What Is DTF
Halftone?
Halftone turns solid colors into tiny transparent dots — letting the shirt color show through and blend with the ink. The result looks like a full-color gradient, with no white underbase, no haze, and no stiff feel.
DTF halftone on dark garment — no white underbase
The World's Only 1-Click
DTF Halftone Tool
Every other halftone workflow requires Photoshop, a RIP, or a Fiverr gig. Kiwi Halftone does it in a single click — right in your browser, in seconds.
Upload Your Design
Drop in any PNG or JPG. Kiwi automatically removes the background if needed.
Click Apply Halftone
One click. Kiwi processes your image at 50 LPI, 23.5°, with transparent gaps — no settings required.
Download & Print
Get a 300 DPI transparent PNG ready for any RIP or DTF workflow. No Photoshop. No plugins.
How halftone works
A halftone breaks your image into a grid of dots. In bright areas, the dots are small — leaving lots of transparent space for the shirt color to show through. In dark areas, the dots are large and close together, blocking more of the shirt and printing more ink.
From a normal viewing distance, your eye can't see the individual dots — it blends them into a smooth gradient. This is the same technique used in newspapers, comic books, and screen printing for decades.
For DTF specifically, the key is that the gaps between dots must be transparent — not white. White gaps create a visible haze on dark shirts. Transparent gaps let the shirt color fill in naturally.
On black shirt
On white shirt
Real DTF halftone prints — same file, different garment colors
Same File. Any Garment.
One halftone file works on any shirt color — the garment shows through the transparent dot gaps and blends with the ink.
Black Shirt
Dark areas blend with the shirt — no white underbase
White Shirt
Light areas fade into the shirt for a soft, airy look
Statue of Liberty NYC design · halftoned at 50 LPI · 23.5° screen angle
Pro Tips
Everything we've learned from thousands of DTF halftone prints.
Use 50 LPI for most DTF work
50 lines per inch is the sweet spot for DTF on dark garments. It's fine enough to look smooth from a normal viewing distance, but coarse enough that your printer can lay down clean, separated dots without ink bleed.
23.5° screen angle reduces moiré
A 23.5° angle is the classic halftone angle for single-color work. It breaks up the grid pattern so your eye reads it as a smooth gradient rather than a repeating tile — especially important on large, flat areas of color.
Transparent gaps are everything
Unlike screen printing films, DTF halftones need transparent gaps — not white. The shirt color fills those gaps and blends with the ink dots to create the illusion of a full-color gradient. White gaps look like a haze on the garment.
Black Knockout removes the muddy haze
Near-black pixels in your design (shadows, dark outlines) tend to print as a heavy black ink layer that blocks the shirt color. The Black Knockout control lets you dial back how much black ink prints, so shadows become transparent and the shirt color shows through naturally.
Boost saturation before halftoning
Halftoning reduces apparent saturation — dots of color surrounded by transparent gaps look less vivid than a solid fill. Bumping saturation 1.3–1.5× before the halftone step compensates for this, keeping your colors punchy on the final print.
Remove the background first
Always remove the background before halftoning. If your image has a white or colored background, those pixels will also become halftone dots — creating a rectangular halo around your design on the shirt. A clean transparent PNG gives you clean halftone dots.
Recommended Settings
Copy these into Kiwi Halftone and you'll be 90% of the way there.
| Setting | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dot Frequency | 50 LPI | Standard for DTF dark garments |
| Screen Angle | 23.5° | Minimizes moiré patterns |
| Color Boost | 1.3× | Compensates for dot-gap saturation loss |
| Black Ink Amount | 70% | Reduces haze from near-black pixels |
| Black Point | 0 | Leave at default unless image is low-contrast |
| White Point | 255 | Leave at default unless image is low-contrast |
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about DTF halftone.
What is halftone printing?
Halftone is a technique that simulates continuous-tone images (like photos or gradients) using a pattern of dots. Instead of printing a solid gradient, the printer lays down dots of varying sizes or spacing — your eye blends them into a smooth image from a normal viewing distance. It's the same technique used in newspapers, comic books, and screen printing.
Why do I need halftone for DTF on dark shirts?
DTF printers can only print solid ink — they can't vary ink density the way an inkjet printer can on paper. On white shirts this isn't a problem, but on black or dark shirts, any area you don't print becomes the shirt color. Halftone dots let you control how much shirt color shows through, creating the appearance of gradients and shadows without a white underbase.
What's the difference between halftone and a white underbase?
A white underbase is a solid white layer printed under your design to make colors pop on dark fabric. It works great for solid designs but creates a stiff, plasticky feel and a visible white border. Halftone skips the underbase entirely — the shirt color blends with the ink dots, giving a softer, more vintage feel with no hard edges.
What LPI should I use?
50 LPI is the standard starting point for DTF on dark garments. Lower LPI (35–45) gives larger, more visible dots — great for a retro or comic-book look. Higher LPI (55–65) gives finer dots that blend more smoothly, but requires a high-quality printer and precise registration. Start at 50 and adjust based on your printer's output.
Does Kiwi Halftone work with my RIP software?
Yes. Kiwi Halftone exports a standard transparent PNG at 300 DPI. You can drop it directly into any RIP software (Cadlink, Kothari, Flexi, etc.) or print it straight from your DTF workflow. No special settings required — the halftone is already baked into the file.