game Boy photo on your phone #
Pixelize has the Game Boy palette built in, plus five dithering modes and a live preview, so you can see the effect of each change a moment after you tap. It’s free on iPhone and Android, and the photo never leaves your phone.
- Open the app and tap Choose Photo. Turn on Avatar mode first if you want a square crop.
- On the Pixel tab, leave the size at 8px. Pixelize works on a 720-pixel-wide copy of your photo, so 8 px blocks give you a 90-cell-wide image. Try 4px for a finer, 180-cell version.
- Under Dithering, try Atkinson first, then Floyd. Atkinson looks crisper, and Floyd looks smoother but grainier. Bayer gives a regular crosshatch that feels more like a game screen than a camera.
- On the Color tab, pick Game Boy. For the gray Game Boy Pocket look, pick Game Boy Pocket instead.
- On Adjust, raise Contrast a little if the face merges into one shade, or raise Brightness if too much of the image is the darkest green.
- Tap Compare and drag the divider to check the result against the original.
- Pick XL export (up to a 2160-pixel long edge) and tap Save or Share.
How to make a Game Boy photo in GIMP #
- Crop the photo tightly around your subject.
- Go to Image > Scale Image, set the width to 128 px, and set Interpolation to None.
- Create a palette with the four hex codes (Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Palettes, then add a new palette), or import a .GPL palette file from Lospec.
- Go to Image > Mode > Indexed, choose Use custom palette, select your Game Boy palette and choose Floyd-Steinberg (normal) dithering.
- Scale back up by a whole number (128 x 8 = 1024 px wide) with Interpolation still on None.
- Export as PNG.
How to make it look more authentic #
- Crop to the Game Boy’s shape. The Game Boy screen is 160 x 144, a 10:9 ratio. The Game Boy Camera’s photos were 128 x 112, which is 8:7. Either crop looks more convincing than a phone’s tall 9:16 frame.
- Skip CRT scanlines. The Game Boy had an LCD, not a tube TV, so scanlines aren’t authentic here. They suit an NES or arcade look better. See the CRT scanline effect on photos if that’s the look you want.
- Try other four-color palettes. Ice Cream GB, Rustic GB and Mist GB keep the four-shade rule with different moods, and all three are built into Pixelize.
- Keep text and logos out. Small text becomes illegible at this resolution.
Troubleshooting #
- The face is one dark blob. Raise brightness or contrast before the palette is applied, or use a photo with brighter light on the face.
- Everything is light green. Lower brightness, or pick a photo with deeper shadows.
- It looks like TV static. The grid is too fine for the photo, or the photo is too busy. Go to a larger pixel size, crop tighter, or turn dithering off.
- Skin looks blotchy. Switch from Floyd-Steinberg to Atkinson, which is less grainy in midtones. What dithering is explains the difference between the modes.
Frequently asked questions #
What resolution did the Game Boy Camera shoot at? #
It took 128 x 112 pixel photos using the Game Boy’s four-shade palette, with dithering to suggest extra tones. The Game Boy’s own screen was 160 x 144.
What are the Game Boy’s four colors? #
The most common approximation is #0f380f, #306230, #8bac0f and #9bbc0f, from darkest to lightest. The console itself only had four brightness levels, so different emulators use slightly different greens.
Why do Game Boy photos look dotted? #
With only four shades available, the Game Boy Camera used dithering, patterns of light and dark dots, to suggest in-between tones. Converters recreate that with algorithms like Floyd-Steinberg, Atkinson and Bayer.
Can I make a Game Boy style photo on my phone? #
Yes. A pixel art converter with a Game Boy palette and dithering will do it in seconds. Pixelize does it on iPhone and Android for free, entirely on the device.
Should a Game Boy style photo be green or gray? #
Green matches the original 1989 model. Gray matches the Game Boy Pocket, which had a black-and-white screen. Both are authentic, so it comes down to which era you want to evoke.