Dithering Tool
Turn any photo into retro dithered pixel art — the look of 1-bit Mac screens, Game Boy games and old newspaper photos. Pick an algorithm and a palette, tune the pixel size, then download the result as PNG. Everything runs in your browser — your images never leave your computer.
What is dithering?
Dithering fakes shades your palette doesn't have by arranging the few colors it does have in clever patterns — from a distance, scattered black and white pixels read as gray. It's how early computers, printers and consoles displayed photos with just a handful of colors, and it's back in fashion as a design aesthetic.
Which algorithm should I pick?
Floyd–Steinberg diffuses the error to neighboring pixels — smooth, organic grain, the all-rounder. Atkinson (born at Apple for the original Macintosh) keeps more contrast with a lighter, airier texture. Bayer uses a fixed crosshatch pattern — very "video game". Threshold is raw black-or-white with no dithering at all, for maximum graphic punch.
What do the palettes do?
Presets: 1-bit Mono is pure ink on paper, Game Boy uses the legendary four-green screen of 1989, Grayscale gives four neutral steps, and ScaryRobot mixes our own ink, pink and cream. Color count builds an adaptive palette of 8, 16, 32 or 64 colors straight from your photo (a median-cut quantizer, the same family of algorithm behind classic GIF color reduction), so the result stays true to the image's own colors. Tritone works like a duotone with a third, middle color you pick yourself — set your own shadows, midtones and highlights. Pixel size makes the blocks chunkier without blurring — the export stays razor sharp.
Is it really private?
Yes. There is no upload: all processing happens in your browser using canvas and JavaScript. Close the tab and nothing remains.
☕ The robot runs on caffeine
This tool is free and always will be. If it saved you time, a coffee keeps the robot scary.