Journal
how the effects actually work
Explainers on the algorithms behind kott's effects, the settings that make them work, and how to chase a specific look — written for people who want the actual numbers.
01/ ENTRIES
- APP TUTORIALDESIGNER
How to Create a Halftone Effect in Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo's Halftone Live Filter turns any image into dots, lines, or circles with four controls: Cell Size, Screen type, Contrast, and Screen Angle.…
Read - APP TUTORIALDESIGNER
Pixel Sorting in After Effects: The Real Video Glitch Method
The real way to pixel sort video in After Effects: a plugin or frame-export workflow, not the Photoshop Wind filter trick.
Read - COMPARISONDESIGNER
Best Figma Dithering Plugins Compared: Which Preserves Detail
Five Figma dithering options — the native shader plus four plugins — compared on algorithms, palette control, export, and maintenance status. Floyd-Steinberg…
Read - COMPARISONVJ
Audio-Reactive Visualizer Software Compared: Synesthesia vs modV vs Tawny AV
Synesthesia, modV, and Tawny AV all turn audio into real-time visuals, but the tradeoffs are different: curated scenes and MIDI control, a free open-source…
Read - APP TUTORIALDESIGNER
How to Dither an Image in GIMP, the Free Alternative Method
GIMP dithers an image through Image > Mode > Indexed, not a dedicated filter. Here's every method it actually ships (Floyd-Steinberg, Positioned, Newsprint)…
Read - APP TUTORIALDESIGNER
How to Turn a Photo Into Pixel Art Using Photoshop
The real manual method: contrast, Indexed Color, and Nearest Neighbor resampling. No pixelate filter, no plugin needed — just the settings that matter.
Read - APP TUTORIALDESIGNER
Pixel Sorting in Photoshop: The Wind Filter Workaround
Photoshop has no pixel-sort filter, but the Wind filter fakes it. The honest manual method, its real limits, and the settings that get closest.
Read - COMPARISONDESIGNER
Best Online Image-to-ASCII Converters, Tested and Ranked
Six free online image-to-ASCII converters, tested for character-ramp length, dithering, color mode, and export format -- plus where a CLI or kott's own ASCII…
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERDESIGNER
Animating Halftone: Dot Patterns on GIFs Without Flicker
Animated halftone GIFs shimmer because the dot pattern is recomputed from scratch every frame. Here's why an error-diffusion halftone flickers, why a fixed…
Read - COMPARISONVJ
VJ Controllers Compared: Launchpad vs Fader Banks vs iPad Mapping
Grid controllers trigger clips, fader banks ride parameters, iPad + TouchOSC trades tactile feedback for custom layouts. Here's which to buy first.
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERDESIGNER
Dithering for the Web: GIF Export Settings That Avoid Banding
GIF's 256-color palette bands on gradients unless you dither, but the wrong dither settings make the file bigger without fixing the band. Here's the exact…
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERDESIGNER
4x4 vs 8x8 Bayer Matrix: Which Threshold Grid Should You Use?
A 4x4 Bayer matrix has 16 threshold levels; an 8x8 has 64. More levels smooths gradients but doubles the repeating tile. Here's which size fits your image.
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERDESIGNER
Why Dithered Images Break Under JPEG and Video Compression
Dithering manufactures the exact high-frequency noise JPEG, video codecs, and PNG are built to discard. Here's the mechanism, real file-size numbers, and…
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERVJ
Dithering in Motion: Keeping the Pattern Stable Across Video Frames
Why dithered footage crawls under camera motion, and the settings that fix it.
Read - PRODUCTION GUIDEPRINT MAKER
Riso Color Separation: How to Turn One Image Into N Ink Layers
Riso color separation splits one image into N single-ink files. Three methods, real resolution and opacity limits, and the print order that keeps registration…
Read - LIVE PERFORMANCEVJ
What Hardware You Need to VJ: GPU, Laptop & Controller Picks
The real hardware floor for VJing: RTX 3080+ GPU, 16GB+ RAM, 2TB SSD, and an Akai APC40 MKII, with the exact specs and prices that separate a beginner rig…
Read - LOOK CHASINGDESIGNER
The 1-Bit Macintosh Look: Where It Came From and How to Recreate It Beyond Obra Dinn
The 1-bit Mac look isn't a style someone invented -- it's a 512x342 hardware limit MacPaint turned into a visual language. Here's where it started.
