How to Create a Halftone Dot Pattern in Photoshop

Download the PDF: Create A Halftone Dot Pattern

In this tutorial, I show you an easy way to convert an image into a halftone dot pattern in Photoshop.

We’ll start by creating a black and white halftone pattern. Then we’ll look at a quick way to add color to the effect.

Here’s an example of what the halftone pattern will look like when we’re done.

Which Photoshop version do I need?

I’m using Photoshop 2024 (released in September 2023) but any recent version will work.

You can get the latest Photoshop version here.

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The document setup

For this tutorial, I’ll use this photo from Adobe Stock.

And I’ll zoom in just to make the dot pattern easier to see in the screenshots.

How to create a halftone pattern in Photoshop

Here are the steps for creating a halftone dot pattern.

See Also:

• Get Better Color Halftone Effects in Photoshop
• Turn a Photo to a Color Dot Pattern
• Create a Pointillism Painting Effect

Step 1: Convert the image to black and white

First we need to convert our photo from color to black and white.

In the Layers panel, click the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom.

Then choose Black and White from the list.

A Black and White adjustment layer is added above the image on the Background layer.

And the image is instantly converted to black and white.

Step 2: Increase the image contrast

Halftone pattern effects work best on images with high contrast. So we’ll use a Levels adjustment layer to boost the contrast of our black and white image.

Still in the Layers panel, click the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon again.

This time choose Levels from the list.

A Levels adjustment layer is added above the Black and White adjustment layer.

Then in the Properties panel, use the black point (left) and white point (right) sliders below the histogram to increase the contrast.

Ideally the black point slider should be moved to where the left side of the histogram begins, and the white point slider should be moved to where the right side of the histogram begins. This ensures we have areas of pure black in the shadows and pure white in the highlights.

Not all images will need both sliders to be moved. With my image, the histogram already extends all the way to the left so there’s no need to adjust the black point. But there is some room to brighten the highlights by dragging the white point slider a bit to the left.

And now the contrast looks better.

Step 3: Add a new layer filled with 50% gray

Next we’ll add a new layer to use for the halftone effect.

Click the Add New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

A new blank layer is added above the Levels adjustment layer.

We need to fill this new layer with 50% gray.

So with the layer selected, go up to the Edit menu in the Menu Bar and choose Fill.

In the Fill dialog box, set the Contents to 50% Gray and click OK.

The image is temporarily hidden by the gray layer.

Step 4: Convert the layer to a smart object

The biggest challenge when creating a halftone pattern is knowing how big the dots need to be. But we can give ourselves room to experiment by first converting the layer into a smart object.

In the Layers panel, right-click on the layer.

Then choose Convert to Smart Object from the menu.

A smart object icon appears in the lower right of the layer’s thumbnail.

Step 5: Reset your Foreground and Background colors

Before we continue, press the letter D on your keyboard to reset Photoshop’s Foreground and Background colors to their defaults.

This sets the Foreground color to black and the Background color to white. We’ll need these colors for the filters in the next step.

The current Foreground and Background colors are shown in the thumbnails near the bottom of the toolbar.

Step 6: Open Photoshop’s Filter Gallery

To create the halftone pattern, we need two filters found in Photoshop’s Filter Gallery.

So go up to the Filter menu and choose Filter Gallery.

The Filter Gallery includes a large preview area on the left and two columns on the right. The first column is where we choose a filter and the second is where we adjust the filter’s settings.

The filters are divided into groups, with the Artistic group open by default. Each filter within the group is displayed as a thumbnail.

Step 7: Use the Halftone Pattern filter to add the dots

Twirl open the Sketch group. Then click on the Halftone Pattern filter to select it.

The filter’s options appear in the upper right. Make sure the Pattern Type is set to Dot and that Contrast is set to 0.

Then use the Size slider to set an initial size for the dots. I’ll set mine to 6.

Since we can’t see the image in the preview area, we won’t know what this size will look like until we apply the filter. But that’s okay because we can come back and change the size if needed.

