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CMYK Halftone

Separate photos into cyan, magenta, yellow and black with a screen angle per ink, like offset printing. With misregistration and SVG export. Your picture stays on your device.

Open the generator

Runs right in your browser. Your graphics are made on your device.

Example motif made with the CMYK Halftone

Start from a preset

Pick a preset and it opens right in the editor, ready to adjust.

What is it?

CMYK halftone printing is the process behind almost every printed color photo: the picture is separated into the four process inks cyan, magenta, yellow and black, and each ink is printed as its own dot screen. So the screens do not interfere into distracting patterns (moiré), each ink has its own angle, classically cyan 15, magenta 75, yellow 0 and black 45 degrees. Up close you see the typical rosettes that comics and pop art made famous.

How it works

Upload a photo or start with a preset on the sample picture. Set the cell size and shape; gray component replacement (GCR) decides how much of the gray prints in black instead of the three colored inks. The angle of each ink is adjustable. Misregistration shifts cyan, magenta and yellow against each other like a slipped print. Inks and paper can be changed. Space turns all screens together and picks a new paper. Export as PNG, JPG, WebP or SVG.

Try the CMYK Halftone now

FAQ

Is my photo uploaded?
No. The photo is processed in your browser only and never sent to a server. Share links leave the photo out; if you save the design, everything stays local in your browser.
Is this a real color separation for the print shop?
No, it is a design effect. The conversion from RGB to CMYK is deliberately simple and uses no color profile. To print a photo in its original colors, the print shop still needs a profile such as ISO Coated. The result works well as artwork that looks like halftone print.
What does gray component replacement (GCR) do?
Where cyan, magenta and yellow together make a gray, GCR replaces that share with black. At 100 percent a neutral gray prints in black only, at 0 percent in the three colored inks only. Values in between give rich shadows with colored rosettes.
Can I edit the SVG further?
Yes. Each ink is its own group with the multiply blend mode, so browsers and Figma show the same overprints as the preview. Apps without blend modes show the inks stacked. The SVG is limited to 70,000 shapes (about 1 MB); for large photos, choose a larger cell size.
Why do I see moiré patterns?
Moiré appears when screens with similar angles overlap, or when the cells are only a few pixels wide in the preview. The classic angles are 30 degrees apart and keep moiré small. Zoom to 100 percent or choose a larger cell size.

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