Blend With Dithering

Lesson 5 of 6 · Intermediate · 8 min

What you will make
A dithered transition that reads as a smooth mid-tone.

Your progress0 / 6

Lesson checklist

Compare your own work with these checkpoints. Check each one when your result is ready.

My dither alternates single pixels in a checker, not two rows.I only dithered the one edge that needed it.At game size I cannot see the pattern.

0 of 3 checked

No account needed. Learning progress is saved in this browser.

This lesson's project

Not created yet

Dither the cap's highlight-to-shadow edge into a smooth mid-tone, then zoom out and confirm the pattern is invisible.

Practice in the editor

Open a 24 × 24 practice canvas with lesson examples and onion skin enabled. Your work saves automatically to My projects.

No account needed. Up to 3 projects.… / 3 used. Projects are saved automatically in this browser.

Starter files and backup import

Follow the steps

Soften the hard edge between two values using alternating pixels.

Start with: The shaded version from lesson four, with its hard highlight-to-shadow edge.

1
Find the one hard edge
There is exactly one place where base color meets shadow with nothing between them, on the cap's right side. Dithering anywhere else would be noise.
A single target edge, identified.
2
Alternate single pixels
Replace every other shadow pixel along that edge with the base color, in a checker pattern. Do not blend two rows at once.
A one-pixel-wide checker along the edge.
3
Do not repeat the pattern twice
A second checker row creates visible stripes. One row of alternation is enough to soften a transition in a 24 by 24 image.
A single blended row.
4
Zoom out to judge it
At game size the checker should disappear into a smooth edge. If you can still count the pixels, remove every other one you added.
A transition that reads as smooth.
5
Apply the same test elsewhere
The rim under the cap has a similar hard edge. Use one row of the same technique, or leave it hard if it reads better that way.
A consistent blend rule across the image.

See the technique

Hard highlight-to-shadow edge

The same edge, dithered

The two images differ by three pixels. Those pixels sit in the gap between the base tone and the shadow, and the eye averages them into a mid-tone that never existed in the palette.

Learning notes and references

Place alternating pixels to blend two adjacent values.
Keep the checker pattern sparse and in one zone only.
Stop before the pattern becomes visible as a pattern.

What Is Dithering?Pixel Art Shading Guide

Follow the steps

Soften the hard edge between two values using alternating pixels.

Start with: The shaded version from lesson four, with its hard highlight-to-shadow edge.

Find the one hard edge

There is exactly one place where base color meets shadow with nothing between them, on the cap's right side. Dithering anywhere else would be noise.

A single target edge, identified.

Alternate single pixels

Replace every other shadow pixel along that edge with the base color, in a checker pattern. Do not blend two rows at once.

A one-pixel-wide checker along the edge.

Do not repeat the pattern twice

A second checker row creates visible stripes. One row of alternation is enough to soften a transition in a 24 by 24 image.

A single blended row.

Zoom out to judge it

At game size the checker should disappear into a smooth edge. If you can still count the pixels, remove every other one you added.

A transition that reads as smooth.

Apply the same test elsewhere

The rim under the cap has a similar hard edge. Use one row of the same technique, or leave it hard if it reads better that way.

A consistent blend rule across the image.