How do I make a photo look like a newspaper print?

Desaturate the image, push contrast, and apply a tight halftone dot screen with an error-diffusion algorithm like Floyd–Steinberg. Keep it slightly rough and use an off-white background for an authentic feel.

What is the newspaper dot effect called?

It's a halftone, sometimes called a newsprint screen. Newspapers used halftone dots to reproduce photos with a single grey or black ink.

Should a newspaper effect be color or black and white?

Black and white, or near-monochrome, gives the classic newsprint look. The recognisable style is grey ink on off-white paper.

Style

How to Make a Newspaper Photo Effect

That gritty old-print look from a photo: the dot screen, the contrast, and the small imperfections that sell it.

Updated 2026-06-04

The newspaper look is one of the most recognisable print effects there is: a coarse dot screen, hard contrast, and that slightly rough, inked-on-cheap-paper feel. It's built on halftone, and the trick to making it convincing is leaning into the imperfection instead of fighting it.

Start in black and white

Old newsprint was mostly mono. Desaturate first, or use a near-monochrome palette. Colour newspaper printing existed, but the classic look people picture is grey ink on off-white paper, so that's the target.

The settings that read as newsprint

A tight-to-medium dot grid — newsprint dots are small but clearly there.
High contrast so shadows clump into dots and highlights stay open.
Floyd–Steinberg or Burkes for a natural, photographic break-up.
Keep backgrounds simple so the screen doesn't fight the subject.

Don't make it too clean

This is the part people get wrong. Real newspaper printing was cheap and slightly off — ink spread, registration drifted, paper soaked it up. A flawless, perfectly smooth result reads as digital. Let the midtones break into dots, let the shadows clog a little, and resist the urge to smooth everything. The roughness is the whole point.

Finishing touches

For an authentic feel, pair the halftone with an off-white or warm-grey background rather than pure white, and keep your type bold and condensed if you're adding headlines. Export PNG for digital use, or SVG if it's going into a real print layout.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a photo look like a newspaper print?: Desaturate the image, push contrast, and apply a tight halftone dot screen with an error-diffusion algorithm like Floyd–Steinberg. Keep it slightly rough and use an off-white background for an authentic feel.
What is the newspaper dot effect called?: It's a halftone, sometimes called a newsprint screen. Newspapers used halftone dots to reproduce photos with a single grey or black ink.
Should a newspaper effect be color or black and white?: Black and white, or near-monochrome, gives the classic newsprint look. The recognisable style is grey ink on off-white paper.