FROM ME THIS WEEK
A quick hello before the year wraps up
Halftone text shading teaser poster
It’s been a little while since my last email, so if you’ve been here before, thank you for sticking around.
And if you’re new, welcome. I’m really glad you’re here.
The end of the year always gets busy for me, but I wanted to pause and send something useful your way before we all settle into the holidays. I’ve been exploring a few design ideas lately, and it reminded me how much I enjoy sharing these small experiments with you.
So let’s start with this week’s tutorial — A simple, flexible way to create halftone text shading.
LEARN DESIGN
Halftone Text Shading in Figma
Use gradients and a simple plugin to create retro halftone text shading.
Halftone text shading cover
🎁 Grab your starter file and follow along!
Video Tutorial is linked below.
Step 1 - Start with text
Set Fill → White; Stroke → Any color
Outline the text and rename layers
Duplicate the fill → set a vertical black-to-white gradient → Offset Vector to –5px.
That gives us our shading base.
Shading Foundation.
Step 2 – Apply halftone
Before opening any plugin
flip the gradient direction. (you'll know why later)
Copy the layer as PNG
open Halftones and adjust size slider around 80%.
You’ll get an image fill instantly.
An image fill is generated.
Step 3 – Masking Magic
Fix the direction + make it color-changeable.
Duplicate the halftone layer
Remove all fills and add a solid color
Select both and Use as Mask
Change mask type → Luminance
Now the halftone follows your direction.
Change the Mask type to Luminance.
Step 4 – Clean up
Bring the masked group back into your text.
Select the gradient layer, then paste and replace.
Group everything, then hide the white fill layer.
Final text shading graphic.
Step 5 – Tada!
✨ Result time.
A clean, retro halftone text shading effect sitting perfectly in your hero section.
Final result.
Watch on Youtube
Like and share the video.
Leave a comment if you got any questions!
WHAT’S COMING NEXT
Realistic Stippling Effect in Figma
Stippling vector graphic teaser thumbnail
Next week, I’m sharing a new tutorial on how to turn any image into a stippled vector graphic in Figma.
It’s a simple effect that looks intricate. But it’s just one plugin and a few thoughtful settings to get that hand-drawn, dotted texture.
If you enjoy retro or textured styles, you’ll like this one.
Stay tuned. It’s coming soon.
Thanks for reading and spending a bit of your day with me.
If you want to keep up with more behind-the-scenes thoughts or small design notes I don’t always send by email, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.
Would love to have you there:
See you in the next email.
MengChi