1-Bit Gradient Generator

Gradients Studio's 1-bit gradient generator draws a gradient in exactly two colors, the fade made of dithered dots, like the screens of early Macs. Each palette here opens with its background and one ink color; the first download needs no account.

Make a 1-bit gradient Free wallpapers

First download free, no account · 4K on Pro, from $9 · No subscription

Two colors each

Each card is the palette's background and the color that stands furthest from it, rendered at these settings. It opens in the studio the same way.

Effects: Pixel
Cell size: 12px
Density: 140%
Colors: 2
Grain: 0%

The smooth originals are free 4K wallpapers: Ember, Deep Sea, Midnight, Storm, Daybreak, Canopy, Spotlight and Abyss.

What a 1-bit gradient is

One bit per pixel means two values: ink or paper. With no tones in between, a fade can only be drawn by how many cells are ink, dense where the color is strong and sparse where it fades. That is the whole look: a gradient made of nothing but dots.

How this page sets it up

Each palette opens with two colors, its background and the one palette color with the most contrast against it. Effects Pixel, cell size 12 px (320 cells across 4K), Density 140% and Grain 0, so every cell is drawn in one of the two colors.

Pixel or Dither for 1-bit

The Pixel finish places dots by blue noise, the even, grainy speckle of dithered photos on old screens. The Dither finish uses an ordered 4 × 4 Bayer grid with a mark in each cell, for a more graphic, patterned 1-bit. Both keep to the two colors.

Where it works

Developer tool and terminal-flavored sites, zine and poster covers, small game pages, e-ink and print, where two flat colors reproduce exactly. Black and white is the classic pair, but ink on a tinted paper color is just as 1-bit.

Sized for where it goes

Exact sizes and safe zones for the places a background ends up, each with examples at that shape.

More generators

The same studio, set to another look.

Questions

Does it have to be black and white?

No. 1-bit means two colors, not which two. Set the background and the single palette color to any pair: navy on cream, green on black, your brand's ink on its paper.

How do I get two colors on a gradient that has more?

Start from this page, where every palette opens with just the background and one color, and change either. On a gradient that already has several colors, set them all to the same hex: the finish then has only two colors to choose from.

What cell size looks most like an old screen?

Small. At 8 to 12 px the dots read as a dithered photo when the image is seen at full size. From 32 px up they become a bold dot pattern meant to be seen from a distance, such as on a poster.

Is the 1-bit gradient generator free?

Your first download is free with no account, an HD JPG (1920 × 1080 for 16:9) that stays 1-bit. 4K with the finish is part of Pro ($39 for 12 months) or a $9 Week Pass, both single payments.

Make one now

The studio opens set to this look. Shuffle until something feels right, then export.

Make a 1-bit gradient