Identicon Generator

What this tool does

This Identicon Generator turns any short piece of text — a username, an email address, an ID — into a clean, symmetric grid avatar in the well-known identicon style. It hashes the text, uses the resulting bits to decide which cells in a square grid are filled, mirrors the pattern left to right so it always looks balanced, and derives a colour from the same hash. The result is a distinct little image that is unique-looking per input and identical every time for the same input.

It is the quickest way to give every account in an app a recognisable picture when no real photo exists, without anyone having to upload or choose anything.

When you would use it

Developers use identicons as default avatars: new users, commenters and API clients all get a visually distinct image the moment they exist, so a list of accounts never looks like a wall of identical placeholders. Designers drop them into prototypes and mock-ups to populate user lists with believable variety. Founders building a directory, a leaderboard or a member page use them so every row has something to look at.

They also work well as deterministic icons for non-people things — projects, servers, repositories, devices — anywhere you want a stable visual marker that is computed rather than designed. Because the image is generated on demand from a string, you never have to store an avatar file or run an upload flow: the identicon can be produced fresh wherever it is needed, which keeps account creation simple and avoids a database of pictures.

How to use it

1. Type a username, email address or any text into the input box. The identicon updates live as you type — the page loads with a sample so it is never empty.
2. Choose a Grid size — 5 × 5 for the classic compact look, or 7 × 7 for a busier, more detailed pattern.
3. Pick a Background colour to sit behind the pattern.
4. Adjust Cell padding to add or remove breathing room around the grid.
5. Set the Export size with the slider, from 64 up to 1024 pixels.
6. Click Download PNG for a fixed-size image, or Download SVG for a scalable vector file.

Tips for great results

Use a consistent input rule across your whole product — for example always hash the lower-cased email address — so each account keeps one stable identicon everywhere it appears. A light background with a vivid pattern reads best at small sizes; very dark backgrounds can swallow the detail. The 5 × 5 grid is the safest choice for tiny thumbnails because larger grids pack more cells into the same space and get muddy when shrunk. A little cell padding helps the identicon sit comfortably inside a circular crop if your app rounds avatars.

Want a different default-avatar style? The Initial Avatar Generator builds letter-based avatars from a name. You can also create a small site icon with the favicon generator or pull a matching colour scheme from the palette generator.

Privacy

Every step runs inside your browser. The text you type is hashed and rendered into an image by JavaScript on your own device — there is no upload, no server render, no storage between visits and no tracking. When you close the tab, the input and the image are gone. That means you can safely generate identicons from genuine usernames and email addresses without that information ever leaving your machine.