The Artfkt collection library
Dither
Build tones from marks, error, and characters
Dither describes tone with small marks instead of a smooth continuum. Repeating thresholds, irregular dots, clusters, directional patterns, palette alternation, and character cells give the same source very different surfaces.
Use the collection to turn photography into graphic texture while deciding how much detail and tonal continuity should survive.
Included in Artfkt for Mac. All collections, one desktop studio.
Choose a mark system, not just a rougher image
Ordered Dither repeats a threshold matrix, so its texture has a visible rhythm. Noise Dither distributes thresholds irregularly between two colors. Clustered Dither gathers marks into groups as the image darkens. These approaches can describe a similar overall tone while feeling orderly, scattered, or print-like up close.
Error Diffusion passes quantization error along and between image rows, producing a pattern that responds to the source instead of simply repeating a matrix. Compare it with the ordered treatment on a gradual tonal transition. The choice affects the character of that transition as much as the smallest visible detail.
Give the marks a graphic role
Pattern Dither offers horizontal, diagonal, and crossed threshold structures. Color Dither alternates between nearby palette colors to suggest intermediate tones. ASCII replaces cell samples with characters selected from a dark-to-light ramp; its marks are built into the effect rather than loaded from a font.
Choose a pattern whose scale belongs in the composition. Directional marks can reinforce a diagonal layout, while a character grid may become the subject of a poster. If the pattern is merely a background texture, keep its contrast subordinate to the foreground information.
Judge the image twice: near and far
A source with distinct light, middle, and dark regions makes it easier to see how a mark system encodes tone. Fine texture can be useful, but a crowded source may turn into marks without retaining a clear subject.
Inspect individual marks close up, then step back to the intended viewing size. The nearby view tells you whether the pattern is interesting; the distant view tells you whether it still describes the picture. Resize and export choices affect that relationship, so make the final decision on the image at its actual use size.
Effects in Dither
7 effects to explore and combine.
Ordered Dither
Choose a ordered threshold matrix and mark size to balance crisp detail with visible ordered texture.
Noise Dither
Scatter two chosen colors with independent thresholds to represent the original tones.
Clustered Dither
Gather discrete marks into growing clusters as the image darkens.
Pattern Dither
Choose horizontal, diagonal, or crossed threshold patterns to shape the image tones.
Color Dither
Use ordered marks to alternate between nearby palette colors, suggesting tones beyond the palette itself.
Error Diffusion
Each pixel is quantized, then the leftover error travels along the row and down from the row above. The pattern clumps instead of repeating a matrix.
ASCII
Each cell samples its center and picks a character from a dark-to-light ramp. The marks are bit patterns in the shader, not a loaded font.
Creative applications
- Reduce an editorial photograph to a deliberate two-color mark pattern.
- Build a character-based image for a graphic poster, keeping supporting type outside the treatment.
- Compare ordered and irregular textures as backgrounds within a limited-color design system.
Starting workflow
- For a two-color photographic study, choose a source with a strong silhouette and a gradual shadow transition.
- Apply Ordered Dither and select its threshold matrix before adjusting mark size.
- Balance the light and dark areas so the silhouette remains legible and the shadow transition carries visible pattern.
- Compare Error Diffusion as an alternative rather than stacking it on top. Look for the pattern that best supports the subject.
- Review the chosen result at final size, checking that fine marks have not merged into an unintended flat tone.
Make it part of your next composition.
Combine Dither with other collections, images, and editable text in Artfkt for Mac.