Dither Veil
An ordered-dither veil over the content, thinning in the classic Bayer crosshatch as the pointer approaches and clearing under it, with a little lag.
- Category: Image
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Dither Veil
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
children | ReactNode | — | |
cell | number | 6 | Pixel size in px. |
radius | number | 140 | Radius the pointer clears. |
color | string | "var(--background)" | Veil colour. |
strength | number | 0.95 | Veil opacity at full cover. |
className | string | — |
About Dither Veil
Dither Veil lays an ordered-dither veil over content that thins in the classic Bayer crosshatch as the pointer approaches and clears beneath it.
Dither Veil is an image effect for React 19, styled with Tailwind CSS 4 and animated with Motion. It drops into Next.js, Vite, Remix or Astro through the shadcn CLI as a single file you own.
When to use Dither Veil
- Retro and Game Boy aesthetics.
- Photography reveals.
- Mysterious teasers.
- Art sites.
How it works
A 4 by 4 Bayer matrix decides which veil pixels are drawn at each distance.
Images keep their alt text, controls are keyboard operable, and the effect never hides the content it decorates. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Dither Veil
Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.
The Customize panel next to the preview lets you change cell, radius, strength live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.
- cell (number, default 6): Pixel size in px.
- radius (number, default 140): Radius the pointer clears.
- color (string, default "var(--background)"): Veil colour.
- strength (number, default 0.95): Veil opacity at full cover.
Goes well with Dither Veil
These image pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.
- Parallax Image: A React parallax image that drifts slower than the page as you scroll
- Pixelate Reveal: A React pixelate reveal: images resolve from chunky pixels to full detail
- Image Reveal: A React image reveal: a clip-path wipe uncovers the image as it settles
- Zoom Lens: A React zoom lens: a magnifier follows the pointer over product images
- Ken Burns: A React Ken Burns slideshow: slow pan and zoom crossfading through images
Install Dither Veil
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/dither-veilDither Veil is part of Charcoal UI Pro. One seat unlocks all 300 Pro components, 107 landing-page sections and 100 full templates, for every personal and client project, with updates included. Add the @charcoal registry once with your access token, then the command above copies dither-veil.tsx into components/ui and installs clsx, tailwind-merge.
You own the file you install: no runtime package, no lock-in, nothing to keep in sync. Change it however your product needs.
See Charcoal UI Pro pricing · Pro setup
Frequently asked questions
- What is ordered dithering?
- Ordered dithering uses a fixed threshold pattern, here a 4 by 4 Bayer matrix, to decide which pixels are drawn. It produces the regular crosshatch of early screens and printers instead of random noise.
- How do I install Dither Veil?
- Dither Veil is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/dither-veil. It copies dither-veil.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Dither Veil free for commercial use?
- Dither Veil needs a Charcoal UI Pro seat, monthly or a one-time lifetime price. A seat covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, including client work, and every future Pro component.
- Does Dither Veil work with Next.js?
- Yes. It is a client component for React 19 styled with Tailwind CSS 4, so it works in the Next.js App Router and Pages Router, Vite, Remix and Astro.
- Can an AI coding agent install Dither Veil?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Dither Veil's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.