Beginner's Guide to Bitgrain

Welcome to Bitgrain! This guide is for everyone, even if you have never edited a photo in your life. We will show you how to take a normal picture and turn it into a beautiful, dotted piece of art.

1. Getting your image on the screen

When you open Bitgrain, you will see two big boxes. To start, you can either:

Upload your own photo: Click the box on the left and pick a file from your computer.
Use a sample: Click the small "Try Sample" button to use one of ours.

2. Choosing your pattern

Once your image is loaded, look at the bar at the bottom of the screen. Click on Textures.

Think of these as different types of paper or ink.
Dither creates small dots.
ASCII uses letters and numbers to make the picture.

3. Adjusting the look

This is where the magic happens. Click the Adjust button.

The main sliders:

Resolution: Move this to the left to make the dots big and blocky. Move it to the right to make them tiny and smooth.
Contrast: This is the most important slider for dithering. Move it to the right to make the patterns stand out. It makes the whites brighter and the blacks darker.
Grain: Move this to the right to add a little bit of "noise" or texture to the whole image. It makes it look like it was printed on old paper.

4. Picking a dithering style

Click the Algorithm button. Each of these is a different way for the computer to place the dots.

Atkinson is great for a sharp, high-contrast look.
Floyd-Steinberg is best if your photo has a lot of soft gradients (like a sky).

5. Saving your artwork

When you are finished, click the Export button on the far right.

Click PNG to save a high-quality version to your computer.
If you used a sample image, this is always free!

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Pro Tip for Beginners:

If you are not sure where to start, click the Random button (the one that looks like a die). It will pick a random combination for you. If you like what you see, look at the Adjust menu to see which settings it picked!