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Halftone Generator

Turn a photo into a pattern of printed dots.

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Quick Tool Overview

The Halftone Generator turns continuous tone into a grid of dots whose size varies with brightness — how presses have reproduced photographs for over a century. Dot spacing, screen angle and dot shape are all adjustable, and a CMYK mode runs four screens at the traditional angles to produce a real rosette pattern.

What it does
Converts tone into a pattern of dots
You give it
A photo and a dot spacing
You get back
A halftone-screened image
Best for
Comic and newsprint styling, screen printing
Image Tools Free, unlimited use No sign-up Runs in your browser

About the Halftone Generator

Halftoning is how printing presses reproduce a continuous-tone photograph with a single ink: vary the size of the dots and the eye reads the average as a shade. Newspapers, comics and screen-printed posters are all halftones.

The controls are the dot spacing, the screen angle and the dot shape. The angle matters more than it sounds — 45 degrees is the standard for monochrome because the human eye is least sensitive to diagonal patterns, and a grid at 0 degrees is visibly a grid. Colour halftones use four screens at different angles, which is available here as CMYK mode and produces the rosette pattern of real four-colour printing.

Key features of the Halftone Generator

Correct screen angles

45 degrees for monochrome because diagonal patterns are least visible, with the traditional CMYK angles available too.

CMYK mode

Four separated screens at offset angles produce the rosette pattern of genuine four-colour printing.

Dot shape options

Round, square and line screens each give a different printed character.

Survives printing

Unlike most effects, this one is imitating what a press does anyway, so it holds up on paper.

Explains the angle

The page says why 45 degrees is standard, which is the difference between a setting and an informed choice.

How to use the Halftone Generator

  1. 1

    Load the photo

    High-contrast images with a clear subject work best.

  2. 2

    Set the dot spacing

    Larger dots are more obviously a halftone; smaller ones look like real newsprint.

  3. 3

    Choose the angle

    45 degrees is the printing standard because diagonal patterns are least visible.

  4. 4

    Try CMYK mode

    Four screens at different angles gives the rosette pattern of colour printing.

Frequently asked questions

Because the eye is least sensitive to diagonal patterns, so a 45-degree screen disappears into the image while a 0-degree one reads as an obvious grid.

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