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Use your own image or open the bundled sample.
Halftone Effect
Separate photographs into CMYK ink dots with paper color, black-ink control and subtle print registration.
Runs locally No upload
Check this browser
Facts
- Category
- Texture
- Works with
- Image
- Exports
- PNG / JPEG
- Runs in
- Your browser, and the SHADR iPhone app
- Your images
- Processed on your device, not uploaded
- Cost
- Free in the browser
Rebuild the image as overlapping fields of ink.
The halftone effect is a free browser tool that rebuilds any image from four layers of printed dots: cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the way a press builds a picture out of ink.
Shape
Build the result with Paper Color, Ink Amount, and Palette, then refine the remaining controls in real time.
Export
Render PNG / JPEG output and download it directly to your device.
Use it for
- Print-led editorial imagery
- Riso and newsprint studies
- Campaign artwork with visible ink structure
Key controls
- Paper ColorSet this color directly in the working palette.
- Ink AmountTune from 0% to 150%.
- PaletteChoose Original, Paper, and Drops, plus 4 more variations.
All controls4
- Dot SizeTune from 0 to 1.
How CMYK Halftone works
A press cannot print shades of a colour. It prints dots of one ink and lets your eye blend them, and halftoning is the technique that decides how big those dots are. This tool splits your photo into the four process inks and redraws each as its own dot layer. Every layer has its own base ink (0–1) and gain (-1 to 1), so you can push the cyan, thin out the yellow or lift the black without touching the others. Sampling switches between Round Dots, Ink and Detail, and Dot Size (0–1, default 0.2) sets how big the dots are.
The print can be clean or flawed on purpose. Registration Offset (0–20) slides the layers apart like a press out of register; Ink Wear, Ink Bleed and Paper Texture (each 0–100) add missing ink, spreading ink and the grain of the stock; Paper Color sets what it is printed on.
Choosing a photo
Photos with a clear subject and a range of tones, from light to dark, hold up best, because the dots have to carry the shading. Contrast (0–2.2) sets how far light and dark are pushed apart.
Settings worth changing first
- Dot Size (0–1, default 0.2): the whole character of the print.
- Ink Amount (0–150%, default 100%) and Black Ink (0–150%, default 100%).
- Registration Offset (0–20, default 0).
- Palette: Original, Paper, Drops, Newspaper, Vintage, Black / White or Custom.
Presets
Clean CMYK, Black Newsprint, Comic Dots and Vintage Registration.
Before you start
What does “CMYK halftone” mean?
It means a picture made only of dots in the four inks used in colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (K). From a distance the dots blend into the colours of the photo; up close you see the dot pattern.
How do I get an off-register, misprinted look?
Raise Registration Offset (0–20) so the colour layers drift apart, or start from the Vintage Registration preset. Ink Wear and Ink Bleed (0–100) add missing and spreading ink on top.
Can I make a one-colour newspaper print?
Yes. Start from the Black Newsprint preset, which prints with black ink alone, or choose the Newspaper palette and raise Black Ink (up to 0–150%).
What size can I export, and is my photo uploaded?
The image is processed in your browser and is not uploaded. You can export PNG or JPEG at 1600, 2200 or 3200 pixels on the long edge; JPEG quality runs from 70–100%.
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