AVIF to SIXEL Converter

AVIF to SIXEL conversion — fast, free, and browser-based

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Quality Preserved

Convertio maintains maximum visual fidelity when transforming AVIF to SIXEL — your images retain their clarity through the conversion process.

Any Device, Any OS

Run AVIF to SIXEL conversion on desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Works on every operating system with a modern web browser.

Instant Conversion

The AVIF to SIXEL conversion engine processes files quickly — expect your download to be ready in just a few seconds after uploading.

How to convert AVIF to SIXEL

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose sixel or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your sixel file right afterwards

About formats

AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is a modern image format derived from the AV1 video codec, developed by the Alliance for Open Media and specified in February 2019. The format leverages the intra-frame coding tools of AV1 — a royalty-free video codec backed by Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Netflix, and other major technology companies — to compress still images with substantially higher efficiency than JPEG, PNG, or even WebP. AVIF stores images in the HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) container, supporting both lossy and lossless compression, HDR (high dynamic range) with wide color gamuts up to 12-bit depth, alpha transparency, and animated sequences. At equivalent visual quality, AVIF files are typically 30-50% smaller than WebP and 50-70% smaller than JPEG, representing the largest compression improvement in mainstream image formats in over a decade. One advantage is exceptional compression efficiency — AVIF delivers visually indistinguishable images at dramatically lower file sizes, directly reducing bandwidth consumption and improving page load times for web content. The royalty-free licensing model provides another key strength: unlike HEIC/HEIF which relies on patent-encumbered HEVC, AVIF's AV1 foundation is free for anyone to implement without licensing fees. Browser support has reached broad adoption, with Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge all rendering AVIF natively. The format is rapidly gaining adoption for web images where quality-to-size ratio is paramount.
Initial release: February 8, 2019
SIXEL (Six Pixel) is a bitmap graphics encoding format created by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1983 for rendering images on character-cell printers and video terminals. The name derives from the encoding's fundamental unit: a column of six pixels represented by a single ASCII character. Each printable character in the sixel data stream (ASCII 63-126) encodes a 6-pixel vertical column, with the character's binary value determining which pixels are on or off. Color is specified through register-based palette control: a Select Color Sequence assigns an HLS or RGB color value to a numbered register, and subsequent sixel characters use that color until another register is selected. The encoding supports raster attributes for specifying pixel aspect ratio and image dimensions, repeat sequences (! followed by a count and character) for run-length compression of identical columns, and $ (carriage return) and - (new line) for navigating the sixel grid. DEC implemented SIXEL support in their VT240, VT241, VT330, and VT340 terminals, as well as multiple printer models. One advantage of the SIXEL encoding is its ASCII-clean nature: the data stream consists entirely of printable characters and standard control sequences, meaning SIXEL graphics can be transmitted through any text-based communication channel — serial terminals, SSH sessions, telnet connections — without requiring binary-safe transport or protocol modifications. The format's modern renaissance provides another remarkable dimension: after decades of obscurity, SIXEL support has been implemented in numerous contemporary terminal emulators, enabling inline image display in command-line workflows. SIXEL output can be generated by ImageMagick, libsixel, chafa, and various plotting libraries.
Initial release: 1983

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert AVIF to SIXEL?

SIXEL terminal graphics display images inline in compatible terminals — a growing format for CLI-based image preview and terminal UIs.

What software reads SIXEL format?

Common options include mlterm, xterm, mintty, SIXEL-enabled terminals. The format has good support across major operating systems.

How long does AVIF to SIXEL conversion take?

Most conversions complete within seconds. Processing time depends on file size and server load, but the entire workflow typically finishes in under a minute.

Does this work on mobile devices?

Yes — the AVIF to SIXEL converter works in any mobile browser on iOS and Android. No app installation is needed — just open convertio.tools and upload your file.

What happens to my uploaded files?

Your AVIF files are automatically deleted right after conversion. The resulting SIXEL files remain available for download for 24 hours, then they are permanently removed.

Will my AVIF image look the same as SIXEL?

The visual appearance is preserved as closely as the SIXEL format allows. Any differences are typically imperceptible to the human eye in normal viewing.