OMG Dots!

Script with many options for generating images with dots.

Slop coded, but doesn't use generative AI.

Example

Example image, generated with the following command:

./omg-dots.py --width 8188 --height 15826

This is "shower curtain" sized when printed. This example has been resized.

OMG Dots! Example

A longer example:

./omg-dots.py \
    --dot-color "33,16,81" \
    --bg-color "199,195,0" \
    --dot-sizes '[[3, 15], [5, 25], [8, 20], [12, 10], [35, 0.02]]' \
    -o img/yellow-blue.png

Transparency

Colors (background, dot, outline) support transparency via none, transparent, or an R,G,B,A value where A is 0–255.

Transparent background (dots on a transparent canvas):

./omg-dots.py --bg-color none -o dots-transparent-bg.png

Semi-transparent background:

./omg-dots.py --bg-color "220,20,20,128" -o dots-semi-bg.png

Transparent dots (stencil / mask effect):

./omg-dots.py --dot-color none -o dots-stencil.png

Semi-transparent dots:

./omg-dots.py --dot-color "255,230,0,128" -o dots-semi-dots.png

Help

$ ./omg-dots.py --help
usage: omg-dots.py [-h] [--width WIDTH] [--height HEIGHT] [--dpi DPI]
                   [--bg-color BG_COLOR] [--dot-color DOT_COLOR]
                   [--color-variation COLOR_VARIATION] [--dot-sizes DOT_SIZES]
                   [--fill FILL] [--gap GAP] [--wobble WOBBLE]
                   [--outline-width OUTLINE_WIDTH]
                   [--outline-color OUTLINE_COLOR] [--bg-noise BG_NOISE]
                   [--curves CURVES] [--curve-strength CURVE_STRENGTH]
                   [--curve-influence CURVE_INFLUENCE] [--output OUTPUT]
                   [--format {png,svg}] [--seed SEED]
                   [--compress {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}]

Generate polka dots — densely packed, seamlessly tileable.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --width, -W WIDTH     Image width in pixels (default: 1920)
  --height, -H HEIGHT   Image height in pixels (default: 1080)
  --dpi DPI             DPI for mm-to-pixel dot size conversion (default: 200)
  --bg-color BG_COLOR   Background color as R,G,B or R,G,B,A or 'none' for
                        transparent (default: (220, 20, 20, 255))
  --dot-color DOT_COLOR
                        Dot color as R,G,B or R,G,B,A or 'none' for
                        transparent (default: (255, 230, 0, 255))
  --color-variation COLOR_VARIATION
                        Per-dot color variation in HSV (0.0 = uniform, 0.05 =
                        noticeable) (default: 0.0175)
  --dot-sizes DOT_SIZES
                        Dot size distribution as JSON: '[[diameter_mm,
                        weight], ...]' (default: [[4, 8], [6, 15], [10, 25],
                        [15, 25], [22, 15], [28, 8], [38, 3], [50, 0.6], [71,
                        0.12], [89, 0.03]])
  --fill FILL           Fill density factor (0.0-1.0, higher = more dots)
                        (default: 0.45)
  --gap GAP             Minimum gap between dots in mm (default: 1.0)
  --wobble WOBBLE       Base wobble amount (0.0 = perfect circles, 0.15 = very
                        wobbly) (default: 0.08)
  --outline-width OUTLINE_WIDTH
                        Dot outline width in mm (0.0 = no outline) (default:
                        0.3)
  --outline-color OUTLINE_COLOR
                        Outline color as R,G,B or R,G,B,A or 'none' (default:
                        auto-darkened dot color) (default: auto)
  --bg-noise BG_NOISE   Background noise amount in RGB units (0 = flat, 5 =
                        noticeable) (default: 3)
  --curves CURVES       Number of bezier curve attractors (0 = uniform random)
                        (default: 4)
  --curve-strength CURVE_STRENGTH
                        Curve attractor strength (0.0 = no effect, 1.0 =
                        strong) (default: 0.6)
  --curve-influence CURVE_INFLUENCE
                        Curve influence radius as fraction of min(W,H)
                        (default: 0.2)
  --output, -o OUTPUT   Output filename (default: omgdots_WxH.{format})
                        (default: None)
  --format, -f {png,svg}
                        Output format: png (raster) or svg (vector, no bg-
                        noise) (default: png)
  --seed SEED           Random seed for reproducible output (default: None)
  --compress {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
                        PNG compression level (0=none, 9=max, 1=fast)
                        (default: 1)

License

Apache 2.0.

Copyright © 2026 Jeff Moe.