You could load an image up in Photoshop, reduce the color depth and fiddle with the pixel diffusion slider a bit. Or you could getPixatool, a brilliant app completely dedicated to tuning pixelated images to the finest and most authentic details. Line and contrasts are rendered so well there's often an uncanny suggestion of hand-drawing, and the dithering smokes what mainstream painting apps offer.

It's $30, with a free-of-charge demo version. There's moreexamples. Artists are sharing their work with the#pixatool hashtag.

Update: check outthe new version.

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