A professional vector halftone generator script for Adobe Illustrator.
6 shape types · 15 one-click presets · gradient color mapping · fully editable output · v3.1
Halftone Pro is an ExtendScript .jsx plugin for Adobe Illustrator that generates fully editable vector halftone patterns — circles, hexagons, diamonds, squares, triangles, and lines — with precise control over spacing, size, color, and tonal mapping. Every dot is a native vector path. No rasterization, no live effects, no third-party dependencies.
Built and maintained by Petra-dot.
| Classic Newspaper | Hex Honeycomb | Gradient Wash |
|---|---|---|
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| Risograph | Radial Burst | Scatter Pop |
|---|---|---|
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6 Shape Types
- Circle, Square, Triangle, Hexagon, Diamond, Line
15 One-Click Presets
- Classic Newspaper, Fine Art Screen, Coarse Pop-Art, Gradient Wash, Square Grid, Diamond Editorial, Hex Honeycomb, Engraving Lines, Radial Burst, Risograph, Scatter Pop, Offset Press, Micro Texture, Brutalist, Triangle Mesh
Dot Size Control
- Independent cell size and gap/spacing percentage
- Min and max scale range for tonal variation
- 4 luma sources: Uniform, Diagonal, Linear, Radial
- Gamma correction and brightness invert
- Random dot size mode
Color Modes
- Flat — single solid color
- Multi — up to 5 colors randomly assigned per dot
- Gradient map — 2 or 3-stop gradient sampled at each dot's canvas position, 6 directions
Dynamics
- Random rotation with min/max range
- Random opacity with min/max range
- Random horizontal/vertical flip
Output
- Auto-clips to selection shape or artboard boundary
- Optional clip mask, grouping, blend mode, layer opacity
- Source shape kept or removed after generation
- Named output layer with shape count
- Up to 60,000 shapes per run
| Software | Version |
|---|---|
| Adobe Illustrator | CS6, CC 2019, CC 2020, CC 2021, CC 2022, CC 2023, CC 2024, CC 2025 |
| OS | Windows 10/11 · macOS 10.15+ |
No installation of additional software or plugins required.
Copy HALFTONE_PRO.jsx to:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version]\Presets\en_US\Scripts\
Copy HALFTONE_PRO.jsx to:
/Applications/Adobe Illustrator [version]/Presets/en_US/Scripts/
- Restart Adobe Illustrator
- Go to File → Scripts → HALFTONE_PRO
Alternative: You can also run the script directly at any time via File → Scripts → Other Script... and browse to the file without copying it to the Scripts folder.
- Open an Illustrator document
- Run File → Scripts → HALFTONE_PRO
- Choose a shape, adjust settings or pick a preset
- Click Generate ▶
The halftone fills the active artboard and is automatically clipped to the artboard boundary.
- Draw any shape (rectangle, circle, custom path — anything)
- Select it with the Selection Tool
- Run the script
- The halftone fills the selected shape's bounding area and is clipped to it
- The source shape is removed by default (check Keep source shape to keep it)
- Open the script
- Click the Preset dropdown and select a style
- Click Apply — all settings load instantly
- Adjust any value you want to tweak
- Click Generate ▶
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Shape type | Circle, Square, Triangle, Hexagon, Diamond, Line |
| Line width | Width of the Line shape as a fraction of dot radius |
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Cell size (pt) | Centre-to-centre distance between dots |
| Gap % | Extra padding around each dot, independent of cell size |
| Min scale % | Minimum dot size as % of cell half-size |
| Max scale % | Maximum dot size as % of cell half-size |
| Angle (deg) | Grid rotation angle 0–89° |
| Random dot size | Ignores luma source; each dot gets a random size between min and max |
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Uniform | All dots drawn at Max scale |
| Diagonal | Top-left = dark (large), bottom-right = light (small) |
| Linear L-R | Left = dark, right = light |
| Radial | Edge = dark, centre = light |
| Invert | Flips the brightness map |
| Gamma | Adjusts the midtone curve of the tonal gradient |
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Random rotation | Each dot rotated by a random amount in the min/max range |
| Random opacity | Each dot given a random opacity in the min/max range |
| Random flip H/V | Each dot randomly flipped horizontally or vertically |
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Flat | Single solid color (C1) |
| Multi | Each dot randomly picks from enabled color slots C1–C5 |
| Gradient | Each dot gets a solid color sampled from a 2 or 3-stop gradient based on its canvas position |
