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New Participant
August 2, 2021
Answered

Convert Image into Dots

  • August 2, 2021
  • 12 replies
  • 32855 views

Hi Adobe Folks,

I am very interested in turning an image into a series of dots. I want to have the same size dots but just clustered differently if possible. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this with Adobe software? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

Correct answer Semaphoric

There is some free software, Stipplegen,  which will do this. It processes the image repeatedly, each iteration providing finer results. It ouputs .SVG files, so Illustrator would be best for editing the results.

12 replies

New Participant
November 1, 2025

 Hi Adobe Folks,

 

I am very interested in turning an image into a series of dots. I want to have the same size dots but just clustered differently if possible. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this with Adobe software? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

c.pfaffenbichler
Adobe Expert
November 17, 2025

StippleGen2 (as recommended by Semaphoric) is not Adobe but did you give it a try? 

Achieving the effect with Photoshop might be possible but seems a bit complicated. 

New Participant
November 1, 2025

Copy imege 

c.pfaffenbichler
Adobe Expert
August 10, 2025

Unless your post was spam please elaborate on what you are trying to achieve in Photoshop and what is giving you problems. 

New Participant
February 17, 2025

You can try using Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator with the halftone effect to convert the image into dots. Photoshop’s halftone pattern under the "Filter Gallery" can help you cluster the dots while keeping the same size. Illustrator also has similar effects for more control. If you’re into design or working with different visual formats, you might also find tool [link renoved] helpful for various calculations related to design and layout.

New Participant
December 12, 2024

Hi. 

Can I ask if you succeed to turn a photo into dots at a certain dimension and also count? 

Thank you. 

c.pfaffenbichler
Adobe Expert
November 8, 2024

Is this in any way related to the subject of this thread? 

gener7
Adobe Expert
November 8, 2024

I think dropping a unrelated image counts as spam, so it's reported and gone.

PECourtejoie
Adobe Expert
April 2, 2023

Hi, @defaultovwfkbch51xl the closest you could get in Photoshop, create a white layer below, then use the Dissolve blend mode, strongly reduce the opacity of the image, then flatten and use Filters>Other>Minimum, with preserve roundness, but it is far from a perfec circle...

c.pfaffenbichler
Adobe Expert
April 1, 2023

That does seem interesting but the identically sized »dots« at varying distances and angles (depending on the original image’s luminance) (edit: but without overlapping »dots«) seem so far removed from a classic halftone screen that I suspect they are way beyond Photoshop’s default functionality; a Filter or Script might be able to achieve such results, though, I guess. 

But the software @Semaphoric linked to seems like an excellent match already. 

Brainiac
April 1, 2023

I wonder if ImageJ has this capability as well?

http://imagej.net

New Participant
April 1, 2023

I am more curious how you generated this image on the right with matlab. How did you do this?

Semaphoric
Adobe Expert
April 2, 2023

I don't know much about Matlab, but I think this involves Voronoi diagrams.

Brainiac
August 2, 2021

Image->Mode->Bitmap and play around with dithering methods.