pixel-art-scaler

pixel-art-scaler is a skill for Claude Code from curiositech/some_claude_skills. It costs 99 tokens per session (2,566 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A tool for enlarging pixel art with fixed, edge-aware algorithms such as Scale2x, hq2x, hq4x, and xBR. It keeps the crisp, limited-colour look of small sprites and icons instead of treating them like photographs.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to enlarge retro game sprites, pixel icons, and small artwork for larger displays while preserving their original palette and sharp style.
Why use it?
It increases resolution while avoiding blurred edges and unwanted smoothing. It is intended for integer sizes such as 2×, 3×, or 4×, not arbitrary resizing.

Skill for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: allowed-tools in frontmatter. Also seen: reads .claude/ paths.

Good fit Use it to enlarge retro game sprites, pixel icons, and small artwork for larger displays while preserving their original palette and sharp style.

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Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/curiositech/some_claude_skills/pixel-art-scaler
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add curiositech/some_claude_skills --skill pixel-art-scaler
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/curiositech/some_claude_skills

Made for: Claude Code.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for pixel-art-scaler

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/curiositech/some_claude_skills/pixel-art-scaler/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/curiositech/some_claude_skills/pixel-art-scaler)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/curiositech/some_claude_skills/pixel-art-scaler"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/curiositech/some_claude_skills/pixel-art-scaler/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for pixel-art-scaler

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/curiositech/some_claude_skills/pixel-art-scaler"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/curiositech/some_claude_skills/pixel-art-scaler.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 99 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 2,566 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe. Third-party audits
  • NVIDIA SkillSpector pass 7 Sept 2026
How audits are shown
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00099 $0.02566
Opus 5 $0.00049 $0.01283
Sonnet 5 $0.00020 $0.00513
Haiku 4.5 $0.00010 $0.00257

Measured 8d ago against content hash 488aea792154, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-11, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

pixel-art-scaler scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 8d ago.

The scan reads SKILL.md. This mod also ships 3 executable files (scripts/batch_scale.py, scripts/compare_algorithms.py, scripts/scale_epx.py), listed below but not scanned — reading those needs a real analyzer, not pattern matching.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

.claude/skills/pixel-art-scaler/SKILL.md · 280 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 280 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Pixel Art Scaler

Deterministic algorithms for upscaling pixel art that preserve aesthetics by adding valid sub-pixels through edge detection and pattern matching.

When to Use

Use for:

  • Upscaling retro game sprites, icons, and pixel art
  • 2x, 3x, 4x scaling with edge-aware interpolation
  • Preserving sharp pixel art aesthetic at higher resolutions
  • Converting 8x8, 16x16, 32x32, 48x48 pixel art for retina displays
  • Comparing deterministic vs AI/ML approaches

NOT for:

  • Photographs or realistic images (use AI super-resolution)
  • Simple geometric scaling (use nearest-neighbor)
  • Vector art (use SVG)
  • Text rendering (use font hinting)
  • Arbitrary non-integer scaling (algorithms work best at 2x, 3x, 4x)

Core Algorithms

1. EPX/Scale2x (Fastest, Good Quality)

Best for: Quick iteration, 2x/3x scaling, transparent sprites

How it works:

  • Examines each pixel and its 4 cardinal neighbors (N, S, E, W)
  • Expands 1 pixel → 4 pixels (2x) or 9 pixels (3x) using edge detection
  • Only uses colors from original palette (no new colors)
  • Handles transparency correctly

When to use:

  • Need fast processing (100+ icons)
  • Want crisp edges with no anti-aliasing
  • Source has clean pixel boundaries
  • Transparency preservation is critical

Timeline: Invented by Eric Johnston at LucasArts (~1992), rediscovered by Andrea Mazzoleni (2001)

2. hq2x/hq3x/hq4x (High Quality, Slower)

Best for: Final renders, complex sprites, smooth gradients

How it works:

  • Pattern matching on 3x3 neighborhoods (256 possible patterns)
  • YUV color space thresholds for edge detection
  • Sophisticated interpolation rules per pattern
  • Produces smooth, anti-aliased edges

When to use:

  • Final production assets
  • Source has gradients or dithering
  • Want smooth, anti-aliased results
  • Processing time is acceptable (~5-10x slower than EPX)

Timeline: Developed by Maxim Stepin for emulators (2003)

3. xBR/Super-xBR (Highest Quality, Slowest)

Best for: Hero assets, promotional materials, detailed sprites

Read the full file on GitHub · 280 lines

Files

What ships with it

3 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 8d ago First seen · 280 lines · 99 tokens per session scan A 488aea792154

Subscribe to this mod's changes

pixel-art-scaler is a skill published in the GitHub repository curiositech/some_claude_skills (219 stars, last pushed 5d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 99 tokens to every session and 2,566 once invoked, about $0.0005 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-09-03.

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