Get Better Color Halftone Effects in Photoshop

Download the PDF: Get Better Color Halftone Effects in Photoshop

Written by Steve Patterson.

One of the most popular effects to create with Photoshop is a color halftone pattern, which is based on how a printing press uses cyan, magenta, yellow and black dots of ink, in varying sizes and patterns, to create the illusion of a continuous tone image.

Color halftone effects can give images a vintage or retro look by simulating print techniques used in newsprint, magazines, comic books and pop art.

Photoshop even includes a Color Halftone filter, the focus of this tutorial, which sounds like the perfect choice for creating a halftone effect. But if you’ve ever used the Color Halftone filter, the results were probably not as good as you expected.

Let’s take a quick look at the problem with the Color Halftone filter, and then I’ll show how to get much better results from it using a simple trick.

Which Photoshop version do I need?

The Color Halftone filter is available in any recent version of Photoshop.

I’m using Photoshop 2024. You can get the latest Photoshop version here.

Let’s get started!

Download this tutorial as a print-ready PDF!

The document setup

For this tutorial, I’ll use this retro-style photo from Adobe Stock

The original photo.

See also:

Where to find the Color Halftone filter in Photoshop

The Color Halftone filter is found by going up to the Filter menu in the Menu Bar, choosing Pixelate and then Color Halftone.

Going to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone.

How the Color Halftone filter works

In the Color Halftone dialog box, the Max Radius value at the top sets the maximum size of the dots, in pixels.

And each Channel option sets the angle for a specific color’s dot pattern (1 is for cyan, 2 is magenta, 3 is yellow and 4 is black). Where the dots overlap, the colors mix together to create new colors. At least, that’s the idea.

I generally leave the Channel options set to their defaults and the only value I change is the dot size (the Max Radius).

The Color Halftone filter options.

The standard Color Halftone filter result

The default Max Radius value is 8 pixels.

But since I’m working with a large image (5000 px by 3333 px) and I need the effect to be visible in the screenshots, I’ll increase the radius to 20.

Then I’ll click OK to apply the filter.

Increasing the maximum dot size for the halftone effect.

But the result is not what a true halftone pattern should look like.

Instead of the cyan, magenta, yellow and black dots mixing together to create the photo’s original colors, they just look like they’ve been added in front of the image.

The usual Color Halftone filter result is not great.

If I zoom in to 100% for a closer look, the problem is more obvious. The dots are not blending with the original colors at all.

The halftone dots look separate from the original photo.

The problem with Photoshop’s Color Halftone filter

So why is the Color Halftone filter so bad at creating halftone effects? Well, the filter itself is not the problem. The real issue is that our image is in the wrong color mode.

If you go up to the Image menu and choose Mode (short for Color Mode), you’ll see that your image is most likely in RGB color. And in the RGB (Red, Green and Blue) color mode, all colors in the image are made from different combinations of red, green and blue.

Most digital images use RGB color.

The problem is that the Color Halftone filter wants to be in the CMYK color mode.

CYMK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, which are the same colors as the halftone dots (and the same colors a printing press would use). So if we want better results from the Color Halftone filter, we first need to switch color modes.

Since my initial attempt with the Color Halftone filter didn’t work, I’ll undo it by going up to the Edit menu and choosing Undo Color Halftone.

Going to Edit > Undo Color Halftone

And now I’m back to the original photo.

The original photo returns.

How to get better results from the Color Halftone filter

To get the best results from the Color Halftone filter, we first need to convert our image from RGB color to CMYK.

But to be safe and avoid making any permanent changes to the image, we’ll duplicate the image and work in a separate document. Then we’ll move the halftone effect back over to the original document when we’re done.

Related tutorial: 5 ways to move images between documents

Step 1: Duplicate the image

With your Background layer selected in the Layers panel, go up to the Layer menu and choose Duplicate Layer.

Going to Layer > Duplicate Layer.

In the Duplicate Layer dialog box, set the Document to New and click OK.

Sending the duplicate layer to a new Photoshop document.

A copy of the image opens in a separate document, which we can tell from the new tab at the top.

The new document’s tab.

Step 2: Convert the image to CMYK color

With the new document active, go up to the Edit menu and choose Convert to Profile.

Going to Edit > Convert to Profile.

In the Convert to Profile dialog box, make sure the Destination Space is set to Working CMYK.

The information you see next to it may be different depending on where you are in the world. Mine says U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2. But the important part is Working CMYK.

Click OK to close the dialog box.

The Destination Space option set to Working CMYK.

Then if you go back to the Image menu and choose Mode, you’ll see that the image is now in the CMYK color mode.

We’re ready to apply the Color Halftone filter.

Confirming that the image is now in CMYK color.

Step 3: Apply the Color Halftone filter

Go up to the Filter menu, choose Pixelate and then Color Halftone, just like we did before.

Going to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone.

In the Color Halftone dialog box, enter a Max Radius value to set the maximum size for the halftone dots, in pixels. I’ll use the same value of 20 to start but we can come back and change it if needed.

Leave the four Channel options (I covered them earlier in the tutorial if you missed it) at their default values.

Then click OK to apply the filter.

Trying an initial maximum dot size.

This time, because the image is in the CMYK color mode, the Color Halftone filter creates a much better effect.

The cyan, magenta, yellow and black halftone dots are not just sitting in front of the image like they were in the RGB color mode. Instead the dots are blending with the photo’s original colors, giving it a nice vintage look.

The Color Halftone filter effect in the CMYK color mode.

For comparison, here again is the original color halftone effect using RGB color.

The Color Halftone filter effect in the RGB color mode.

Step 4: Change the halftone dot size

If you want to try a different dot size:

• Press Ctrl+Z on a Windows PC or Command+Z on a Mac to undo the Color Halftone filter, then
• Go back to the Filter menu, choose Pixelate and then Color Halftone.

Enter a different Max Radius value. The value you need will depend on the size of your image and the look you want to achieve. The default size is 8 and the lowest size you can choose is 4.

I’ll lower my setting from 20 to 12 pixels.

Trying a smaller maximum dot size.

Click OK to apply the filter, and I think these smaller halftone dots look better.

The color halftone effect using a smaller Max Radius value. 

Step 5: Copy and paste the halftone effect into the original document

To move the halftone effect over to the original document, go up to the Select menu and choose All.

Going to Select > All.

Then go to the Edit menu and choose Copy.

Going to Edit > Copy.

Close the halftone pattern document by clicking the small x in the document’s tab.

Leave the original document open.

Closing the halftone effect document.

Choose No (or Don’t Save on a Mac) when Photoshop asks if you want to save your changes.

Closing the document without saving it.

Then back in the original document, go up to the Edit menu and choose Paste.

Going to Edit > Paste.

Photoshop pastes the color halftone effect into the document.

The halftone effect is now part of the original document.

And in the Layers panel, the halftone effect appears on its own layer above the original image on the Background layer.

The original image and the halftone effect are on separate layers.

And there we have it! That’s the trick to creating better halftone pattern effects using Photoshop’s Color Halftone filter.

Related tutorials:

Don’t forget, all of my Photoshop tutorials are now available to download as PDFs!