Read - COMPARISONVJ
Resolume vs HeavyM vs TouchDesigner: Picking Your First VJ Software
Resolume, HeavyM, and TouchDesigner solve different jobs. Honest pricing, learning-curve, and audio-reactive specs for picking your first VJ rig.
Read - LIVE PERFORMANCEVJ
TouchDesigner Audio-Reactive Visuals: A Working MIDI and Beat-Detection Setup
A working TouchDesigner CHOP pipeline for audio-reactive visuals: one signal chain, a reusable beat detector, and MIDI mapping that survives a hardware swap.
Read - PRODUCTION GUIDEPRINT MAKER
Halftone Moire in Screen Printing: The Angles and Mesh Counts That Actually Prevent It
Mesh count too close to your LPI, and a halftone angle that matches the mesh grid, causes screen-printing moire. Here is the formula and angles that fix it.
Read - COMPARISONPRINT MAKER
Best Free Online Halftone Generators, Tested Against a Real Print Job
Three free online halftone generators, tested against what actually leaves the browser: LPI, screen angle, export format, and what happens once dot gain hits…
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERDESIGNER
Pixel Sorting Explained: The Glitch Algorithm and the Settings That Read as Intentional
Pixel sorting looks like an accident, but the good ones aren't. This is the actual algorithm — intervals, sort criteria, threshold windows, start/stop modes…
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERDESIGNER
How to Make Pixel Art From a Photo Without It Reading as Fake
Real pixel art from a photo is grid-first, edge-aware, and deliberately dithered — not a blurry downscale with a filter on top. Exact block-size, palette, and…
Read - APP TUTORIALDESIGNER
How to Dither an Image in Photoshop: The Honest Manual Method
Photoshop's dither controls live in one dialog most people never fully open. Here's what Diffusion, Pattern, Noise, Amount, and Preserve Exact Colors each do…
Read - PRODUCTION GUIDEPRINT MAKER
Preparing a 1-Bit File for Risograph, From Screen to Press
A press-ready riso file is 1-bit, one master per ink color, built at 600dpi, never at 100% ink. Resolution, LPI, dot gain, and a copy-paste pre-flight…
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERDESIGNER
Image to ASCII Art: The Density Settings That Fix Unreadable Output
Unreadable ASCII art usually isn't a bad charset — it's brightness-only mapping, a mismatched ramp, or a missing aspect-ratio fix. Here's how to spot each one.
Read - COMPARISONPRINT MAKER
Photoshop's Color Halftone Filter vs a Dedicated Halftone Tool
Photoshop's Color Halftone filter is a round-dot effect, not a real screen. Here's what it, Bitmap mode, and a dedicated plugin each control.
Read - LIVE PERFORMANCEVJ
How to Build an Audio-Reactive VJ Setup With a nanoKONTROL2: The Mapping That Actually Runs at 60fps
A working audio-reactive VJ setup: a nanoKONTROL2 mapped once, an audio chain that holds 60fps, and a threshold that doesn't flicker on bass.
Read - LOOK CHASINGDESIGNER
The Return of the Obra Dinn Look, Reverse-Engineered With Settings
Obra Dinn's look is ordered dithering, not Floyd-Steinberg — it doesn't shimmer on a moving camera. The 8x8 Bayer matrix, threshold settings, and failure modes.
Read - PRODUCTION GUIDEPRINT MAKER
How to Stop Halftone Moiré on Riso: The Angles That Actually Print
Screen angles set too close together cause most halftone moire on riso. The angle table, LPI defaults, and drum-resolution ceiling that actually prevent it.
Read - COMPARISONDESIGNER
Floyd-Steinberg vs Ordered Dithering: Which One Your Image Needs
Floyd-Steinberg diffuses error into neighboring pixels; ordered dithering reads a fixed matrix instead. Which one to pick for a photo vs. an animation.
Read - EFFECT EXPLAINERDESIGNER
What Is Atkinson Dithering? The Exact Settings That Make It Work
Atkinson dithering spreads only 3/4 of the quantization error across six neighbors. The exact matrix, the threshold to set, and where it bands on skin tones.
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