Free tool

CRT Scanlines

The dark line between every bright one, which is all a cathode ray tube ever really was.

Looked after by Sponge, a sponge.

A CRT drew its picture one line at a time, and between those lines was unlit glass. That gap is the whole look: the image is not dimmer, it is interrupted, at a regular pitch you can count.

Which is why scanlines have to multiply. Painted over the top they grey the picture down; multiplied, they darken the gaps and leave the lit lines at full brightness, and the image gets that lit-from-behind quality instead of looking faded.

What this look is made of: Scanlines at 4px spacing with a 2px line, in black, multiplied at 40%. Every one of those is a control below, so this is a starting point rather than a filter.

Choose an image

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or try one of ours:

Looks

Base Color
#0a0a0a

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How it works

  1. 1Add an imageJPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG or BMP.
  2. 2Press a lookNine of them. Each sets the pattern, the colour, the blend and the opacity at once.
  3. 3Layer a backgroundStack patterns with their own colour and opacity.
  4. 4ExportPNG or JPEG, at 1x, 2x or 3x.

Questions

What spacing makes it look like a real CRT?
Tight. On a real tube the lines are a fraction of a millimetre apart, so at typical image sizes 3 to 5 pixels reads right. Anything over about 8 stops looking like a screen and starts looking like a blind.
How do I get the VHS look rather than the arcade look?
Scanlines get you halfway. The rest is chromatic aberration — the colour channels pulling apart at the edges — and a softened image, because tape was never sharp. This tool does the lines; the colour split lives in Un-Stock, which is built for video.
Will scanlines ruin small text?
Yes, at tight spacing, and that is true of the real thing too — it is why interfaces of that era used large chunky type. Widen the spacing or drop the opacity if the image has captions in it.

Other looks in this tool

Newsprint EffectRisograph FilterFilm Grain OverlayEtching EffectLaid Paper TextureScreen Print EffectBlueprint EffectPhotocopy EffectAll nine, one editor →
Add texture and depth to any image

Nine named looks — newsprint, risograph, etching, film grain, CRT — each one press. Underneath them are thirteen hand-made patterns, five blend modes, and every parameter the look set, still yours to move. Everything runs in your browser, so your images never leave your device.

13 texture presets

Crosshatch, Woven, Linen, Halftone, Diagonal, Dot Grid, Scanlines, Noise, Fabric, Herringbone, Checker and Grid.

Background layers

Stack pattern layers with their own colour, opacity and visibility.

High-quality export

2x resolution as PNG or JPEG, for social, print and client work.

This tool is looked after by Sponge.Soaks up every texture it meets. Squishy, and delighted about it.

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