You do not need halftone brushes: a filter and a mask do it
Halftone brush packs stamp fixed dot shapes. A halftone filter over a layer you paint in greys turns any stroke into dots of the right size, and you can repaint it, resize the dots or recolour it at any time.
Beginner2 min readUpdated 27 September 2026Editor · Brush, Halftone filter, clipping mask
Steps
- Add a new layer and fill it white (Edit, Fill…). This is your painting layer; keep it at the bottom of the part of the design you want dotted.
- Press B for the Brush. Set Hardness low, pick a grey, and paint where the shading should go. Darker greys give bigger dots.
- Choose Filter, Artistic, Halftone with the painting layer selected. Set Dot Size and Contrast until the dots look right.
- To colour it, add a Gradient map adjustment above the filter: first stop the ink colour, last stop the paper colour.
- Keep painting on the grey layer at any time; the dots update.
Shading inside a shape
To confine halftone shading to a shape or a letter, build the dotted texture as above, then select the Halftone filter and choose Layer, Merge down, and do the same with the Gradient map, so the texture becomes one pixel layer. Place it directly above the shape and clip it with Ctrl+Alt+G. The dots now show only inside the shape. Merge down applies each filter to that one layer only, so the rest of the design is untouched.
Why this beats brush packs
| Brush stamps | Filter over paint | |
|---|---|---|
| Dot size | Fixed per brush | One slider, for the whole texture |
| Mistakes | Erase and restamp | Repaint the greys |
| Stamps can blur when enlarged | Re-rendered at the export size | |
| Colour | Repaint | Gradient map |
| Cost | Often paid | Built in |
Why are my dots square-ish or uneven at the edges?
The Dot Size is small compared with the brush softness, or you are zoomed out. Check at 100 per cent, and raise Dot Size for a bolder, cleaner pattern.
Can I get the dots on a transparent background?
Yes: after merging, set the dotted layer to Multiply to drop the white, or select the white with the Magic wand (Shift+W) and hide it with a mask.