Our third major update for Dither Boy is here!

Dither Boy v4.0.5 brings full retro shading to Dither Boy’s existing roster of dithering & glitch effects! If you’d like to listen to a summary of what’s new, then you can listen below.

What’s new in Dither Boy v4.0.5

Welcome to a quick tour of the major new features and controls in Dither Boy v4!

If you’re already on version 4, or still on version 3, here’s everything you need to know to get started with the latest and BIGGEST update yet.

Getting Started: Checking for Updates

Dither Boy 4.0.5 is now the newest release. You can easily check if you’re up to date:

In Dither Boy, go to the Help menu and click “Check for Updates.”
This works whether you’re on version 3 or version 4.

Biggest New Features

1. Authentic Retro Shaded Dithering

Old vs. New: Previously, Dither Boy worked in greyscale. Now, color is deeply integrated directly into the dithering algorithm. This isn’t a simple filter, it means every dithered effect can now take full advantage of color palettes.
How It Works: Load in a color palette from the new palette picker, choose a category (like “retro”), and select your favorite palette. (palette customization on the way for a future update)
Depth Slider: With the new depth slider, you can tweak how many shades or levels of color you want to use from a palette
Direct Manipulation: The color is inserted with the dither not before, not after, so every effect is rebuilt to support our authentic retro color system

2. New Controls & Customization

Flexible Palettes: Hover over the palette dropdown and use your scroll wheel to preview its look with your current settings.
Monthly Palette Updates: Look out for fresh downloadable color palettes every month in the Extras menu, or sometimes even more often! All palettes and preset packs for Dither Boy will be FREE DOWNLOADS!

3. Themes and Visual Variety

Classic Skins: Inspired by retro software, Dither Boy now lets you theme the app. Pick your favorite look, like the nostalgic green of classic handheld devices or even a pink theme!
Dither Boy has evolved: There’s now a new version of the Dither Boy mascot in full color on certain themes.

4. Performance Notes

Big Images: Loading huge images with color enabled can slow things down slightly, but you get ultra-realistic, authentic retro results that match your chosen dither pattern perfectly. Even if processing is slightly slower on a larger image, your output wont be affected.
Lossless Export: If you’re sending your Dither Boy work to print, make sure to enable lossless export under Help for the best possible quality. For sharing online, the default export usually suffices.

5. Video Dithering

Yes, you can now dither videos in color!
- This is more processor-intensive, especially for longer videos.
- Results may vary slightly depending on your video codecs and playback software, especially on Mac (since QuickTime can interpret colors differently than Windows’ standard players).

Community Updates

Share Your Work: Join the Discord community or check out the unofficial Dither Boy subreddit to share your creations. (I don’t monitor Reddit closely, but the community there is awesome!)
Tutorials Incoming: More specific, advanced guides are on the way! If you see an effect you want to learn, let me know and I’ll prioritize it.

Get Started

To try out the new features:

Load any image.
Pick a dither effect from the styles menu.
Play with depth, contrast, and color palette settings.
Explore new themes and palettes via the Extras menu.
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Profit

That’s a wrap for this overview! Dither Boy 4 is all about creative play, vibrant retro color, and pushing what dithering can do. Whether you’re making pixel art, prepping designs for print, or just experimenting, I hope you have as much fun with the update as I have building it.

Stay tuned for more detailed tutorials and happy dithering