Halftone Generator
Convert any photo, logo, or motif into a print-ready halftone. Circle, square, or line dots. Adjustable LPI and grid angle — matched to screen-print industry standards. Instant, private, no signup.
What is a halftone and why does screen printing need it?
A halftone simulates continuous tone — like the gradual shadows on a face — using a grid of dots of varying size. Where the image is dark, the dots are large; where it's light, the dots shrink to nothing. From normal viewing distance your eye blurs the dots together and sees a smooth gradient. It's the foundation of every printed photograph in newspapers, magazines, packaging, and T-shirts.
Screen printing specifically can't reproduce shades of gray in a single color — the ink is either there or it isn't. Halftoning converts continuous tone into a pattern the printer can physically produce. The density (measured in Lines Per Inch, LPI) controls how fine the dot pattern is: a garment tee with thick cotton might top out at 45 LPI, a glossy magazine cover runs at 133–150 LPI.
Pair this tool with our Color Extractor to decide which colors to halftone for a multi-color screen job, and the Seamless Repeats tool to tile your halftoned design for all-over prints.
What people use the halftone generator for
Prepare artwork for T-shirt screen printing
The classic use. Set LPI 45-55, angle 45°, circle dots, download the PNG, send to your screen-print shop. They'll use it to burn the emulsion screen directly. Works for both dark and light tees (toggle invert for light designs on dark garments).
Risograph zine and poster art
Risograph printing uses halftones natively. Set LPI 40-65, angle 45°, line dots for that classic newspaper / editorial feel. Export PNG, drop into your zine layout, the risograph printer handles the rest.
Retro-style graphic design
Halftones signal "vintage" and "80s zine" instantly. Use on illustration backgrounds, music posters, Instagram grids, and product packaging where you want a deliberately-crafted analogue feel.
Textile dye-sublimation and digital print
Even when the printer supports continuous tone, some textile designers deliberately halftone specific regions for texture. Run only your focal element through this tool, layer it back onto the base design in Photoshop.
Preview a design before costly CMYK separation
If you're unsure whether your artwork will look right as halftone before paying a screen-print shop for separations, run it through here first. Catches obvious issues (too dark, too much detail, harsh transitions) early.
Editorial photography with a magazine feel
Newspaper and magazine photos were all halftoned before digital. Recreate that editorial aesthetic for zines, portfolios, or photography Instagram feeds with a single pass through this tool.
LPI + angle cheat sheet
Cotton tee screen print
Standard for thick-fibre garments. Large dots hold ink cleanly without bleeding. Use circle dots.
Newspaper and zines
The historical newspaper standard. Works on every paper stock, pairs well with risograph. Line dots give an editorial feel.
CMYK magazine quality
Four-color process printing. Each channel gets a different angle (C 15, M 75, Y 0, K 45) to prevent moiré.
Four steps, no signup
Upload any image
Drop a JPG, PNG, or WEBP up to 10 MB — a photo, a logo, or a textile motif. The tool converts the image to grayscale and uses brightness to drive dot size.
Pick dot shape and density
Circle, square, or line dots. Higher density (more lines per inch) gives finer detail; lower density produces the classic chunky screen-print look. Rotate the grid angle to match print-industry standards (15°, 45°, 75°).
Preview the halftone result
Every pixel's brightness controls its dot size — light areas get tiny dots, dark areas get filled dots. Live preview updates as you tweak density and angle. Toggle between black-on-white and white-on-black.
Download the halftone PNG
Export a crisp vector-style PNG at the original resolution. Ready for screen-print separations, zine art, textile prints, and retro-style graphics. No watermarks.
Print-industry controls, not a filter
Named the way screen printers talk: LPI, angle, dot shape. No Photoshop abstraction.
Real print LPI
Density is calibrated to actual print DPI, not arbitrary Photoshop frequency values. What you set is what your printer will reproduce.
Industry-standard angles
One-tap presets for 0°, 15°, 45°, 75° — the CMYK screen angles every printer expects.
Private, no upload
Every pixel is rasterised on your device. Nothing is uploaded or stored. Close the tab, it's gone.
Production-ready PNG
Crisp lossless PNG at source resolution. Commercial use allowed. Drop it directly into a screen-print film workflow.
Frequently asked
Q.What is a halftone and why is it used in screen printing?
Q.What does density (LPI) mean?
Q.Why does the halftone angle matter?
Q.Can I use this for screen-print T-shirts?
Q.How is this different from Photoshop's halftone filter?
Q.What dot shape should I use?
Q.Is my image private?
Q.Can I use this commercially?
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