Apply Dithering to an Image
Recreate an image with a small palette using Floyd–Steinberg error diffusion. Runs entirely in your browser, so your data never leaves your device.
Drop a file here, or click to browse
Files never leave your device
Output
The result appears here as you type.
How to use Apply Dithering to an Image
- 1. Load the full-color image. Drop a photo or artwork into the input pane. Images with smooth gradients, like skies and portraits, show off dithering best because those are exactly the areas a small palette struggles with.
- 2. Choose the Number of colors. Set how many colors the output palette may use. Two gives stark black-and-white newspaper texture, 8 evokes early PC graphics, and 64 looks nearly photographic while still cutting the palette dramatically.
- 3. Download the dithered image. The Floyd-Steinberg pass scatters quantization error into neighboring pixels, so gradients survive as fine speckle instead of hard bands. Review the texture at full size, then save.
When to use Apply Dithering to an Image
Apply Dithering to an Image rebuilds a picture using only a handful of colors, using Floyd-Steinberg error diffusion to fake the missing shades with patterned pixels. It is both a practical compression technique for palette-based formats and the signature look of retro computing, e-ink and 1-bit art.
- Retro and pixel-art aesthetics. The speckled texture of an 8-color dither instantly reads as Macintosh-era or DOS-era graphics. Game jam assets, chiptune album covers and retro landing pages all trade on that look.
- Preparing images for e-ink displays. E-readers and e-paper dashboards show few gray levels, so photos band badly. Dithering to the panel's palette first produces images that look intentional on the device.
- Shrinking GIFs and palette PNGs. GIF tops out at 256 colors and indexed PNGs get smaller with fewer entries. Dithering before conversion keeps gradients acceptable at aggressive palette sizes, cutting file weight for the web.
- One-color print processes. Risograph, stamp and engraving workflows want pure two-tone input. A 2-color dither converts a photograph into printable black-and-white texture with the midtones preserved as density.
Examples
Retro dithered look
Input
photo.png + 8 colors
Output
photo.png dithered to an 8-color palette
About the Apply Dithering to an Image tool
Apply Dithering to an Image runs as plain JavaScript in your browser tab, with no server behind it. Recreate an image with a small palette using Floyd–Steinberg error diffusion. Whatever you put in stays on your device from start to finish.
The tool is part of EditSafely's Image Tools section, 200 single-purpose utilities built around the same idea: open the page, get the result, keep your data to yourself.
You can shape the output with the Number of colors setting, and the result refreshes the moment you change it. The finished file is put together in browser memory and saved with the Download button, so it never touches a server on the way to your disk. A worked example further down the page shows exactly what the tool produces for a real input.
That local-first design has practical benefits beyond privacy. The tool keeps working on a flaky connection once the page has loaded, results are instant because nothing round-trips to a server, and it is safe to use with confidential material.
Frequently asked questions
Does Apply Dithering to an Image cost anything?
Yes, it is completely free. All 2,658 tools on EditSafely work without an account, a subscription or usage limits.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No data leaves your device. The whole tool is JavaScript that runs inside your browser tab, so there is no upload, no server-side processing and no log of what you did. If you disconnect from the internet after the page loads, it keeps working.
Which files does Apply Dithering to an Image accept?
It accepts images in any common format (PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF and more). There is no file size cap imposed by a server; very large files are limited only by your device's memory.
Do I need to sign up or install anything?
Nothing to install and no account needed. Open the page in any up-to-date browser, including on a phone or tablet, and the tool is ready.
How do I save the output?
Click the Download button once the result is ready. The file is built in your browser's memory and handed straight to your downloads folder, without passing through a server.
Related tools
All Image Tools →Reduce Number of Image Colors
Quantize an image down to a fixed number of its dominant colors for a stylized look.
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Snap every pixel to pure black or pure white around a brightness threshold.
Simplify Image Colors
Posterize an image by snapping each color channel to a few evenly spaced levels.