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Clip mask | Clips the result to the selection shape or artboard |
| Keep source shape | When checked, the original selected shape is not deleted |
| Group shapes | Groups all dots into a single named group |
| Blend | Blend mode applied to the output group |
| Opacity % | Opacity of the output group |
| # | Preset | Shape | Style |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Classic Newspaper | Circle | 45° diagonal gradient, tight spacing |
| 2 | Fine Art Screen | Circle | Fine 45° screen, high detail |
| 3 | Coarse Pop-Art | Circle | Large dots, bold editorial |
| 4 | Gradient Wash | Circle | 3-stop colour gradient wash |
| 5 | Square Grid | Square | Axis-aligned square grid |
| 6 | Diamond Editorial | Diamond | 45° diamonds with gold gradient |
| 7 | Hex Honeycomb | Hexagon | Uniform hexagons, true honeycomb |
| 8 | Engraving Lines | Line | Vertical engraving lines |
| 9 | Radial Burst | Circle | Large dots at edge, small at centre |
| 10 | Risograph | Square | 2-colour lo-fi duplicator print |
| 11 | Scatter Pop | Circle | 3-colour random scatter |
| 12 | Offset Press | Circle | Classic 15° offset plate angle |
| 13 | Micro Texture | Circle | Dense micro-dot fill texture |
| 14 | Brutalist | Circle | Random size and rotation |
| 15 | Triangle Mesh | Triangle | Diagonal triangle grid |
Applying a gradient across the whole halftone after generation
Do not apply a gradient fill directly from the Swatches panel — Illustrator applies it per shape, not across the group. Instead:
- Method 1 (recommended): Draw a rectangle over the halftone group, fill it with your gradient, set its blend mode to Multiply. The gradient washes over the entire halftone non-destructively.
- Method 2: Select the halftone group, draw a gradient rectangle on top, select both, then in the Transparency panel choose Make Opacity Mask. Double-click the mask thumbnail to edit the gradient at any time.
Performance
For large artboards, increase cell size to reduce shape count. At 4pt cells on an A4 document you may approach the 60,000 shape limit. The script shows a warning if the limit is hit and outputs what it generated up to that point.
Editing the result
All output is standard vector paths in a named group on a named layer. Select the group, go to Object → Ungroup to access individual dots. Use Edit → Select Same → Fill Color to select all dots of a specific color.
| Version | Changes |
|---|---|
| v3.1 | Window title updated with Petra-dot branding; version constants added; changelog consolidated |
| v3.0 | Shapes outside bounds fixed (exact cull + artboard auto-clip); source shape removal timing fixed; color mode radio fixed for all presets; auto-clip to artboard when no selection |
| v2.0 | Gradient color map (position-sampled per dot, 6 directions, 2–3 stops); gap/spacing slider; keep/remove source shape; luma from canvas position (fixes rotated grid distribution); clip mask structure rebuilt; CS6 compatibility |
| v1.0 | Initial release — 6 shape types, 15 presets, flat/multi/gradient color, dynamics, gap control, clip mask, two-column UI |
Halftone Pro by Petra-dot
Copyright (c) 2024 Petra-dot (github.com/petra-dot)
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software for personal or commercial use, including the rights to use,
run, and produce output with this software without restriction.
The following restrictions apply:
1. RESELLING PROHIBITED. You may not sell, license, sublicense, or otherwise
distribute this script itself — in original or modified form — as a paid
product or as part of a paid product, bundle, or toolkit.
2. REDISTRIBUTION. You may share this script freely provided this copyright
notice and license text remain intact and unmodified.
3. MODIFICATION. You may modify this script for your own personal use.
Modified versions may not be publicly distributed or sold without explicit
written permission from Petra-dot.
4. OUTPUT. Artwork generated using this script is entirely yours. There are
no restrictions on the use, sale, or distribution of output created with
this tool.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR
OTHER LIABILITY ARISING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
Found a bug or want to suggest an improvement? Open an issue or submit a pull request at github.com/petra-dot/halftone-pro.
Please include:
- Your Illustrator version and OS
- A description of the issue or suggestion
- Screenshots if applicable
Made by Petra-dot
If this script saves you time, a star on the repo is always appreciated.