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Halftone Effect

Turns any picture into a two-ink screen print: angled dot screens, slight misregistration and dirty, grainy paper.

The same portrait printed as coarse halftone dots in dark brown and orange on speckled off-white paper, with loose orange splashes near the edges.
Close-up photo of a person with slicked-back wet hair and black wraparound sunglasses, a finger resting on red lips, against a white background.
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Made with Grime Halftone

Works in

The halftone effect rebuilds your picture as a two-⁠ink print. Tones split into a dark key screen and a bright spot screen of angled dots, printed slightly out of register on mottled, grainy paper. You can change both ink colors, the paper, dot size, screen angle and how worn the print looks.

Same effect, different settings

12 photos, each with its own settings. Try it on yours

  • Halftone Effect on a photo of two pears on linen
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a black horse
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a woman with a black bob and red earrings
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a man with slicked blond hair and sunglasses
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a woman in white cat-eye sunglasses
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a man with a buzz cut
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a woman in blue glasses
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a man with pink hair and black sunglasses
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a young man in black
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a man in a white shirt
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of blue cornflowers
  • Halftone Effect on a photo of a purple aster

Use Halftone Effect in Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Affinity or Figma

The plugins are free with an account. Paid plans add bigger renders and your own filters. See pricing

Settings worth touching

Dot Size
Sets how big the halftone dots are. Small dots keep more detail, large dots give a coarse, poster-⁠like print.
Spot Ink
Picks the color of the second ink. The look starts with its default spot color, and you can swap it for any other.
Misregistration
Shifts the two ink screens apart. Low values print clean, higher values push the colors off register like a loose press.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add the halftone effect in Photoshop?

Install Nexus for Photoshop and apply the look as a Smart Filter on a Smart Object. Double-⁠click it whenever you want to change the settings, or render the result as a new layer.

Can I animate the halftone effect in After Effects?

Yes. It runs as a native effect, so you drop it on a layer, tune the controls and keyframe every parameter on the timeline, such as dot size or misregistration.

Does the halftone effect give vector output in Illustrator?

No. This look is pixels only. Illustrator gets the result back as an embedded image, not as vector paths. Figma works the same way.

Is this the same as a screen print effect?

It works like one. It emulates a two-ink riso or screen print, with a separate dot screen for each ink, slight misregistration, ink breakup and dirt specks on the paper.

Can I try the halftone effect for free?

Yes. Open the look in the Nexus web editor and try it on your own image without an account. Exporting needs a free account, which exports images up to 720px and video up to 720px with the Nexus mark.

Related effects

Try Halftone Effect in your browser

Free to try. Exporting needs a free account.

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