Hand-drawn engraving look
Crosshatching builds tone from layers of crossed pen strokes, the classic technique of etchings and ink drawings. This renders your photo in that style.
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Crosshatch Image Effect
Rebuild a photo from pen-style crosshatch strokes based on darkness.
- Upload
- Single file · 25 MB max
- Privacy
- Nothing is uploaded
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up · no watermark
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Processed entirely on your device
Your file is read, transformed and re-encoded inside this browser tab using JavaScript. There is no upload endpoint — nothing leaves your machine, nothing is stored, and the result is created as a local object URL that disappears when you close the page.
Overview
About the Crosshatch Image Effect
Create a crosshatch effect free online — rebuild any photo from layered pen hatching strokes whose density follows the shadows, with an adjustable density slider. No upload.
Shading with crossed lines
Long before halftone dots, engravers and ink artists built tone from lines. Crosshatching layers sets of parallel strokes at opposing angles: where more layers overlap, the area reads darker. It is one of the oldest and most recognisable drawing techniques.
How this tool recreates it
We measure each pixel's darkness and lay down up to three stroke directions — two diagonals and a vertical — activating each only once the region is dark enough. Denser settings pack the lines closer, so shadows accumulate ink while highlights stay clean white.
On-device and adjustable
The hatching runs per pixel on an in-browser canvas with a density slider, and the result is exported as a lossless PNG at full resolution, so your photo never leaves your device.
Step by step
How to use the Crosshatch Image Effect
Drop a photo onto the upload area — clear tonal range hatches best.
Set the density slider to control how fine the hatch spacing is.
Shadows build up layers of strokes while highlights stay white.
Download the crosshatch PNG at full original resolution.
Why use it
Benefits and common use cases
What this tool is good for, and what it deliberately does not try to do.
Tone-driven density
The darker a region, the more stroke directions overlap there, so shading emerges naturally from the hatch density rather than a flat filter.
Local and adjustable
The hatching runs per pixel on an in-browser canvas with a density slider, exporting a lossless PNG.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short, honest answers about quality, limits and privacy.
What is crosshatching?
Crosshatching is a drawing technique that shades an area with sets of parallel lines that cross at angles. More layers and tighter spacing make an area look darker; it is fundamental to engraving and ink illustration.
How does the density slider work?
It sets the spacing between hatch lines. A higher density packs the strokes closer together, giving finer detail and heavier darks; a lower density produces a coarser, more open hatching.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. Every pixel is processed on an in-browser canvas and the result stays on your device; nothing is sent to a server.