How to Create a Halftone Effect in Affinity Photo

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create a halftone effect in Affinity Photo. Halftones consist of dots of various sizes and spaces. When you put the dots together, they create a tone or a gradient. The halftone effect is usually done in printing so that less ink is used when printing an image. You’ll see many magazines and newspapers use this technique. And, it’s also found in comic books.

Before you begin, go to the following link to download the image for the tutorial:

Man in Red Hat

Step 1

First, go to File > Open and select the downloaded image.

Step 2

Second, go to the Adjustments Panel and select the Black and White adjustment.

Step 3

Select the Background image layer and the Black and White adjustment layer. Right click on the selected items and select Merge Visible. Then, uncheck the Black and White Adjustment and the original image in the Layers Panel.

Step 4

Now, go to the Live Filters icon and select Halftone.

Step 5

In the Live Halftone dialogue box, set the Screen to Monochrome. Then, set the Dot to Cosine.

Step 6

Next, set the Cell Size to 25.

Step 7

Set the Contrast to 60.

Step 8

After that, go to the Screen Angle, and set it to 135 degrees.

Step 9

Go to the Blend Mode and set it to Hard Mix.

Step 10

Next, set the Opacity to 75%.

Step 11

Now, click on the Add Pixel Layer icon to add a new pixel layer.

Step 12

With the new pixel layer selected, go to the Tools Panel and select the Gradient Tool. Drag the Gradient Tool from the top to the bottom. Then, select the bottom point and go to the Color Panel. Click the icon in the right corner and select Wheel to bring up the Color Wheel.

Step 13

Set the bottom point to a reddish, slightly orange color. Then, click on the top point.

Step 14

Go to the Swatches Panel. Select the bottom point and change it to the following fill color #F3651D. Then, select the top point and change its fill color to #125ED0.

Step 15

After that, go to the Layers Panel. Select the filled pixel layer. Next, set the Blend Mode to Hard Light. Then, lower the Opacity to about 80%.

Bonus Steps

Step 1

To change your halftone effect to lines or circles, double click the Halftone layer in the Layers Panel to open the dialogue box.

Step 2

Click on Screen and select Line or Circular.

Step 3

Then, adjust the Cell Size.

Step 4

Now, change your Contrast if you need to. I decreased it to 50.

Step 5

Finally, adjust your Screen Angle.

*** For the Circular Screen, I set the Cell Size to 15 and the Contrast to 45.

Congratulations, this tutorial is complete! For more Affinity Photo tutorials, check out this article on how to transform summer to autumn.