Color Photocopy effect

A color photocopy of your picture: toner lands in the shadows and breaks up along the tones, and the color stays.

Made with the Color Threshold filterWorks in

Color photocopy effect on a portrait of a woman with black hair, hands on her head, made with the Color Threshold filter in Filter Archive (Hard Copy preset)

BeforeAfter

Color Threshold treats your photo like a trip through a color copier. Toner collects in the shadows and breaks into specks along the edges of each tone, while the picture keeps its hue. Push it from a clean Xerox copy to blown toner and dust.

5presets
17settings
3apps

Same effect, different presets.

8 photos, each with its own preset. Try it on yours

Color photocopy effect on a portrait of a woman with silver hair and blue sunglasses by the sea, made with the Color Threshold filter in Filter Archive (Xerox preset) — Xerox

Color photocopy effect on a wide-angle portrait of a woman looking up at the camera, made with the Color Threshold filter in Filter Archive (Blown Toner preset) — Blown Toner

Color photocopy effect on a portrait of a laughing woman with pink curly hair, made with the Color Threshold filter in Filter Archive (Toner Dust preset) — Toner Dust

Color photocopy effect on a portrait of a woman with copper red hair, made with the Color Threshold filter in Filter Archive (Washed preset) — Washed

Color photocopy effect on a portrait of a woman in headphones holding a CD, made with the Color Threshold filter in Filter Archive (Xerox preset) — Xerox

Color photocopy effect on a portrait of a person with goggles looking up, made with the Color Threshold filter in Filter Archive (Hard Copy preset) — Hard Copy

Color photocopy effect on a portrait of a woman in sunglasses against a blue sky, made with the Color Threshold filter in Filter Archive (Blown Toner preset) — Blown Toner

Use the color photocopy effect in Photoshop, Affinity or Figma.

One licence covers all three: $59.99, paid once. See pricing

Photoshop

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu, pick Color Threshold and press Apply. The result lands on a new layer above your original.

Mac & Windows · Photoshop 2024+

Affinity

Choose Filters, Plugins, Filter Archive on a pixel layer, pick Color Threshold and apply it to that layer.

Mac & Windows · Affinity 3

Figma

Select an image, frame or shape, run Filter Archive and apply Color Threshold as a new layer or in place.

Figma Community

Settings worth touching.

BrightnessThreshold: Where the toner starts landing. This decides how much of the picture goes dark.
Break-upSpecks: How wide the speckled band is. At zero you get a clean hard threshold; opening it lets the specks gather along the tones.
Speck SizeSpecks: The size of the toner specks. Small reads as fine grain, the big end as grit.

Plus 14 more in the panel, all editable after you pick a preset.

Color Photocopy Effect questions.

What is a color photocopy effect?

A color photocopy effect makes a photo look like it went through a color copier: harder contrast, flattened tones, and a speckled toner texture where light meets dark, while the original colors survive.

How do I make a color photocopy effect in Photoshop?

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu and choose Color Threshold. Start from a preset such as Xerox or Hard Copy, adjust the settings while the preview updates, then press Apply. The result goes on a new layer and your original stays untouched.

Can I use it in Affinity or Figma?

Yes. The same Color Threshold filter runs in Affinity 3 on Mac and Windows, from Filters, then Plugins, then Filter Archive on a pixel layer, and in Figma on an image, frame or shape. One licence covers Photoshop, Affinity and Figma.

Which presets come with Color Threshold?

5 presets: Xerox, Hard Copy, Blown Toner, Toner Dust and Washed. Every setting stays editable after you pick one, and you can save a stack of filters to use again.

Can I change the colors?

Color Threshold keeps the colors of the picture you run it on. To recolor the result, stack it with a filter that has its own palette, such as Thermal or Bitmap, in the same panel.