Posterize Effect
Reduce a photo to a small number of color levels per channel for a bold, poster-like look — adjustable levels, entirely in your browser.
Input
Processed entirely in your browser — the image is never uploaded to a server.
Number of color levels per channel. Lower values create more dramatic posterization.
Output
Your edited image will appear here.
Guides
Give a photo that bold, poster-like look — the Posterize Effect tool cuts down the number of color shades in each color channel, flattening smooth gradients into sharp, distinct bands of color, right in your browser.
How it works
Upload an image, then adjust one slider:
- Color Levels — how many distinct shades each color channel (red, green, blue) is reduced to, from 2 (a stark, high-contrast look) to 32 (a subtle banding effect that barely departs from the original photo).
Lower values produce a more dramatic, graphic-art effect; higher values keep the photo closer to its original look while still introducing visible color bands. The result renders instantly as you move the slider. You can download the result as an SVG file, or copy its source markup directly.
Tips
- Try 4–6 levels for a striking, poster-art effect with strong color bands.
- Levels above 16 produce a subtle effect that's mostly useful for reducing file size or simplifying an image before further editing, rather than for a visibly stylized look.
- The downloaded SVG stays crisp at any size since it's a vector wrapper around your original image — resizing it doesn't lose quality the way a rasterized export would.