Create retro pixel art

Make your photos look like vintage graphics

- Craig Grannell

With computers, pixel art was once just... art. Today, pixels are too small to notice. But decades ago, they could be so chunky your imagination had to fill in the gaps. Each system had its own visual flavour too, from the Mac's detailed black and white dithering to the ZX Spectrum's eye-searing hues.

If you grew up in that era - or just love old-school graphics - Retrospecs is a must, letting you quickly transform photos and videos to look like they came from classic computers and consoles. The free download for iPhone/iPad (which is also Mac-compatible) will get you started with basic editing features and several systems, including the Apple Macintosh - a likely favourite among MacFormat readers!

Pay the tiny one-off £1.99 in-app purchase and you unlock many more systems, settings and features, such as video support, customisation and output upscaling to make those crisp retro visuals more suitable for modern displays.

HOW TO Create retro art

Choose a filter

From the main screen, tap a button to shoot a photo or load a picture from your iPhone. In the System tab, drag left and right to see what's available. Tap 'Nintendo Game Boy' to apply that filter, then Save to send it to Photos.