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In computing and printing, a halftone is an image that uses a pattern of tiny dots of varying sizes and/or spacing to simulate continuous tones like shades of gray or color. The human eye blends these dots from a distance, creating the illusion of a smooth, continuous-tone image, even though the print itself is just black and white or a limited set of colors. This technique is crucial for printing photographs and other realistic images on devices that can only produce solid marks.

How it works: The process breaks an image into a grid of dots. Darker areas are represented by larger dots, while lighter areas use smaller dots.

Digital application: Computer software, such as Raster Image Processing (RIP) software, handles the conversion from a continuous-tone digital image to a halftone pattern before printing.

Single-color printing: For single-color printing (like in newspapers or screen printing), the dots are usually black on a white background or vice-versa. The size and density of the dots are adjusted to represent different shades.

Multi-color printing: To print a full-color image, multiple halftone patterns are created, one for each color ink (typically Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, or CMYK).

Purpose: Halftones are essential for most forms of printing, including magazines, newspapers, and screen printing, as they allow for the reproduction of realistic images using only solid ink.