Dithering Explained: How to Dither an Image Online

11 October 2026 · 4 min read

Early computers could show only a handful of colours, sometimes just two. To display a photograph anyway, they used dithering: scattering the few available colours in fine patterns so that, from a normal viewing distance, your eye blends them into shades that aren't really there.

That technical workaround became an aesthetic. Today dithering is a deliberate look in games, posters and interfaces, and it's one of the easiest ways to make a photo feel retro and graphic at once.

How dithering works

Say you have only black and white. To show 50% grey, alternate black and white pixels in a checkerboard. For 25% grey, make one pixel in four black. Every shade becomes a pattern.

There are two main families:

• Ordered dithering compares each pixel with a fixed threshold pattern, most famously the Bayer matrix, published by Bryce Bayer in 1973. It produces neat, regular cross-hatching, the signature look of early PCs and many indie games.
• Error diffusion, such as the Floyd–Steinberg algorithm from 1976, works out the error at each pixel and pushes it onto its neighbours. It looks more organic and grainy.

Glyph Studio's Dither style does ordered dithering with Bayer patterns, plus a Noise option for a random, grainy texture. Its regular patterns stay stable from frame to frame, which matters for video and your webcam.

Dither an image, step by step

1. Open Glyph Studio. It's free with no sign-up.
2. Drop in your image or video, paste it, or open it from Lab.
3. Choose Dither. Search "Dither" in Find a style, or open the Ink & Press group.
4. Pick a Pattern and a Palette (see below).
5. Set Pixel Size, then adjust Brightness and Contrast until the shapes read clearly.
6. Export a PNG (⌘E) at 2× or 4×. For moving images, export MP4 or a GIF.

Pattern: Bayer 2×2, 4×4, 8×8 or Noise

The Bayer number is the size of the threshold pattern. Bigger patterns can show more distinct shades, so gradients look smoother.

Use 2×2 when you want the pattern to be loud, 8×8 for the most faithful image, and Noise for a film-grain or newsprint feel.

Palette: from 1-bit to full colour

The palette decides which colours the pattern mixes:

Colour Palette and Ink on Paper use the Mark Colours palettes, such as Desert Dusk, Riso Pop, Lagoon and Neon Night, so you can match a brand or a mood in one click.

Pixel Size

Pixel Size sets how big each dithered pixel is, from 1 px to 16 px. At 1–2 px the dithering blends into tone, like an old printout. At 4 px and up the pixels become a deliberate, chunky style that survives being shown small on a phone.

Tips for crisp dithered images

• Always export PNG, never JPG. JPG compression smears hard pixel edges into mush. PNG keeps every pixel sharp.
• Export at 2× or 4× if the image will be scaled. Dithered pixels don't survive resizing well.
• Raise the contrast first. Dithering has few levels to work with, so a punchy source image gives cleaner shapes.
• Use detailed subjects. Architecture, foliage and texture look great; big flat areas show only the pattern.
• For animated GIFs, the GIF exporter has its own dither toggle for reducing colours. Pair it with the Dither style for a consistent retro feel.

Dithering's cousins are halftone, which uses dots of different sizes, and ASCII art, which uses characters. All three build an image from a few marks instead of smooth tones.