Dither, Halftone & Separations

Give images the texture of print and early hardware — ordered and diffusion dithering, halftone dots and custom palettes — then take them all the way to plates a printer can use.

The Dither & Halftone tool recreates the look of classic printing and early computer graphics: Floyd–Steinberg and ordered Bayer dithering, newspaper-style halftone dots, reduced palettes and 1-bit black-and-white conversions. It's the fast way to get zine, risograph and retro-game aesthetics.

Fine-tune dot size, angle, palette and contrast with a live preview, then export high-resolution results for print or web. As with every ProDesigner tool, your images are processed on your device — nothing is uploaded unless you choose to save your work to your account.

How to use it

1. Start from a high-contrast image Dithering throws tonal information away by design, so a flat or hazy photo turns to mud. Raise contrast before you import, or pull the curve in Adjustments once it is loaded.
2. Pick the algorithm before the palette Floyd–Steinberg scatters its error for a soft, photographic grain. Bayer gives the ordered crosshatch of early games. Halftone makes newspaper dots. Color only starts to matter once the texture is right.
3. Match the scale to your output size The pattern is measured in pixels, not inches, so a dot that reads well on screen vanishes in print. Raise Scale until the texture stays visible at final size, and export at the resolution you will actually print.
4. Export vector for print, PNG for screen SVG and PDF keep every halftone dot as a crisp shape at any size, which is what a risograph or screen printer wants. PNG at 2× is the right answer for web and social.

FAQ