Apply Pointillism to images and videos online
Rebuild a photograph from small colored marks. Pointillism combines scattered dots, gentle softness, and surface noise for a painting-inspired treatment that reads differently up close and from a distance.
Before
After
Ideas for using the effect
Landscape illustrations
Translate trees, flowers, and broad skies into fields of colored marks.
Painterly portraits
Use a clear, close portrait so facial structure remains legible beneath the dots.
Art-inspired posters
Create a textured focal image with quieter space around it for typography.
Moving color studies
Apply the dots to slow footage to explore how the pattern responds to changing light.
Made with this effect
More inspiration on Instagram @effect_app
Use Pointillism in Photoshop, Figma or on your desktop
One account, the same effect everywhere.
In Photoshop
Apply it to a layer in Photoshop 2022 and later, on macOS or Windows. The plugin renders on your own GPU and hands the result back as pixels on a new layer.
get the Photoshop plugin →In Figma
Run it on images and frames without leaving the canvas. The Figma plugin is this same editor, pointed at whatever you have selected.
get the Figma plugin →On desktop
Install the macOS or Windows app when you want a window of its own, with your account and your presets already there.
download the desktop app →Frequently Asked Questions
How do I apply Pointillism online?
Open the Pointillism preset, add your image or video, and adjust the loaded effect layers to suit your source. Preview the result before exporting.
What is pointillism?
Pointillism builds a picture from small, adjacent dots of color that visually merge at a distance. The National Gallery's glossary explains the painting technique; this preset offers a digital interpretation of its dotted appearance.
How is the effect built?
Curves prepares the image, then Scatter samples source colors into small marks. Gaussian Blur, Paper Scan noise, and sharpening shape how those marks merge and how crisp their edges appear.
How do I preserve more detail?
Increase dot density and keep the marks relatively small. Reduce the blur if neighboring dots merge too much. Judge the final image at its display size rather than only zoomed into individual marks.
How is it different from Stippling?
Pointillism retains a color-based treatment. Stippling uses black marks against a paper-like ground for a pen-and-ink appearance. Pick the former for colored painting effects and the latter for monochrome illustration.