What it does
Stamps a grid of small icons over the image, choosing or scaling each one by the brightness underneath.
The effect belongs to a long family that rebuilds images out of a fixed alphabet of marks. Newspaper halftones use dots, ASCII art uses typed characters, cross-stitch uses stitches; each samples the image on a grid and swaps every cell for a symbol whose weight matches the tone. Pattern grid generalises that to arbitrary shapes, so the alphabet is yours to choose.
There are two ways to map tone. In ramp mode the effect holds an ordered set of shapes from light to dark and picks one per cell by its brightness, the way ASCII picks a character from a ramp. In scale mode it uses one shape everywhere and grows or shrinks it with the tone, the way a halftone dot swells in the shadows. You can lean on either or blend the two.
Beyond the mapping, the grid is a design surface. Cells can rotate together or stir independently, an edge pass can drop a directional mark along contours so outlines stay legible, and colour can come from the source, from each shape, or from a single tint. On video the whole grid re-samples every frame, so shapes flip and swell with the motion.
Signature looks
Dot matrix
A single dot grown and shrunk by brightness, evenly spaced. The clean, engineered look of an LED sign or a dot-matrix printout.
Icon mosaic
An ordered ramp of glyphs standing in for tone, the picture legible only when you step back. Data-poster energy built from small marks.
Contour weave
The edge pass turned up so directional marks trace the subject’s outlines through a field of quieter background shapes.
Try it on your own footage
This effect runs live in the Modulate editor, with layers, effect chains, masks, and keyframes. Free, no signup, nothing to install.
Common questions
What is the pattern grid effect?
It divides an image into a grid and replaces each cell with an icon or shape chosen or scaled by the brightness there. Dark cells get heavier or larger marks, light cells get lighter or smaller ones, so the image is rebuilt as a field of repeated symbols.
How is it different from ASCII art?
ASCII art is a special case: its alphabet is text characters. Pattern grid uses the same brightness-to-symbol mapping but lets the symbols be any shapes, and it can also scale a single shape by tone like a halftone rather than swapping between characters.
How is it different from halftone?
A halftone screen varies the size of dots on a fixed grid. Pattern grid can do that in its scale mode, but it can also switch between different shapes per cell, rotate them, and align marks to edges, so it covers looks a plain dot screen cannot.
Can I use my own shapes?
The effect works from a set of shapes you order from light to dark, plus an optional mark for edges. Swapping those changes the whole character, from a technical dot grid to a mosaic of custom icons.
Does it work on video?
Yes. The grid samples every frame, so each cell re-picks or re-scales its shape as the brightness under it changes. Marks swell, flip, and rotate with the motion, and it runs in real time in your browser.
Related effects
ASCII art effect
Rebuilds the image out of text characters, matching brighter and darker glyphs to the light and dark areas underneath.
Halftone effect
Turns the image into printed dot patterns, from single-color newspaper dots to full four-ink color screens.
Stipple effect
Redraws the image as a field of ink dots, large and dense in dark areas, small and sparse in light ones.
Dither effect
Early computer graphics look: the image is rebuilt from tiny dot patterns and a limited color palette.