Bitlab

Every effect, 170 of them

Each one has its own page: what it does, what its controls change, and a live example computed on your machine. Open any of them in the studio to try it on your own picture.

Browse them as pictures

Type & code19

  • ASCIIEach cell becomes the character closest to its tone.
  • Extruded typeType with volume: each glyph is a solid slab that casts a real shadow.
  • BrailleBraille dots, 2×4 per cell: eight decisions where ASCII has one.
  • ANSI blocksHalf-blocks with two inks per cell and a terminal palette.
  • BarcodeRows turn into barcode: bar widths snap to whole modules.
  • Hex dumpA hexadecimal dump: the glyph is dictated by the byte, not the tone.
  • Seven segmentSeven lamps per cell, and the tone decides which of them are lit.
  • Char densityDensity without characters: the alphabet measured as a tonal scale.
  • TypewriterA typewriter impression — tone is built from the number of strikes.
  • Type weightYour words repeated across the frame; the tone is written by their weight.
  • Type maskYour word as a window: the photograph shows only inside its strokes.
  • Kinetic typeYour word, letter by letter: each glyph arrives on its own beat, alive on video.
  • Type spiralA line of type winding out from the centre, each letter turning with the path.
  • Type flowWords laid along the shapes of the photograph, not into a grid.
  • QR mosaicA grid of code modules with the finder patterns of a real code.
  • Matrix rainFalling columns of glyphs — motion shown as a trail, not as time.
  • SubtitleBurnt-in timecode: the only effect that reads the frame clock.
  • WaveformEvery row read as a signal: brightness becomes the swing of a trace.
  • MorseDots and dashes: brightness read out as code along the line.

Halftone19

  • BayerOrdered dithering on a fixed matrix — the regular grid stays visible.
  • Floyd–SteinbergFloyd–Steinberg error diffusion, the classic that everyone copies.
  • AtkinsonAtkinson diffusion from the 1984 Mac — drops some error, hence the airy look.
  • SierraSierra diffusion: a wider kernel than Floyd, a softer grain.
  • Jarvis–Judice–NinkeJarvis–Judice–Ninke — the widest kernel, the smoothest gradient.
  • StuckiStucki diffusion: sharper than Jarvis, wider than Floyd.
  • Blue noiseBlue-noise dithering — no regular grid, and none of the diffusion worms.
  • Cluster dotA clustered screen where the dot grows from the centre of the cell.
  • StipplePointillism: dots placed by density, positions drawn from the seed.
  • CrosshatchHatching at an angle, denser where the tone is darker.
  • HalftoneA print screen: the dot grows with tone, on a rotated grid.
  • CMYK halftoneFour screens at the classic 15/75/0/45 angles.
  • Sphere halftoneHalftone in beads: tone sets the radius, every dot keeps its own highlight.
  • MetaballsBlobs that merge: tone sets the size, and neighbours grow a neck between them.
  • EngravingEngraving — a wavy line whose thickness carries the tone.
  • BurkesBurkes diffusion — Stucki without the third row, and twice as fast.
  • Two-row SierraSierra cut to two rows: less smear, more bite.
  • Sierra liteThe smallest Sierra: three weights and a visible grain.
  • Channel screensOne screen per channel, each at its own angle.

Edges16

  • ThresholdOne level splits the frame into ink and paper. Nothing in between.
  • SobelSobel: the classic gradient, edges with direction.
  • EmbossEmbossing — a directional derivative pressed into sheet metal.
  • CannyCanny with non-maximum suppression: one-pixel edges, no doubles.
  • RidgeRidges and valleys found by the strongest curvature.
  • Edge glowA glowing contour on black — the edge lights up instead of inking.
  • TraceOutlines the threshold with real paths — and exports as vector.
  • SketchA pencil sketch: contour and hatching drawn by an unsteady hand.
  • LaplacianThe Laplacian — contour without direction, thin and even.
  • Difference of GaussiansDifference of Gaussians: the base of every pencil look.
  • ContourIsolines by brightness level, the way a topographic map draws terrain.
  • PrewittPrewitt: Sobel without the centre weight, a flatter response.
  • ScharrScharr — a kernel tuned for rotational symmetry, kinder to diagonals.
  • KirschKirsch: eight rotated kernels, the strongest response wins.
  • Zero crossingZero crossings of the Laplacian — the edge as a boundary, not a slope.
  • Flow linesLines that run along the image, following its gradient field.

