Dither Wallpaper

Gradients Studio makes dither wallpapers: a gradient in your colors where each fade is drawn as an ordered pattern of small marks, exported at your screen's shape for a desktop or a phone. Your first download is free with no account; 4K with the dither finish is Pro.

Make a dither wallpaper Free wallpapers

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

Dither wallpapers to start from

Each card is the real render at these settings, and opens in the studio with them.

Effects: Dither
Cell size: 24px
Density: 120%
Grain: 10%

The smooth originals are free 4K wallpapers: Lavender Haze, Deep Sea, Solar, Blue Sky, Sunset, Daybreak, Canopy and Abyss.

What a dither wallpaper looks like

Up close you see a grid of tiny bars, crosses, rings and dots in the palette's colors; from across the desk you see bands of flat color with a textured seam where they meet. It is the look of early computer screens and print, which is why it sits well behind a terminal or a code editor.

The settings on this page

Effects Dither, cell size 24 px, Density 120% and Grain 10%. On a 4K screen that is 160 cells across: small enough that the marks read as texture, big enough that they don't vanish on a Retina display. Raise the cell size toward 40 if you want the pattern to be the subject.

Sizes that fit

Set the frame in the studio before you export: 16:10 exports 3840 × 2400 for a MacBook or Studio Display, 16:9 exports 3840 × 2160 for a 4K monitor, 21:9 suits an ultrawide, and 9:16 exports 1215 × 2160 for a phone. The free first download is the same picture at half each side.

Your own marks

Type characters into Characters to replace the default marks: ● for round dots, + for crosses, or 01 for a binary screen. Turn on Only glyphs and the gradient stays smooth with the characters floating over it, a softer wallpaper than flat bands.

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

What is a dither wallpaper?

A wallpaper whose gradient is drawn with dithering: instead of smooth tones, each fade between two colors becomes an ordered pattern of marks, dense where the second color is strong and sparse where it fades.

Will the pattern blur when my screen scales it?

Export at your screen's shape so the system fits it without cropping or stretching. The marks are drawn at export size, and a cell size of 16 px or more keeps them distinct when a Retina screen scales the image.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Choose 9:16 in the studio. The phone export is 1215 px wide, so 16 to 24 px cells give a fine pattern; bigger cells give a bolder, more graphic look.

Is the dither wallpaper free?

Your first download is free with no account and keeps the dither finish, at half the 4K size. 4K with the finish is part of Pro, $39 for 12 months, or a $9 Week Pass. Neither renews. Smooth 4K wallpapers are free on the wallpapers page.

Make one now

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

Make a dither wallpaper