Step 8: Use the Torn Edges filter to roughen the dots

Notice in the preview area that our dots are really just blurry squares. So we’ll use the Torn Edges filter to roughen them up and help them look more rounded.

In the bottom right of the Filter Gallery, click the plus icon to add a new filter above the Halftone Pattern filter.

Then still in the Sketch group, select the Torn Edges filter.

In the options, leave the Image Balance set to the default (25) and lower the Contrast down to 1.

Then drag the Smoothness slider to the point where the blurry squares begin to look rougher and more rounded. The setting you need will depend on the dot size you chose in the Halftone Pattern filter.

Since my dot size was set to 6, a Smoothness value of 10 works well. But as with the Size value, you can always come back and change the Smoothness value if needed.

The dots should now look something like this.

Step 9: Apply the filters

Click OK to close the Filter Gallery and apply the two filters to the image.

The document is filled with the halftone dots. We’ll blend the dots in with the image next.

In the Layers panel, notice that the Filter Gallery was applied to the layer as a smart filter. That’s because we converted the layer to a smart object before applying the filter.

The benefit of a smart filter is that we can go back and edit the settings, which we’ll do in a moment.

Step 10: Change the blend mode to Hard Mix

To blend the dots with the image, change the blend mode of the layer from Normal to Hard Mix.

The black and white image shows through the halftone dots, but the effect is too strong.

Step 11: Lower the Fill value

To dial back the effect, lower the Fill value of the layer.

Hard Mix is one of 8 blend modes in Photoshop that behave differently when we lower the Fill value as opposed to the Opacity value.

So lower the Fill value (not the Opacity) until you’re happy with the results. I’ll lower it to 70%.

This fades the dots in the highlights and pushes the effect more into the shadows, which is closer to what an actual halftone pattern would look like.

Step 12: Adjust the dot size

If you’re not happy with the size of the dots, it’s easy to change it.

In the Layers panel, double-click on the words Filter Gallery to reopen it.

In the right column of the Filter Gallery, the two filters we added are shown stacked one on top of the other, similar to how layers are stacked in the Layers panel.

Select the Halftone Pattern filter.

Then drag the Size slider to choose a different size. I’ll make the dots smaller by lowering the size from 6 to 4.

Again the value you need will depend a lot on your image size.

After changing the dot size, you may need to adjust the Smoothness value as well. So reselect the Torn Edges filter.

Since I lowered the dot size, I’ll compensate by increasing the Smoothness from 10 to 11.

Click OK to close the Filter Gallery. The halftone pattern updates with the new settings, and I like these smaller dots better.

At this point, we’ve created the black and white halftone pattern effect and you could stop here.

But if you want to add color to the effect, we’ll do that next.

Step 13: Add a Solid Color adjustment layer

To add color to the halftone pattern, we’ll use a Solid Color adjustment layer.

Make sure the halftone pattern layer (the top layer) is active in the Layers panel.

Then go up to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar, choose New Fill Layer and then Solid Color.

Step 14: Set the blend mode to Color

In the New Layer dialog box, change the Mode (the blend mode) from Normal to Color. Then click OK.

Step 15: Choose a color from the Color Picker

Choose a color from Photoshop’s Color Picker.

Since we set the blend mode to Color in the previous step, you’ll see a live preview of how the color looks with the effect.

Click OK to close the Color Picker when you’re done.

Step 16: Try the Screen blend mode

For a different look to the color effect, try changing the blend mode of the fill layer from Color to Screen.

The Screen blend mode uses the color to lighten the image and creates a lower contrast effect, especially if you chose a bright color in the Color Picker.

If the color is too bright and the effect looks too faded or flat, double-click on the fill layer’s color swatch in the Layers panel.

Then choose a darker version of the color in the Color Picker.

Or choose a completely different color like I’m doing here.

Click OK when you’re done to close the Color Picker.

And here is my final result.

And there we have it! That’s an easy way to create a halftone dot pattern effect in Photoshop.

Related tutorials:

• Turn a Photo to a Color Dot Pattern
• Create a Pointillism Painting Effect
• Convert a Photo to a Pencil Sketch

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