What are the standard CMYK halftone angles?

Commonly cyan at 15°, black at 45°, magenta at 75°, and yellow at 0°. The strong colours are spaced 30° apart to avoid moiré, and black sits at 45° because it's least noticeable.

Why do halftone screens use different angles?

Four overlapping dot grids at the same angle create a distracting wavy interference pattern called moiré. Offsetting each ink's screen angle hides that interference and produces a clean rosette pattern instead.

Do I need to set screen angles for a single-colour halftone?

No. Angles only matter for multi-ink CMYK separations on a press. For one-colour or digital halftones, use whatever angle looks best.

Explainer

CMYK Halftone Angles, Explained

Why colour halftones use specific screen angles for each ink, what the standard angles are, and how to avoid moiré.

Updated 2026-06-06

If you've looked into colour halftone printing, you've hit the term 'screen angles' — and probably a list of oddly specific numbers like 15°, 45°, 75°. They're not arbitrary. They exist to stop colour printing from turning into an ugly mess called moiré. Here's the why behind them.

Why colour needs four screens

Colour printing builds an image from four inks: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). Each ink gets its own halftone screen of dots. The problem is that four overlapping dot grids, if they all sit at the same angle, interfere with each other and create a distracting wavy pattern. That interference is moiré, and it ruins the print.

The standard angles

Cyan: 15°
Black: 45°
Magenta: 75°
Yellow: 0° (or 90°)

The key is the spacing between them. The three strongest colours — cyan, magenta, black — are set 30° apart, which is the sweet spot for hiding interference. Black sits at 45° because that angle is least noticeable to the eye, and black carries the most detail. Yellow, being the lightest, can sit at 0° without causing obvious moiré.

Rosettes: the goal, not the enemy

When the angles are set correctly, the overlapping dots form a tiny, regular flower-like pattern called a rosette. That's the look you want — it's stable and reads as clean colour from a normal distance. Moiré is what happens when the angles are wrong and the pattern goes wavy instead.

Do you need to worry about this?

For most digital and single-colour work, no — angles only matter when you're separating an image into multiple inked screens for a real press. If you're making a one-colour halftone for the web or a single-ink print, you can pick whatever angle looks good. Save the angle theory for when you're doing genuine CMYK separations.

Frequently asked questions

What are the standard CMYK halftone angles?: Commonly cyan at 15°, black at 45°, magenta at 75°, and yellow at 0°. The strong colours are spaced 30° apart to avoid moiré, and black sits at 45° because it's least noticeable.
Why do halftone screens use different angles?: Four overlapping dot grids at the same angle create a distracting wavy interference pattern called moiré. Offsetting each ink's screen angle hides that interference and produces a clean rosette pattern instead.
Do I need to set screen angles for a single-colour halftone?: No. Angles only matter for multi-ink CMYK separations on a press. For one-colour or digital halftones, use whatever angle looks best.