Color dots: a photo as a glowing grid of round, full-color dots
Color dots places one round dot at the center of every cell and sizes it by brightness, from a pinpoint in dim areas to almost the full cell in the highlights. Each dot is filled with the photo's color at that point, strengthened by Color contrast at 100, so the image looks like a stadium screen or an LED wall seen up close. Dark cells drop out entirely and let the blurred backdrop glow between the rows, as on the warm, curving stairwell in the preview.
Make it yours
Show only the lights
Switch Backdrop to Black and the blurred photo disappears, leaving the dots alone on a dark ground. It reads much more like a real LED panel or a lightbox sign in a shop window.
Animate the dots
Set Motion to Ripple and the dots pulse in a wave that spreads out from the center, with Speed setting the pace. It makes a nice looping hero background or a loading screen.
FAQ
How is Color dots different from the Dot matrix preset?
Dot matrix works in Shapes mode with one ink, and its dots grow in the shadows like a printed halftone. Color dots belongs to Photo art: its dots grow in the highlights, each takes the photo's own color, and a blurred copy of the image sits behind them, so it looks lit from within rather than printed.
How it works
Upload an image
Add a PNG, JPG or WebP up to 20 MB or pick a sample photo, then keep its own shape or crop it to 1:1, 4:5, 3:2, 16:9 or 9:16.
Choose a mode
Dither with 14 algorithms and 13 palettes, Shapes with dots, squares, lines, crosses and diamonds, or Photo art with 18 pixel and print styles from LED matrix to stained glass.
Style and use it
Set pixel size and contrast, add scanlines, bloom, grain or a vignette, then sign in with a free UX Pilot account to use it on the canvas or export it.