Geometry23

  • ShatterStruck glass: radial and ring cracks, and every shard carries its piece of the frame.
  • Depth slicesThe picture cut into tonal sheets and pulled apart in depth.
  • Spiral warpA twist that grows toward the centre: straight lines become spirals.
  • DrosteThe picture inside itself, spiralling inward without end.
  • PenrosePenrose tiling: two rhombi that fill the plane and never repeat.
  • MosaicA rectangular mosaic: one tone per tile, and nothing else.
  • HeightfieldBrightness becomes height: a real surface with real light and cast shadows.
  • Hex gridA hexagonal grid — the honeycomb packs tighter than squares.
  • KaleidoscopeA kaleidoscope with N sectors mirrored around the centre.
  • Point cloudTone becomes depth: bright points come forward, dark ones sink away.
  • ParticlesThe picture breaks into chips and flies apart — the phase is a knob, not a clock.
  • PolarA move into polar coordinates: rows become rings.
  • Slit scanTwenty moments in one frame: each band comes from a different instant of the clip.
  • VoxelsEvery pixel becomes a cube, and brightness becomes its height.
  • TubesFlow lines with a body: wires that cross over each other and catch the light.
  • VoronoiVoronoi cells grown from seeded points.
  • TruchetTruchet tiles — arcs that fall together into a labyrinth.
  • QuadtreeRecursive division: finer where there is more detail.
  • WarpWave distortion of the grid — the frame ripples.
  • MirrorMirrors along the axes, folding the frame onto itself.
  • Circle packingCircles packed by tone: smaller where the image is darker.
  • Low polyTriangles pinned to the points that carry the most detail.
  • IsometricIsometric blocks whose height comes from tone.

Color16

  • Cross processFilm developed in the wrong chemistry: shadows and highlights drift apart.
  • PosterizePosterisation by tonal steps: fewer levels, harder edges.
  • DuotoneBrightness mapped onto two inks, shadow to highlight.
  • Hue rotateThe colour wheel turned, with lightness left alone.
  • Split toneDifferent tints in shadows and highlights, neutral in the middle.
  • Median cutQuantised to a palette derived from the picture itself.
  • TemperatureColour temperature in kelvin, plus a second tint axis.
  • Chroma keyKeys out a hue and suppresses the spill it leaves behind.
  • False colorInstrument scales: thermal, rainbow, viridis, exposure.
  • Selective colorEdits one colour range and shows you exactly what it selected.
  • Bleach bypassSkipped bleach: silver kept, contrast up, colour drained.
  • Posterize HSLPosterisation around the colour wheel, not down the tonal ramp.
  • NeonA glowing tube along the contour, lit by the colour that lies under it.
  • Gradient mapA multi-stop gradient mapped along the brightness axis.
  • Retro palettePalettes of real hardware: Game Boy, CGA, C64, ZX, NES, PICO-8.
  • Channel shiftColour channels swapped and offset against each other.

Glitch16

  • Sync lossA television that lost the top of the picture: the frame rolls and tears.
  • Tape warpStretched tape: the line drift wanders down the frame and the colour lags behind.
  • Bit crushLow bits cut per channel, each channel at its own depth.
  • JPEGAn honest cosine transform — blocks, ringing, chroma subsampling.
  • DropoutDropped lines and blocks, with three ways of filling the gap.
  • Frame blendA long exposure built from short ones: moving things smear, still ones stay sharp.
  • GhostingA doubled signal — fading echo, smeared and drained of colour.
  • InterlaceInterlacing: two fields drawn from two different moments.
  • Wave distortRows shoved sideways by a wave: a tracking fault, not a deformation.
  • CorruptCorrupted buffer bytes: broken memory, not noise over pixels.
  • DatamoshA lost keyframe: correct motion vectors on the wrong picture.
  • RGB shiftChromatic aberration, spreading radially from the centre.
  • ScanlinesCRT line scan — the raster you saw through the glass.
  • Pixel driftA pixel that never got replaced, dragged along the read direction.
  • Pixel sortPixels sorted in runs by brightness, smearing along the row.
  • SliceHorizontal bands knocked out of alignment.

