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Graphic Design vocabulary · Image Formats & Resolution

Dithering

Meaning in graphic design, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In graphic design, dithering means: Using patterns of available colours to suggest intermediate tones.

In Turkish: renk taklidi, noktalama ile ton benzetimi

How it is used

Use when a limited palette or tonal range cannot represent smooth changes directly.

Example sentences

  1. Dithering made the limited-colour gradient look smoother.

    Neighbouring colour patterns suggest levels absent from the palette.

  2. Too much dithering gave the flat icon a speckled texture.

    The pattern used to simulate tones can itself become visible.

Common collocations

  • dithering pattern
  • error-diffusion dithering
  • raster imageA digital image made of a grid of tiny coloured squares called pixels, such as a photo. It has a fixed resolution, so it loses quality when enlarged too much.
  • resolutionThe amount of detail in a digital image, shown by how many pixels it has or how many pixels or dots fit into one inch. Print usually needs about 300 dpi at final size.

More terms: Image Formats & Resolution

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