From Photos to Pixels: Building a Retro Art Transformer with GitHub Copilot

This is a submission for the GitHub Copilot Challenge : Transitions and Transformations

What I Built

Hey fellow devs! 👋 I wanted to share something cool I built for the GitHub Copilot Challenge. I made this fun web app called Pixel Art Transformer that turns your regular photos into pixel art. You know, like those retro gaming graphics we all love!

So basically, you can upload any image, and the app transforms it into pixel art. You can play around with different effects, get color palettes from your image, and save your creations. I wanted to make something that's both fun to use and lets people get creative without needing to be art experts.

The Cool Stuff You Can Do

• Turn any photo into pixel art (super satisfying to watch!)
• Get a matching color palette from your image
• Add some funky effects like grayscale or sepia
• Save your masterpiece as PNG, JPG, or even GIF

I built it using Next.js and Tailwind CSS, with some Canvas API magic thrown in for the image stuff.

Demo

Check out the live app here: https://pixel-art-fawn.vercel.app/

Repo

Check out the project on GitHub: https://github.com/Mohiit70/pixel-art

Copilot Experience

Let me tell you - Copilot was like having a coding buddy who never gets tired! Here's how it helped:

• It was amazing at suggesting code, especially for the tricky pixel calculation stuff
• Helped me create React components super quickly
• Made writing Tailwind CSS classes way less painful
• Caught some bugs I wouldn't have spotted right away
• Helped clean up my messy code (we all have those moments!)

GitHub Models

I didn't use GitHub Models specifically for LLM prototyping in this app. However, GitHub Copilot's code suggestions and intelligent autocomplete significantly boosted my productivity and allowed me to focus on the creative aspects of the project.

Conclusion

Building this was honestly so much fun! I learned a ton about breaking down big problems into smaller pieces, and Copilot made the whole process much smoother.

If you're interested in checking it out or maybe even contributing, the project is up on GitHub. Would love to hear what you think or see what kind of pixel art you create!

Thanks for reading, and huge thanks to the GitHub Copilot Challenge for giving me the push to build this! ✨

P.S. Drop a star on the repo if you like it! 😉