Stipple effect

Tone carried by how many marks land in an area, not how big they are.

Made with the Stipple filterWorks in

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

BeforeAfter

Stipple draws your photo in marks of one size and lets their count do the shading, like an engraved plate, chalk on board or pointillist dots. Marks can follow the direction of the form, and Carry Colour turns it into a colour drawing.

5presets
21settings
3apps

Same effect, different presets.

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

Stipple effect on a portrait of a man with spiky red hair on a blue background, made with the Stipple filter in Filter Archive (Pointillist preset) — Pointillist

Stipple effect on a portrait of a woman with copper red hair, made with the Stipple filter in Filter Archive (Chalk preset) — Chalk

Stipple effect on a portrait of a woman with copper red hair, made with the Stipple filter in Filter Archive (Pointillist preset) — Pointillist

Stipple effect on a portrait of a woman in a red jacket on a blue background, made with the Stipple filter in Filter Archive (Pointillist preset) — Pointillist

Stipple effect on a portrait of a man in sunglasses on a red background, made with the Stipple filter in Filter Archive (Pointillist preset) — Pointillist

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

Stipple effect on a portrait of a woman with black hair, hands on her head, made with the Stipple filter in Filter Archive (Pointillist preset) — Pointillist

Use the stipple 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 Stipple 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 Stipple and apply it to that layer.

Mac & Windows · Affinity 3

Figma

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

Figma Community

Settings worth touching.

SpacingMarks: How far apart the marks sit, which sets how many there are.
Mark SizeMarks: The size of each mark. It stays the same everywhere; tone comes from how many land.
Carry ColourOutput: Takes each mark's colour from the photo underneath, so the stipple becomes a colour drawing.

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

Stipple Effect questions.

What is a stipple effect?

A stipple effect builds an image from many small dots, packing them closely for shadows and spacing them out for highlights. It is the look of pen-and-ink stippling and pointillist painting.

How do I make a stipple effect in Photoshop?

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu and choose Stipple. Start from a preset such as Engraved Plate or Coarse Stipple, 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 Stipple 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 Stipple?

5 presets: Engraved Plate, Coarse Stipple, Chalk, Scattered Glyphs and Pointillist. Every setting stays editable after you pick one, and you can save a stack of filters to use again.