What is CMYK halftone separation?

CMYK halftone separation splits a full-color image into four printing plates — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Each plate is rendered as a halftone dot pattern at a specific screen angle. When the four plates print on top of each other, the human eye blends them into a continuous-tone color image. Almost every printed photograph in newspapers, magazines, books, packaging and posters is reproduced this way.

Classic CMYK screen angles

The standard offset printing angles are Cyan 15°, Magenta 75°, Yellow 0°, Black 45°. These specific angles are chosen so that no two channels' grids line up — preventing the moiré patterns that would appear if all four screens shared the same angle. The STUDIO·ITY CMYK Halftone tool defaults to these classic angles and lets you fine-tune each plate independently.

Per-plate export for screen printing

For real-world screen printing, riso or offset, you need each color plate as a separate file. Pro export gives you four grayscale PNGs (one per plate) or four SVG vector files. Each separation is ready to send to your printer or use as a stencil mask. SVG output uses true vector circles (or your chosen dot shape) so it scales to any size without losing crispness.

How to create a CMYK halftone

Apply CMYK halftone to video

All STUDIO·ITY tools accept video upload. Drop an MP4, MOV or WebM onto the canvas, pick a still frame to tweak settings, then render the full clip with the CMYK halftone effect applied frame-by-frame. Output is a standard H.264 MP4 — plays in QuickTime, VLC, social platforms. HEVC (iPhone) and ProRes are auto-converted in-browser. Free tier: 5 seconds at 480p; Pro: 30 seconds at source resolution.

Try more free image effects

Halftone Generator — single-color halftone Risograph Simulator — Riso multi-color effect Dither Effect — Floyd-Steinberg & friends
Frequently asked questions
What is CMYK halftone separation?

CMYK halftone separation splits a color image into four printing plates — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Each plate is rendered as a halftone dot pattern at a different screen angle. When printed on top of each other, the eye blends them into a full-color image. This is the foundation of almost all four-color print.

What screen angles should I use?

The classic offset printing angles are Cyan 15°, Magenta 75°, Yellow 0°, Black 45°. These specific angles prevent moiré patterns when the four screens overlap. You can use these defaults or fine-tune each angle independently using the angle sliders per channel.

Can I export each color plate separately?

Yes — Pro users get four-plate exports. Pick "4× PNG separations" for grayscale bitmaps or "4× SVG separations" for true vector files. Each separation contains only that color's dot pattern, ready to send straight to a screen printer, offset press or risograph.

What is black generation (GCR / UCR)?

Black generation controls how much of the dark areas use pure black ink instead of overlapping CMY. Higher black generation means cleaner shadows, less total ink and crisper edges. Lower values give richer dark tones with more CMY mixing. Standard offset uses 70-85% — STUDIO·ITY defaults to 80%.

Why add misregistration?

Real-world printing always has slight misregistration — the plates never line up perfectly. The misregistration slider adds a controlled random offset per channel to simulate this for an authentic printed look. Designers use this for posters, zines and editorial illustration to feel less digital.

What dot shapes can I use?

Circle (classic), Square, Diamond, Line (engraving style) and Ellipse. The same shape is used across all four plates. Different shapes give different print aesthetics — circles for traditional, diamonds for modern, lines for engraving-style illustration.

Does the CMYK halftone tool work offline?

Yes. Once the page is loaded, everything happens in your browser via the Canvas API. Your images are never uploaded to a server, and you can disconnect from the internet — the tool keeps working.

Is the output free for commercial use?

Yes. Output from the STUDIO·ITY CMYK halftone tool is free for personal and commercial use. No attribution required.

Can I apply CMYK halftone to video?

Yes. Upload an MP4, MOV or WebM, pick a still frame to dial in your settings, then render the full clip with the CMYK halftone effect applied frame-by-frame. Output is a standard MP4 (H.264). HEVC and ProRes are auto-converted in-browser via FFmpeg.wasm. Free tier renders up to 5 seconds at 480p; Pro: up to 30 seconds at source resolution.