Dither

Open-source vector dithering tool with an Illustrator plugin. Created by Josh Pigford (@Shpigford). Available at dither.neato.fun and github.com/Shpigford/dither.

What It Is

Dither converts images and gradients into scalable SVG patterns — each dither cell becomes a vector shape (circles, squares, diamonds) grouped by color. Available as a web app and a native Adobe Illustrator plugin. Source: GitHub Shpigford/dither README, 2026-03-15

Josh Pigford (creator of Baremetrics) built and open-sourced it (MIT). 2,624 likes / 2,843 bookmarks — rank #151 in Kevin's bookmark library by save count. Source: X/@Shpigford, 2026-03-15

Current Source Snapshot

As of the 2026-06-30 deep review, Shpigford/dither is MIT licensed, default branch main, latest release Dither v1.0.1 (v1.0.1, published 2026-03-15), with GitHub HEAD 19125db21f5874f1677afb6394a0ecd2047bf853 and tag object 8029814e2a10c4da1307fdf509fd1de81cc65638. GitHub showed 119 stars and 6 forks during the review. Source: GitHub Shpigford/dither, 2026-06-30

Features (from README)

• 9 dither patterns: Bayer 2×2/4×4/8×8, Halftone, Lines, Crosses, Dots, Grid, Scales
• Load images or generate gradients (linear, radial, conic, diagonal, noise)
• 2–8 color palettes with presets (B/W, GameBoy, CGA, Sepia)
• Export SVG (vector, grouped by color) or PNG
• Shared pure-JS core engine in packages/core/ — zero DOM deps

Use Cases

• Retro/textured illustration effects in vector format
• Editorial and print-ready dithered graphics
• Illustrator-native workflow via .aip plugin (Illustrator 2024+)
• Generating dither/halftone overlays instead of sourcing static packs — see Texture & Grain Resources

Artifact Review

The three downloaded tweet images show the tool's useful range: a green/yellow halftone portrait scene, an abstract blue band composition converted into square-dot texture, and a sepia target-like gradient rendered as grid dithering. The durable design lesson is that dither should be treated as an editable vector texture primitive, not a static bitmap overlay. Source: X bookmark media artifact 2033022956725469373, reviewed 2026-06-30

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Timeline

• 2026-03-15 | Released by @Shpigford: "just released dither, a vector dithering tool! it's open source and has an illustrator plugin!" (2,624 likes, 2,843 bookmarks). Source: X/@Shpigford, 2026-03-15
• 2026-06-30 | Deep-reviewed the GitHub repo, local media artifacts, and version state. Kept Dither as a tool/design-source page, not an executable skill; the update feeds design-taste and media-generation capsules through the design/tool pages. Source: X bookmark artifact audit, 2026-06-30