Halftone effect

One tone curve, two screens: lines in the shadows and dots in the highlights, handed over cell by cell.

Made with the Dual Halftone filterWorks in

Halftone effect on a portrait of a woman in white sunglasses with a lollipop, made with the Dual Halftone filter in Filter Archive (Newsprint preset)

BeforeAfter

Dual Halftone prints your photo with two screens at once. The shadows are drawn as a line screen and the highlights as dots, and they hand over to each other cell by cell, so the picture keeps its full tone. Choose the inks and paper, set the dot size, and start from Line and Dot, Newsprint, Two Colour or Zine.

4presets
21settings
3apps

Same effect, different presets.

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

Halftone effect on a portrait of a woman with copper red hair, made with the Dual Halftone filter in Filter Archive (Line and Dot preset) — Line and Dot

Halftone effect on a portrait of a man with spiky red hair on a blue background, made with the Dual Halftone filter in Filter Archive (Two Colour preset) — Two Colour

Halftone effect on a portrait of a laughing woman with pink curly hair, made with the Dual Halftone filter in Filter Archive (Zine preset) — Zine

Halftone effect on a portrait of a woman in headphones holding a CD, made with the Dual Halftone filter in Filter Archive (Two Colour preset) — Two Colour

Halftone effect on a portrait of a person with goggles looking up, made with the Dual Halftone filter in Filter Archive (Zine preset) — Zine

Halftone effect on a portrait of a woman in sunglasses against a blue sky, made with the Dual Halftone filter in Filter Archive (Zine preset) — Zine

Halftone effect on a portrait of a woman with red hair in a studded beanie, made with the Dual Halftone filter in Filter Archive (Line and Dot preset) — Line and Dot

Use the halftone effect in Photoshop, Affinity or Figma.

One licence covers all three: $9.99 a month or $59.99 once. See pricing

Photoshop

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu, pick Dual Halftone 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 Dual Halftone and apply it to that layer.

Mac & Windows · Affinity 3

Figma

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

Figma Community

Settings worth touching.

SplitTone: The tone where the shadow screen hands over to the highlight screen.
SizeShadow Screen: The size of the screen's cells. Bigger reads as a coarse poster, smaller keeps more detail.
HandoverTone: How wide the changeover between the two screens is.

Plus 18 more in the panel, all editable after you pick a preset.

Halftone Effect questions.

What is a halftone effect?

A halftone effect rebuilds an image from dots or lines of different sizes, the way newspapers and comics are printed. Big marks make dark areas and small marks make light ones, so a single ink can show a full range of tone.

How do I make a halftone effect in Photoshop?

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu and choose Dual Halftone. Start from a preset such as Line and Dot or Newsprint, 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 Dual Halftone 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 Dual Halftone?

4 presets: Line and Dot, Newsprint, Two Colour and Zine. Every setting stays editable after you pick one, and you can save a stack of filters to use again.