Optics17

  • Lens blurBokeh with an aperture shape: an even disc in linear light.
  • PainterlyEach pixel takes the calmest quarter of its neighbourhood: flat strokes, hard edges.
  • Tilt-shiftSharpness in a band — its own kernel per row, not a blend of layers.
  • HalationA halo around highlights: red travels furthest, so the colour follows.
  • FisheyeSpherical distortion: three real projections, not a bulge filter.
  • AnamorphicA horizontal flare — different radii per axis, colour from the coating.
  • StarburstDiffraction rays: an odd blade count gives twice as many as an even one.
  • Light leakLight past the lens from the frame edge; the picture takes no part.
  • DiffusionA diffusion filter: light is moved, not added.
  • Chromatic blurBlur that grows toward the edges, its own radius at every pixel.
  • CRTTube curvature with a phosphor mask — three real mask constructions.
  • Motion blurThe smear of movement: a directional streak along one axis.
  • Film grainFilm grain — the emulsion, not a noise overlay.
  • VignetteDarkening toward the edges, the way a lens really falls off.
  • BloomBright areas bleeding light into their surroundings.
  • PrismA glass wedge splits the light: a spectrum spread across the frame.
  • GlassThe photograph seen through a pane cast from itself — real refraction, not a warp.

Textile8

  • Cross-stitchCross-stitch: one X per cell, the way the canvas would take it.
  • WeaveWarp and weft interlaced — the cloth, not a pattern of it.
  • KnitKnitted fabric with real loops, course by course.
  • NeedlepointA tapestry stitch, slanted and dense.
  • DenimDenim twill: the diagonal wale of indigo and white.
  • FeltFelted wool — fibres matted, edges soft and fuzzy.
  • BeadsBead weaving: one bead per cell, strung row by row.
  • Punch cardA punch card — holes where the tone allows a hole.

Print11

  • Foil stampFoil stamping: a metal sheen that follows the relief.
  • RisoRisograph: two or three passes that never quite line up.
  • NewsprintCheap newsprint paper and the coarse screen it has to carry.
  • ScreenprintScreen printing with a partly clogged mesh.
  • XeroxA copier: contrast to zero, dirt along every edge.
  • LetterpressLetterpress with the edge pressed into the paper.
  • BlueprintCyanotype blue: white lines on a deep blue ground.
  • StampA rubber stamp with an uneven press.
  • MoireMoire from overlaid screens — the pattern the screens make together.
  • Dot gainDot gain — the ink spreads, and the midtones go heavy.
  • MisregistrationRegistration drifting apart across the process plates.

Generative25

  • PlasmaPlasma from summed sines — the first effect that needs no image.
  • Noise fieldA cloud field built from octaves of lattice noise.
  • Flow fieldLines that follow a field of directions across the canvas.
  • AutomataA cellular automaton: the canvas as the history of one row.
  • MazeA maze — a spanning tree by Kruskal, with the dead ends unbraided.
  • SpiralSpirals and rosettes: two curves, rotated copies, a shaking pen.
  • AttractorNot drawn but settled: a point hops by a rule, ink piles where it lingers.
  • InterferenceWaves spreading from points: two sources give hyperbolic fringes.
  • Moire fieldMoire from two lattices: bands, rings and a grid.
  • Truchet fieldTruchet tiles with subdivision — threads at several scales at once.
  • AggregationDiffusion-limited aggregation: a dendrite, or a forest of coral.
  • ReactionGray–Scott reaction–diffusion: spots and stripes that grow themselves.
  • Sand flowGrains fall and settle at the angle of repose, and the layers stay visible.
  • PhyllotaxisA sunflower head: one angle decides whether spirals appear at all.
  • ChladniSand on a singing plate: two whole numbers decide the whole figure.
  • SubstrateCracks that grow until they hit each other, then branch across.
  • SandpileOne rule, no randomness: four grains in a cell and it spills to its neighbours.
  • ApollonianEvery gap between three touching circles holds a fourth — computed, never searched for.
  • HilbertOne line that fills the plane and never crosses itself.
  • JuliaEvery point has its own fate: the picture maps how fast each one escapes.
  • Slime mouldAgents lay a trail and follow it: the network builds its own map.
  • FlockThree local rules, no leader — and the flock agrees on a course by itself.
  • VenationBranches grow toward what they have not reached yet, and thicken by Murray law.
  • Differential growthOne closed line, growing faster than its room — so it folds into frills.
  • CircuitryTiles that must agree edge to edge: the picture is a solution, not a sample.